Page 137 of The Eighth Isle

“Let’s wait for him to get here first, okay?” Grey finally said.

So, we did.

I saton the ledge at the very corner, looking out at the rising sun that was growing bigger and brighter, even though it made little stars burst in my vision. I couldn’t look away at all.

Behind me, Grey was with Storm—who’d come back alone.

Bloody. With a tear on his left wing. With two talons of his left foot missing. And the edge of his tail was bleeding, too.

God, I didn’t want to know. I refused to even think about it right now while Grey tended to his wounds and they caught up—but without a single word. They understood each other just with looks and growls from Storm, and I was thankful for it.

But just a few minutes later, Storm flew off the rooftop and went straight for the woods at the back of the mansion, probably to sleep, and Grey came toward me.

He sat with me on the ledge, took my hand between his and brought it to his lap.

“He attacked him,” he said, and there went my heart again, shaking and breaking,exploding.

“How?”

Grey shook his head. “Not sure, but with a lot of magic. They were in a town in the Whispering Woods, and Valentine went to speak to some people in this house near a woods, and Storm was waiting outside, hiding in the trees. Then he felt Valentine and he attacked him and ran with those same people he’d been talking to,” he explained. “Storm was searching for him, trailing Shadow’s scent when I called for him, and he came back.”

The first words that wanted to come out of my mouth were,he wouldn’t.Valentine would never. He was going to find ways to hide the magic inside me from the sirens so that I could live. He would never attack Storm. He would never run away.

He would never betray me!

But my own body wouldn’t let me speak those words out loud because the truth was, he would.

Valentine had been playing games and switching sides since I knew him, and I could never be too sure what his truth was. What he really believed in. What he was loyal to, if anything. I had a feeling, one that insisted that I could trust Valentine, that the talk we’d had on this very ledge was true. He’d saved me from his brothers, and from Syra—he’dsavedme!

But…he’d gotten Grey banished first. And he’d helped Syra put whatever magic she’d put in me before he turned on her.And the most important thing—why would Storm lie? Dragons couldn’t lie, could they? They were animals.

“Fall,” Grey said, inviting my eyes to his. The look in his broke my heart, too. “We’ll figure it out without him.”

My body was heavy, so I leaned on his shoulder, and he immediately grabbed me and put me on his lap where it was comfortable. Where I could let go completely, knowing he had me. Where I could rest—or try to.

“You believe it?” I whispered, hiding my face under his chin, keeping my eyes on the sun still. So many beautiful colors. So much life in them, yet I couldn’t bring myself to even appreciate it.

“I saw it,” Grey said. “Not Valentine, but I felt his magic. I felt Storm’s pain when he attacked him.”

My eyes squeezed shut. “What if someone else did it?”

“Who?”

“I don’t know—the sirens? Maybe they discovered him and they attacked Storm and-and-and…” My voice trailed off, my heart skipping a beat.

Grey squeezed me tightly to his chest as if he could read my mind. “They’re not here, baby. Nobody’s coming. I’ll feel it if they’re close, and Mamayka will know the second they cross her borders in the water.”

“But it’s strange, though, isn’t it? That they haven’t found us yet?”

Something’s wrong, something’s wrong, something’s wrong…

“It is, but let’s focus on the magic first. Reeva will figure out a way to get it out of you,” Grey said, kissing the top of my head. “She will. I know she will.”

“This is fucked up, Grey. I’ve been thinking all day—what kind of astoragecan they make? And if it actually works, how will we keep that magic away from the sirens?” Pushing back, Ilooked up at his face, his skin glowing with the golden light of the sun, his eyes made of fire just now. I touched his cheek gently. “If they get their hands on that magic, it will be over for real. The people will be doomed.”

“I know,” Grey said, closing his eyes for a moment, bringing my hand in front of his lips so he could kiss my palm. “I know, baby, but the alternative is unacceptable. We’ll just make sure to protect that magic at all costs—when it’s out of you.”

I nodded, tears pricking the back of my eyes. “We’ll bury it somewhere. Hide it under a mountain. In the fucking sky.”

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