Page 147 of The Eighth Isle

“But I didn’t. I chose Grey. I chose to keep my word to him. I chose to go after him,” I said, more to myself than to her. “And I still choose to fight.” Something told me that I always would, if only because I was stubborn. If only because I knew of no other way to go through life.

“That, you do,” Mama Si said.

Something moved behind us, and my heart jumped so fast I almost broke my neck when I turned to find Assa by the doorway, her eyes on Mama Si.

“You need to come downstairs. The dragon is moving.”

I had no idea how I made it to my feet, but I was running down the corridors with my breath held and my heart in my throat without really seeing anything.

Two minutes later I burst through the basement door to find Shadow in Grey’s hands, his eyes wide open.

Finally.

WatchingShadow eat was so strange—he devoured a big piece of raw steak on the floor like it was nothing. The steak was easily twice the size of his body, but I could have sworn he ate it in ten bites, and he was barely standing on his hind legs, holding himself up by his arms that were also his wings.

I tried to hold back, not to bother him with questions yet, not to get him as panicked as I was, for a long time. I let him eat, and then he lay down on that pillow again, curled up on himself with his tail wrapped all around him. The others stayed away, and Reeva said it might be a better idea to let him rest for a little while longer, but that was as far as I had the patience to go.

So, I sat on the floor near him sometime in the afternoon, and I said, “Shadow, where is Valentine?”

He raised his little head and his eyes were wide open, black beads in which I almost saw my reflection when he didn’t blink for a few seconds. And then he made that snickering sound from deep in his throat.

I leaned closer to the floor. “Where is he? Does Romin have him?”

Nothing. No sound, he just spread his wings halfway and looked at me.

“Fall,” Grey warned, and I understood that he was a little worried—Shadow was sitting so still and watching me in a way that would have you thinking he was about to attack me. But he wasn’t, he was only waiting.

“It’s okay,” I told him, never breaking eye contact with Shadow. “Do the sirens have him?”

His wings spread all the way and he couldn’t even beat them fast enough to take himself in the air, but the screeching sound that was his roar made everyone in the room put their hands over their ears.

My heart fell all the way to my heels. The sirens most definitely had Valentine.

“Did they send you here for Fall?”

Grey was squatting right next to me, and I hadn’t even noticed. Shadow looked at him, head twisting to the sides.

“Did they send you here for Fall on purpose?”

“Grey,” I whispered, but he shook his head.

“It’s a trap,” he told me, eyes dark and hands fisted as he stared at Shadow.

“They have him. Shadow wouldn’t lie,” I said because that I knew that with all my heart.

“No, he wouldn’t,” Grey said. “But they let him go on purpose. To find you.” And he turned to me. “They want you to go to them.”

“Most probably,” Mama Si said from the other side, watching Shadow curiously. “It could be the reason why they haven’t come looking for you yet, Fall Doll.” Her colorful eyes met mine over Shadow’s head. “I don’t doubt it for a second that they have Master Valentine.”

At the mentioning of his name, Shadow roared again, and even I flinched.

“It’s okay, Shadow,” I said, offering him my hand, and he immediately leaned into me. I rubbed his chest with the backs of my fingers like Valentine always did. “It’s fine. We’re going to get him back, don’t you worry.”

He purred this time, trying out his wings once more, but they weren’t fast enough yet. “Hush, it’s fine. Stop trying—save your energy,” I said. “I’ll carry you. You don’t?—”

“Fall.” Grey’s voice sent shivers down my back. “It’s a trap. Theywantyou to go to them—it’s a trap.”

“I know that,” I whispered. “But they have Valentine.” And I’d be damned if I could sit here and do nothing—even if I wanted to, which I didn’t.

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