Page 16 of The Eighth Isle

“Yes, she could,” Valentine said. “Shewouldhave. Sedelis had worked for decades on a spell to extract raw magical power.It is possible, technically, but it’s something very few species can do.”

I turned to him—the sound of his voice irritated me so much.

“Which species are those?” asked Romin, as if that had any importance.

“Sirens—obviously. Skinwalkers,” Valentine said. “Some dragons, too, though in different ways.”

I shook my head, turning to Romin again. “What matters is that shedidn’tsucceed. He attacked Sedelis before she finished whatever spell she was chanting.” And I nodded my head to the side, to Valentine. “Syra still has her power—and Grey is still with her.”

“I don’t get it,” Tristian said, smiling and shaking his head at Valentine. “You’ve been planning this…how long?”

Valentine looked at his brother like he wanted to murder him but said nothing.

“Well, according to Genevieve, she got her claws in him when he was six years old, and she took it from there. Did he tell youherstory, too?” I asked the brothers, and the way they looked at me said that it was ano. “She was forced here to this Isle to serve your father as a babymaker, too—just like me. Except she was going to kill herself because she refused to accept that fate. That’s when Sedelis found her and used her all these years to groom one of you because she couldn’t awaken Syra on her own. She needed the blood of an Evernight—willingly given, too. She picked Valentine.” And all of them had been too fucking blind to see it.

For a moment, silence reigned in the room.

“I told you. Iwarnedyou, Romin.” And he’d laughed in my face.

Now, all he could do was lower his fucking head and pour himself more wine.

“This is fucked up,” Emil said, his hands over the table fisted, completely white as he looked at Valentine.

Valentine, who didn’t seem half as bothered as he should have been for basically bringing about the end of the world.

“Where is she now?” I asked Romin, and he knew I meant Genevieve. She had been in the ocean with us after Syra threw us out of the Isle—I remembered her screams. She was alive.

“Locked herself in her chambers. Won’t let anybody through,” said Romin reluctantly, rubbing the back of his neck.

“We have to find Grey. He’s your brother,” I said, even though I knew it was in vain. But I still had to try, didn’t I? I had to ask for help before I dove into the ocean and swam to the Eighth Isle by myself—because I knew the outcome ofthatplan: certain death.

“Even if we could go to the Eighth Isle, it would be impossible to find him, Fall. If she killed Sedelis with such ease…” Romin’s voice trailed off. He didn’t even need to finish his sentence. I knew exactly what was on his mind.

I stood up, my legs shaking, my magic coming alive once more. But before I could shout at them that they were cowards, the backdoor of Romin’s office, the one that merged so perfectly with the wall, opened, and Vinny came through.

He didn’t smile, didn’t make eye contact with anybody, and he was just as pale as Romin. As the rest of us. He simply walked all the way to him, then leaned down and whispered something in his ear.

If my heart wasn’t hammering in my chest, I’d have heard it the way the others did. My ears were good enough at picking up the smallest sounds now, too.

As it was, when Vinny retreated back to that door in the wall, Romin stood up, his eyes glistening with excitement.

“The siren sisters have sent word. They’ll be coming to the castle at nightfall to talk.”

Everything came to a halt.

The siren sisters, the ones who’d had no idea what Sedelis had planned, the ones who had put Syra under in the first place—basically the only creatures in the world right now who could potentially win against her.

The siren sisters were coming, and even though I had barely any hope left in me, I still prayed with all my heart that they would help me find Grey and put an end to Syra before it became too late for real.

Five

Nightfall seemed like an eternity away.

I ignored Valentine and the other brothers while I drank the wine—Romin style—and practically ran out of the office, unable to sit still for a second longer. There wasn’t much else they could tell me, anyway—they wouldn’t help me get Grey back, just like I knew they wouldn’t. My only hope were the sirens, and until they got here, I couldn’t rest.

There was no fear left in me as I walked the nowbrighthallways of the Evernight castle. God, it was like a different world altogether. Everything had changed, every color and every corner—or maybe it was the fact that I no longer looked over my shoulder and no longer rushed to get to my tower. I was no longer terrified that the brothers would catch me and rape me and drink me dry.

Finally, I was able to protect myself if they came for me. Finally, I counted on no one but my magic to keep me safe.

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