Page 3 of The Eighth Isle

“Now is not the time to be stubborn, Sunshine. We have to—” Valentine started.

“Don’t,”I cut him off, not even turning to look at him. “Youdid this.Don’t fucking lecture me now.”

“Together then,” Grey said, because he knew I wouldn’t budge. That, I had no problem with, so I nodded.

Together we started to back away toward the exit, faster now, because the others were busy. They were busy with each other, and once Grey’s wings folded on his back, I saw them again.

Syra, on the floor, blood trickling from her nose and the corner of her lips.

Sedelis approaching her slowly as Genevieve ran after her.

“Sedelis, what are you doing?! What are you?—”

But Sedelis turned to her and waved a hand—simply waved it, and another burst of power hit Genevieve, taking her in the air and slamming her against the ground again. Half her body ended up inside the water of the pool.

“You’ve served me well, Genny, but your time is up now.Everyone’stime is up,” Sedelis said, as she turned to Syra again. “I’ve been biding my time to get here, and finally, I did.”

We were almost at the exit now, but if we started to run, Sedelis would hear it. If she attacked us with her magic, we’d end up on the ground, too—and who was to say we wouldn’t pass out? Genevieve had. She wasn’t moving, her eyes were closed, and I couldn’t even tell if she was breathing as she lay on her stomach at the edge of the pool, her legs floating in the water.

“Steady,” Grey whispered, as if he could read my mind. Sedelis was focused on Syra right now, and we needed to keep it that way—no sudden movement.

“All these years we’ve wasted all of our magic just to keep you under. We’ve wasted ourselves, our land, our people,” Sedelis was saying. “Well, I’m tired of it, sister dearest. Now, I want the power all to myself. All that delicious power that runs through your veins—I want it,and I’m going to have it.”

She was still five feet away from where Syra lay when she raised her hands and began to chant again. I couldn’t see her face—her back was turned to us—but I would bet anything thather eyes were pure white, just like they had been when she’d chanted from the pool.

The horror in Grey’s eyes matched my own as we both came to the same realization. Sedelis was trying totakeSyra’s power from her, that same power with which Syra had ruined Ennaris. That same power that had frozen the Great White—a dragon the size of a damn mountain—with a simple wave and basically no effort.

And we couldn’t let that happen.

The truth fell like a sack of rocks in the pit of my stomach. I wanted to tell Grey that it wasn’t any of our business, that we could get away,nowwhile Sedelis was still chanting. He could fly us out of here in no time, and we’d be safe, except…

Something invisible slammed on the back of Sedelis and took her tumbling forward. Magic, raw and warm—I felt it moving past me at an incredible speed.

Valentine.

He’d stepped forward without us even realizing it, and he’d actually attacked Sedelis.

“This is not what we agreed on, Sedelis!” he called, his hand raised again, his skin so pale he resembled a damn ghost.

Other than that, he looked so normal that I almost forgot that I’d attacked him with my magic earlier. I almost forgot how I’d left him on the ground, his body twisted in awful angles.

“Valentine, step back,” Grey said, calling my attention back to the sirens.

To Syra, whose eyes were now open, and Sedelis was pushing herself to her feet again, laughing.

She was still fucking laughing like a maniac.

I thought for sure she was going to turn to us, attack Valentine,killhim right there on the spot—except she saw that Syra was awake. That stopped her as if by the press of a button.

I never thought I’d see the day in which someone like Sedelis would be afraid of anything, but right now she looked terrified. Just like that, she forgot we even existed, raised her hands and started chanting again, twice as fast as before.

No idea why that gave me a little hope.

“We attack her together,” I said in a whisper, preparing myself. “The three of us, at the same time.”

“Knock her out, then I’ll fly her out of here,” Grey said with a nod.

“Syra will still be awake,” Valentine said through gritted teeth, but he had his hands up anyway.

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