Page 29 of The Eighth Isle

Words she said before came crashing down on me, all at once.

Ever since I’d laid eyes on her today I knew that I should have run, but I didn’t. I stayed. And just like Reeva said, I wished I hadn’t.

“I need to…I need to sit…”

Before I knew it, I was sitting on the wooden floor of the platform, back against the railings, looking up at the telescope like it was the devil itself. And all those vials with the potions that were no longer boiling. And the air, light now without Reeva’s magic infusing it.

She came to sit beside me.

“That’ll get ya,” she said, and her sigh was relieved again, like she was glad to have finally gotten that off her chest.

For a little while, I was unable to say anything. All those thoughts in my head were spiraling and I couldn’t even begin to understand anything at all.

But then it settled.

Then it made sense.

“No.” It couldn’t be. It simply couldn’t—Ijust foundGrey. I hadn’t even had him for myself a full week—justno. I wouldn’t accept it.

“Oh, yes, young one,” said Reeva in a defeated whisper. “The stars never lie.”

“But they can be wrong.”Shecould be wrong. Maybe she read it all wrong—the stars were a little different now than they had been then.

“The stars are never wrong, either. Witches have been reading them since creation, and they’ve never once led us astray. Five hundred years ago they foresaw the ruin of Ennaris, and it came to be three weeks later. Now, they are foreseeing the ruin of the Seven Isles, and there is no doubt in my mind that it shall come to pass, too.”

Tears in my eyes. My magic was all over me, but right now it didn’t feel like it wanted to burst out.

It just wanted to hurtme.

“But…but it can’t be.” The end of the Seven Isles—now,just when I came into it? Now, the stars decided that everything was going to end?

“That’s what I thought, too, at first. It couldn’t possibly be,” Reeva said, resting her head against the railing. “How could it—whatcould possibly have enough power to wipe all the Isles off the face of the earth like the stars claim?” Laughter, cold and heartless. “Then I heard she had awakened.”

“Syra.” The only person strong enough to ruin all the Isles the same way she’d ruined the continent half a century ago.

“Yes—Syra the evil siren who once got her heart broken and decided that was worth the end of the world,” Reeva said. “I doubted the stars. I doubted myself. I doubted the Nella Lexis—I doubted a great deal of things until I found out she was awake. Alive and aware once more.”

I shook my head, more at myself. “It’s…over.” It was already as good as over, wasn’t it?

“Exactly,” Reeva said without missing a beat. “Which is why I told you, Autumn, that it’s not worth the bother. We’reallgoing to die in a matter of weeks, anyway. So, let’s just”—she raised her hands in front of her while she searched for the words she needed—“stop trying.”

It seemed logical, didn’t it? It seemed perfectly logical to stop trying, just like she said. After all, the stars had apparently said it themselves. It was over for real.

Yet a part of me still rebelled against the idea. A silly, silly part of me still refused to believe.

Taking off the necklace she gave me, I put it in her hand. Gift or not, I didn’t want it anymore. “Thank you for this and for showing me the stars, Reeva.” I stood up.

The telescope, the ceiling made out of outer space, the scrolls—all of it was magnificent, and the reasonable part of me didn’t doubt any of it for a second.

But reason had escaped me when I fell for Grey, so now I deliberately blinded myself—and I wouldn’t have it any other way.

“It’s not going to make a difference, is it,” Reeva said, and it wasn’t even a question. She laughed a bit as she stood up, too, but this time her laughter was heartfelt.

“No, it’s not. I’m going after him anyway,” I whispered, and it really wasn’t that much of a surprise, not even to my own self.

Yes, I was in the Star Reader. Yes, I’d seen those stars and those drawings, and I’d heard every word coming out of Reeva’s mouth. But just like she said, none of it really made a difference at this point.

“I know,” she said with a nod. “And I shall help you if I can—why ever not?”

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