Page 38 of The Eighth Isle

“But she’ll believe it—like I said, it’s the truth. We only have a few weeks left, wasn’t that what Reeva said?” Mama Si continued as she paced around my chair slowly, watching me like a hawk—the way a predator watches her prey.

“That’s what they had five hundred years ago,” I answered without really thinking about it. “But you’re right—it’s the truth.”

“A truth the likes of Syra will want to know about, especially since she just woke up and is planning to stick around. That’s the thing about manipulating people that most don’t understand—it matters little whatyouwant. It only works if you can figure out what theotherperson wants and give them that.”

“Like you did with me.” She’d known exactly what I’d wanted—something different, somethingmorethan my life had evergiven me, and she’d held that in front of my face and made me chase it without regard for anything else.

Mama Si smiled like she’d just heard the best thing in the world. “Exactly, Fall Doll!”

I couldn’t even tell if she faked it, or if she was genuinely that happy that I got it.

Shaking my head, I smiled. “Well, Syra is no me.” I’d been helpless, alone, vulnerable. That’s why her lies had worked so well on me.

“Syra is like everyone else. Name one woman who wouldn’t ruin the world for a man she loves—justone!” That laughter again, ringing in my ears, getting under my skin.

Then her fingertips were under my chin and she was pulling my head up, looking into my eyes, but no magic came off her.

But she said, “Youwould do it, too, wouldn’t you, Fall Doll? In the name of love?”

Her whisper slipped into my ears like a snake come to devour me from the inside out. The idea that she saw right through me as she looked into my eyes terrified me, but I couldn’t answer her for the life of me.

No,I should have said,of course not. I would never!

Except…that was a lie.

A voice in my head and a feeling deep in my bones said it was a goddamn lie, especially when I’d felt the pain Syra had felt when she’d saw Hansil beingeatenby her sisters.

My God, all that pain…

My eyes closed and I drew in a deep breath to remind myself that I was here now, and I wasn’t Syra. What had happened to her all those years ago hadn’t happened to me. I was not Syra. I couldneverkill innocent people. Not for any reason, ever.

Lie,that voice in my head whispered, but I ignored it perfectly fine.

“Syra,” I told Mama Si, moving out of her reach. “Focus on Syra. What’s the plan?”

She smiled like she knew all my deepest, darkest secrets. “It’s a fairly simple plan because only those truly work. I will go to the Eighth Isle and talk to Syra, tell her about the stars. And when she wants to go to Witches’ Wing to confirm the story, that’s when you make your move.”

My heart was already hammering in my chest. “Reeva will agree to it,” I said with a nod, even though I didn’t know it for sure. But the witch had said that she’d help me, that I should tell her when I had a plan, and I believed she’d meant it.

“Regardless of whether she agrees—Syra will want to see for herself. I doubt there’s a witch out there who’ll dare stand in her way.” She grinned sneakily.

“And if they do?” I asked in a whisper.

Mama Si raised a brow. “If they do, they die.”

The words echoed in my head for a long time after.

“But they won’t,” I told myself. “They won’t stand in Syra’s way. Reeva will make sure of it.”

“Then you have nothing to worry about, Fall Doll,” said Mama Si, standing before me as she dusted off imaginary wrinkles on her dress. “I shall go to the Eighth Isle and speak to Syra, tell her what the stars have predicted, and hope for the best.” She crossed her fingers and winked at me again. “Here’s hoping she’s as fabulous as my teenage mind remembers.”

For fuck’s sake…That same voice inside my head warned me—do you really want to trust the likes of Mama Si again?

The answer was simple—I didn’t, not even close. But the truth was that I had very little choice, and even less time. I wasn’t trusting Mama Si with anything. She was simply going to tell a truth to Syra and hope the siren left the Eighth Isle for a little while. And if it didn’t work…

Well, we were all going to die soon, anyway, weren’t we?

Nine

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