Page 41 of The Eighth Isle

Except the walls had been about to swallow me whole in there, so outside was the only place I could be without driving myself insane with paranoia, so it hadn’t really been a choice.

Fisting my hands, I released a long breath and told myself that it didn’t matter. Only hours separated me from Grey—it didn’t matter that the brothers were here. Whatever they wanted, they no longer scared me. Nothing did anymore—only Syra.

“Can’t sleep?” said Romin when he landed in front of me, a small distance away. He was barefoot and naked from the hips up, wearing only a pair of black pants and his wings, which folded behind his back and disappeared completely. They were very similar to Grey’s—all sharp claws and black leather, big and strong enough to carry him in the air without trouble.

“I don’t want to,” I said, holding his eyes, though half my attention was on Emil, who was behind me. So far neither lookedlike they were going to jump me, but if they did, my magic was right there. If they did, I’d unleash it on the both of them without hesitation. Even if I didn’t kill them, I’d give myself plenty of time to walk away.

“You’ve visited the witches and the Burrow,” Romin said, putting his hands in his pockets as he slowly, casually strode over to me. “And you’ve been out here all night.”

“And?” I challenged, and it made him smile.

“And I’m wondering why.”

I smiled, too, though mine was bitter as all hell. “Keep wondering.”

Romin laughed like I’d said the funniest thing in the world, and it just pissed me off more. Of course, he laughed—to him, I could have been out here with the sole purpose of entertaining him in this early hour.

“So feisty,” Emil said as he came closer, too.

“So stubborn. I like it,” said Romin, but he kept a good distance from me.

“You should taste my magic. I’m sure you’ll both love that even more,” I said, and I wasn’t afraid in the least.

Emil stopped right by Romin’s side, and they were both looking down at me—big, beautiful monsters who could devour me with a single bite. Big, beautiful monsters I’d been scared shitless of just a week ago when I was helpless. When I was weak.

Now, I couldn’t even bring myself to not be irritated by their presence—but that’s it. That’s all I felt.Irritation.

“No, thanks. Tristian told us all about it,” Romin said, and he wasn’t worried. I had no illusion that they were afraid of me or anything, but just the fact that they were keeping their distance from me was enough.

“Is that why he didn’t have the balls to come face me tonight?” I asked, pretending to be genuinely curious.

Again, the brothers looked at one another and chuckled. “Oh, boy,” said Emil.

“You do realize that attacking a master is considered a crime, don’t you?” Romin said, but he was having the night of his fucking life if the sparkle in his eyes was anything to go by.

“He was never my master, and neither are you, Romin,” I said. “Besides, what are you going to do about it—banish me?”

I swear, these men thought me a goddamn comedian with the way they laughed.

“Jokes aside, Fall, don’t use that magic here again,” Romin said, and my magic raged as if it heard him. As if it understood him—and it wanted to show him exactly why he needed to take those fucking words back.

I bit my tongue until I tasted blood just to hold myself back—both from attacking him and saying something.

“What did you talk to the witches about?” Emil said. “We were told Reeva Lorein ate with you. That’s quite an honor, if you didn’t know.”

“And why the Burrow? Don’t tell me you’ve made nice with Mamayka now that Grey is gone for good,” said Romin.

I saw fucking red.

“Grey isnotgone—we all know where he is. You’re just too cowardly to go get him back.”

The way the smiles dropped from their faces was fucking epic. I took a mental picture of them and was going to carry it with me until the day I died.

“And what my relationship with the other Isles is shouldn’t concern you, not anymore. Whatshouldconcern you, however, is the fact that the rulers of the other Isles don’t feel the need to even tell you when the end of the fucking world is at our doorstep.”Priceless, priceless, pricelessthe look on their faces. “How about you worry aboutthat,Romin? How about you wonder why Reeva Lorein wouldn’t bother to even tell you thatthe end of the Seven Isles is coming? Maybe becauseyoudidn’t give a damn about going to even speak to her now that you’re no longer bound to the Woods?”

That’s what she’d said, hadn’t she? Yesterday, after I’d met Mama Si, I’d gone back to Reeva to tell her about the plan. She’d agreed because she hoped that if Syraknewthat the end was coming, she could be persuaded to stop before it was too late. Not only that, but she’d insisted she go with Mama Si to see Syra herself.

I had no complaints about it at all. I just asked her if it was okay to tell everyone else about the prophecy of the stars, and she said, “Why wouldn’t it be? The stars speak to all Enchanted, not only my kind. Let everyone know. In fact, the Evernight Court should have come to see me by now—if they had, they would have been the first to find out, but alas…”

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