Page 71 of The Eighth Isle

On the first balcony, I saw the trees, dense and large and green, the bright blue sky without a single cloud in sight, and the ocean stretching toward the horizon. They looked infinitetogether like that, and the sight calmed me down somewhat. The scent of flowers—and the sound of birds out here was the best thing I’d heard in days.

And then I went to the second balcony, which showed a slightly different part of the castle, closer to the corner of it, and I could actually see the talons of the Great White planted firmly on the ground near the walls, a single claw as big as my entire body.

Near it were Grey and Storm.

My heart skipped a long beat, and I grabbed the railing just in case my legs decided to give up on me.

It was some sort of yard, with trees around the square space and stone benches every few feet. Near the walls of the building was a round fountain spraying water, with flowers growing around the white stone.

Gray was standing between it and those benches, his back turned to me. He was talking to Storm, who was sitting on his hind legs with his wings folded on his back, listening intently, his eye only on Grey as he waved his hands around.

A loud breath left me, and he couldn’t have possibly heard because I was three stories up, but Grey turned to me anyway.

He turned his head and his eyes locked on mine instantly, like he knew he’d find me right there. I squeezed the metal of the railing tighter and attempted to smile at him, but I didn’t think I managed.

Even from this distance, I saw his face with clarity because I knew every detail of it. Even from this distance I saw it when his lips parted and his pupils dilated and every muscle on his body locked tightly.

The urge to call out to him, to tell him to come to me, take me in his arms and to the rooftop somewhere, where we could be alone, was so strong. I just needed a moment, the two of us all alone so he could make me feel like I was on top of the world one more time.

But then Grey turned his head away, to the other side of the castle, somewhere behind that fountain where I couldn’t really see without leaning outside the railing, and I didn’t want to. I didn’tneedto—he looked at me again, then shook his head once. That was enough to let me know that we were being watched, possibly by Syra herself.

No, he couldn’t fly to me, and he couldn’t take me in his arms. He could do nothing but turn back to Storm.

A couple of tears slipped down my cheeks silently as I watched them training together. By the looks of it, Grey was trying to figure out how fast Storm’s reactions were from his left side because he didn’t have his left eye. Shadow had eaten it—tiny Shadow who had followed me around everywhere and had saved my life at least a couple times.

Shadow had eaten his eye in the duel, and now Grey was training Storm how to see his side without it.

I couldn’t really hear them, but I watched them moving and jumping around each other, Grey waving his arms around as he explained something to Storm, and Storm blowing out smoke from his nostrils each time he nodded.

I watched them for what could have been hours, and then Grey turned to look at me one last time before he tapped Storm on the side of this neck, and Storm took off flying in the sky.

Then Grey went back inside the castle, and I was all alone on the balcony again.

By day three,I was about ready to lose my fucking mind.

There was no way out of this castle without Syra knowing about it. I could feel her eyes on me everywhere I went, even though I never saw a single soul since Grey and Storm the morning before. I never saw Valentine or Shadow, or even those freaky golems. It was just me and the walls, and no door wasever closed, and the outside was just as heavenly as it looked from the windows. The birds never stopped singing day and night. The trees looked so beautiful and healthy, and the animals hiding behind them were always so curious to see me whenever I went out. They followed me but never came close, only watched me from behind leaves and hid in the tall grass. I wondered if they were the same animals who’d gone rabid when Syra was dormant here and the Eighth Isle was under the spell of the curse. I wondered if they’d healed, too, same as the land that was thriving.

I wondered, and on day four, I made it all the way to the beach without anybody stopping me.

I dipped my legs in the water and looked out at the blue—of both the sky and the water that was so close, yet an entire world away. Even if someone had given me a boat right now, or a damn plane, and told me I could go anywhere I wanted, I wouldn’t take it. Grey was still here, and where he was, that’s where I’d be. Death was certain, anyway.

How much longer did any of us really have?

Then there was the other thought that overwhelmed me so much Iranfrom it mentally—a baby was growing inside of me.

Nothing about me had changed physically. My stomach was just the same as always, and so were my breasts. And when Grey had been there, it had been easy to accept that I was indeed pregnant. It hadn’t felt so damndisastrous,considering the circumstances. But alone it was different. Alone, it was impossible to even imagine it without wanting to throw up, so I kept on running. Maybe that made me a coward but thinking about a baby while I wondered about the world’s end and Grey being hurt by a psycho siren proved to be far too much for my mind to handle.

When I returned to that castle that day, I saw Storm flying in circles around the towers, over the lowered head of the GreatWhite that hadn’t moved a single inch since I’d come here. He looked so alive, yet like a colorful statue at the same time. Part of the castle, yet I could have sworn I sometimes heard him breathing, too.

Storm didn’t even acknowledge me, or maybe he was too far away to even see me, but for a moment I imagined Grey was there, too, and he’d find me. For a moment, I stayed there in front of the main doors to the castle, and I waited for him to come or to give me a sign—or just to feel the energy of his magic close by.

I felt nothing.

With a heavy heart, I walked up the stairs and to that bedroom, and I lay on the bed just as the sun began to set over the horizon.

That night, Grey came to me.

Seventeen

---