Page 81 of The Eighth Isle

“So dramatic,” said Syra as her magic pulled and pulled until I was in the middle of the circle and she was barely three feet away from me.

“You’re amonster!” I shouted at the top of my voice because it didn’t really matter whether I behaved or whether I screamed my guts out at her now—it was over.

Then Grey rose in the air with Valentine in his arms andthrewhim against the ground. He fell so hard the entire Isle shook, and Grey landed on his chest with both feet, breaking Valentine’s ribcage with a loud crack.

Even so, I knew it wasn’t enough. Even when Grey launched himself at Syra and Storm was flying over my head, ready to grab me at his command, I knew we wouldn’t make it.

“Enough!”

Syra raised her hand toward Grey when he was inches away from her, and he was pushed back. He wasthrownagainst the trees and they broke under his weight, and the forest swallowed him completely.

“Valentine, rise,” Syra ordered next.

The ground itself moved, pushedValentine out of the hole he’d made with his body when Grey slammed him against it. The magic pulled him to his feet, and when it let go, he wobbled to the sides for a bit before he was able to stand on his own.

He was a bloody, dirty mess—but he was alive, eyes red and fangs extended, his shirt ripped.

He was alive still.

“You really think I’m a monster, lovely Fall?” Syra said, ignoring him completely as she slowly stepped closer to me, and that magic was still holding me prisoner. I couldn’t move my legs or arms at all, only my face.

“You are,” I said, trying to stop the tears from slipping down my cheeks, but it was impossible. I was too afraid, too angry, too disappointed—tooeverything.“You’re worse than your sisters.”

“Oh, but you don’t know what that word really means, I’m afraid,” she told me, and her eyes had darkened so much, barely any blue remained in them. “You have no idea what I can truly become yet.” And she brought her hand to my cheek, wiping my tears with the tips of her fingers.

I couldn’t move away. She was touching me, and I couldn’t even move away.

“I’ll take care of them,” Valentine said from her side, his voice strained, maybe because his ribs were still bruised.

“You’ll do no such thing,” said Syra, analyzing every feature of my face as she brought her fingers to her lips, then licked my tears off them. “Salty,” she breathed and winked at me. “I’ve run all out of patience now, lovely. We’re going to do it tonight.”

My heart fell all the way to my heels.

“Over my dead body.”

Grey was standing right behind her, wings spread, bloody and dirty, madness glistening in his eyes.

“Grey,don’t!” I shouted, even though I knew it would be useless. He jumped forward and unleashed his magic on Syra at the same time, and by some miracle, it worked.

Syra must have been too focused on me to notice Grey before he got too close because his magic reached her, and then when he slammed his fists to her chest, too, she couldn’t stop it. She tumbled back and fell to the ground, eyes wide and mouth open in surprise.

Her magic let go of me.

Valentine was reaching out to me, and he suddenly looked terrified because he knew.

I didn’t need to think at all. I just ran and grabbed his face in my hands, and I unleashed my magic at the same time, while Grey went after Syra, trying to catch her while she was still down.

“No—”

That’s as far as Valentine got before my magic slipped under his skin and began to wreak havoc on his body.

“Coward,” I whispered, and I let go of him just as he fell to his knees, the veins on his neck protruding, his eyes rolling in his skull.

Meanwhile Storm was spitting fire at the ground somewhere behind me, and Grey watched.

“Grey!” I shouted, running the few feet it took to get to him, and he turned. He raised his hand for mine, and I was about to jump in his arms so he could take us up in the air—but the moment our fingers intertwined, we heard the laughter.

Syra wasn’t burning underneath all that fire that had brightened up the night at all, just like I knew. Her laughter rang in my ears and my body locked in place instantly.

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