Page 94 of The Eighth Isle

“Enjoy your celebrations,” Grey said, his wings spreading from his back, and he moved to my side to take me in his arms. “We’re leaving.”

“But why?!” said Fessa. “Please, oh, please stay! Syra is gone. We won’t hurt you!”

“Of course not—you helped a great deal,” said Oreinne.

They all talked at the same time, all three of them while Raxae still had her eyes closed and her head back.

Stay! We can’t let you go!

Have some wine with us. Dance with us!

Let this night be forever in our memories as a good night.

A great night!

Thebestnight—the night that Syra died…

“No.”

Grey had me in his arms, and Valentine was about ready to start running, and Storm was up there, waiting for us to join him in the air—and then we all stopped and turned to Raxae.

My heart skipped a long beat.

Raxae slowly lowered her head. Her eyes were open, dark and glistening.

“She’s still here,” she whispered, and every hair on my body stood at attention.

“Impossible,” her sisters told her, and Fessa came closer, kneeled on the ground, grabbed a fistful of those grey ashes and let it slide between her fingers.

“Look—her remains.Thisis all that’s left of Syra.”

“No, no, no,” Raxae said, shaking her head. “She’s not gone. She’s still here.”

“She—” they all started at the same time, but Raxae wouldn’t hear it.

“Feelher, sisters!Feelher!”

“Grey,” I whispered, wrapping my arms around his neck. “We need to go.”

Grey didn’t hesitate.

He beat his wings once and took us up in the air, and the sisters, who’d all closed their eyes again, drew in air like they needed it to survive. Their hands were around their necks and their eyes opened wide once more.

Their eyesonme.

Then Fessa said, “She’s here.”

And all the sirens raised their hands toward us at the same time.

Twenty-One

Magic,warm and intense, came at us, and though Grey tried to get away, he couldn’t. The energy slammed onto us, grabbed us as if with invisible hands, and threw us against the ground the next second.

I had no idea what the hell was going on, but I knew that the sirens meant no good. Whatever they were thinking, we needed to keep away from them at all costs.

The fall didn’t really hurt that I could tell—we hadn’t made it very far up. I jumped to my feet, the view around me spinning still. Grey was beside me, too, and Storm was roaring, flying over our heads.

“Sneaky, sneaky, Syra,” Raxae was saying as she slowly came toward me.

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