Page 99 of The Eighth Isle

“Of course I’m worried.” This was a fucking nightmare—my lifewas a nightmare that didn’t seem to want to end anytime soon. “If Syra’s magic is really inside me…” I shook my head. “What the hell does that mean for me?”

Grey was silent for the longest time before he said, “I don’t know.”

He mademe eat the food he’d brought me, and I recognized the tastes right away. Claus—Mama Si’s chef—had made me this breakfast, and it was still the best food I’d ever had, even better than what they served me in the Evernight castle. I started eating because I was so weak, my limbs too heavy for my liking, and I continued because of the taste until I’d cleaned the whole plate and drank the milk. I hadn’t felt that full in a long time, and I could instantly think more clearly.

I could remember more clearly, too—the time when I’d actually lived here. For a month, I’d been treated like a princess and I’d had no idea what really went on in the Blood Burrow—or even that I wasonone of the Isles.

“This used to be my room,” I told Grey when he took that tray from my lap and I stood up to test my legs.

“She said so,” Grey said, watching me as I went to the closet door and opened it, expecting to find it empty.

It wasn’t.

I gasped when I realized that it wasexactlyas I’d left it. All those clothes I’d bought at the mall that night with Adam and the girls were still there, exactly like I’d left them. All my colors. All my things—things that had never truly been mine.

Tears in my eyes, and I only noticed when they blurred my vision as I ran my hands over the fabrics. It hadn’t been that long ago since I’d been here, had it? The scent—myperfume. The feel of the clothes. The sound of my footsteps on the hardwood floor—it felt like I’d spentyearsin this place, not weeks. It felt like this was really, truly mine still.

“Youworethis?”

I turned to find Grey still at the beginning of the closet, holding a dress in his hand, a thin piece of satin that would barely cover anything, its color a gorgeous flame red.

I stifled a smile. “Yes, actually. I wore that all the time. It was my favorite.”

Grey raised his brows, and I thought for sure he was going to be jealous or something—it was a really short dress, backless, with barely-there spaghetti straps.

But then he said, “Then you wouldn’t mind wearing it today, too?”

His voice was dry and thick, and the way he looked at me, from my feet up to my face, I was willing to bet he was hard even if I couldn’t see it.

“This is the sexiest thing I’ve ever seen in my life,” he muttered, almost like he was talking to himself.

I giggled. “I don’t mind at all. I’ve never actually worn it before, but if you want to see it on me, I’ll wear it.”

“I want totearit off you, actually.”

Oh, damn.

Heat between my legs as if by a push of a button. “Not now, Grey.” Even though I wanted it to benow, right now,we had things to do first. Things to figure out.

“Later, then?”

I nodded, drowning that voice in my head that insisted thatright now is perfectly fine. It really wasn’t.

“Later.”

“Deal.”

“Now get out so I can put something else on.” So many things to choose from and I was actually surprised to find that I was excited to be here again.

It was no wonder, though—this was the place where I’d learned tolookat myself for the first time. Where I’d allowed myself to want better things.

“I’ve seen you naked, my queen,” said Grey, and he wouldn’t put the red dress away. He was still holding on to it.

“Well aware. And what happens when you see me naked again?”

His lips parted and that grin took over his face. “I will lose all reason.”

“Exactly.” He would be slamming me against walls, and it was safe to say I would be too weak to resist, just like always. “So, get out.”

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