Isle of Night Read Online Free PDF

profile, wondering if I’d seen uncertainty shadow his face. Did he regret asking me? Had I heard hesitation in his voice, or was it just my imagination?
    He’d pulled his eyes from mine, and that earlier sense of unreality was creeping back in, clinging in the back of my mind like shadows in corners. His silence unnerved me, and I wanted to normalize the situation. “Far away?” I asked. “Are we going west?”
    â€œNo. We’re leaving the country. For an island.”
    My brows rose at the word island . “Like the Caribbean?”
    He faced me, his eyes grown hard. “Not that kind of island. It’s far away. Far north. North of Scotland. North of the Shetlands. It’s a dark place. A cold place.”
    Why was his voice so flat? Renewed doubt was making me queasy.
    â€œIs that where you’re from?” I asked, desperate to experience that warmth again, for this to be all right. Images of maps flitted through my head—a photographic memory was good for something. “Is it the Faroe Islands? Iceland?”
    â€œNear there. It’s not a place you’ve heard of.” He looked back at me, and I tried to summon the ease he’d made me feel before. “And, aye. It’s where I’m from.”
    He was taking me to see his home? I found it hard to believe we were even having this conversation. My thoughts were so jumbled, as though not my own. “How will I get back if . . . if I don’t like it?”
    â€œYou won’t want to leave.”
    I mulled what he could mean by that, but he seemed to sense my anxiety, and the shadows cleared from his eyes. He stroked a finger down my cheek. “I’m taking you to a place where there are other girls like you. Girls with . . . gifts .”
    This took me aback. It was looking like this . . . thing with Ronan was less run-away-together than it was some sort of recruiting exercise. Oddly, the prospect reassured me, explaining his presence at a university and why he’d want someone like me.
    The fog cleared a bit from my mind. “Like a special school?”
    â€œAye. Like a special school. To train girls.”
    â€œTrain them to what?”
    â€œTo become women.”
    My breath hitched. Oh, God, this was a sex-slave thing. He could give me all the mesmerizing looks and lingering touches in the world, and never would I vibe with anything like that.
    He rolled his eyes, reading my thoughts. “Not like that. Successful women, with skills and depth.”
    He traced his finger down my arm, resting his hand on my thigh. Heat plumed up my leg, coursing through my body. I let out a sigh I hadn’t realized I was holding. Not a girl . . . a woman. With skills and depth. Did that mean I’d finally found a place where I could really learn? Where I’d meet other girls who liked to learn, too?
    Suddenly all things seemed possible. Could I really get on this plane? Could I finally, for once in my life, begin to realize my true self?
    Visions cascaded into my head . . . me goofing on campus with the other girls. We’d wear white anoraks with fur hoods and have snowball fights. We’d discuss things like medieval Latin and rap music of the Asian Diaspora. I’d meet Ronan for coffee after class. I wouldn’t be so different. I wouldn’t have to hold back.
    Never again would I have to hold back.
    I should’ve been scared, but not many things frightened me anymore. My father’s opened hand careening toward my face no longer scared me. The dead-eyed stares of the other high school kids had stopped scaring me long ago. But being stuck in the same small town for the rest of my life? That scared me.
    Could I be a real woman? Someone self-determined, who hopped onto private jets headed for islands far, far from home. I wanted to be.
    â€œOkay.” I opened the car door. I stepped onto that tarmac, onto the path of no return. I turned to look at him. Those