Page 101 of Winterfall Destiny

As Dorian disappears, I glance down at the temporarily dead hemia he left on the ground, and then to the trembling girl beside me. I've signed at least one kid's death warrant by asking Dorian to come tonight.

But isn't everybody who agrees to work for either side signing their own death warrant?

Until tonight, I hadn't fully appreciated the upcoming bloodshed, instead the Dominion surrounding Gabriella were a faceless army we needed to plough through to reach her. These two? Dumb kids. How many dumb kids are about to die in Gabriella's name?

I jerk the girl back to reality, and her eyes flood with tears, chest heaving. "What's your name?" I ask.

"Na-Natalie." She swallows. "Don't kill me. I'll tell you anything you want to know."

I give a tight smile. "You won't need to, Natalie. Now, I'd like you to take us somewhere quiet and then, if you co-operate, I'll let you walk away again." She glances at her friend. "And him. When he re-joins the world."

"Who are you?" Natalie asks. "Who was that other man?"

She's young. Confused. Told the bare minimum, just like the hundreds of kids before her. The ones Professor Whitlock taught, toeing the Confederacy line, or the ones equally brainwashed by the Dominion's lies.

"How long have you worked with the Dominion?" I ask.

"Couple of weeks." Again, Natalie visibly swallows.

"Do you know anything about Tobias Whitlock?" She shakes her head. "Maeve Winterfall?"

"No," she whispers. "I'm new. Still training. We're not told confidential information."

"Such as knowing who your mortal enemies are?" I mutter, almost feeling sorry for her.

"Oh! I know one name. Andrei. He's the leader's son who's joining us soon." Natalie frowns at me when my laugh echoes around us. "Is thatyou?"

"No. I'm not Andrei, and neither is he." I look down at her confusion. "You'll take me somewhere quiet, and I will bring your friend, too. Don't try to run. Understood?"

Natalie nods obediently. Her mind is so damnweak. I haul the dead vamp up and over my shoulder, my other hand on Natalie's back to propel her forward.

"Do you know the name Dorian Blackwood?" I ask as we make our way along the dank tunnel further into the subterranean maze.

"No. Should I?" she asks, not turning. "Is that your name?"

I'd laugh at how pissed off Dorian would be, but her answer kicks me in the gut.

The kids are cannon fodder.

These Dominion recruits know nothing about what they've signed up for and won't survive long enough to learn the truth.

36

MAEVE

I've not settled since seeing the atrocities in Tobias's mind and his confession about Anastasia. My body courses with the anxiety and adrenaline still, despite Ash's attempts to talk things through and take me away from the situation.

Tobias and Anastasia. Questions cycle around. Has he hidden more? Was Tobias coerced into the killings, as he told me, or not? Was he under her blood’s influence, or did Tobias enjoy the relationship? I shake my head, but nothing dislodges the snapshots of the man I saw tonight.

I successfully fought the shadows by suppressing my anger. I could've dragged Tobias back into that club and used magic against him in a place nobody could notice, but everything turned numb. Ash makes sense if I listen with my head and not my heart. Anastasia’s dead. The person who’ll face my shadows isn’t her or Tobias, but the other woman responsible for the massacre. Gabriella, who led the Dominion at the time.

At least Gabriella didn’t know about Anastasia and Tobias, otherwise she would’ve used that against me, but I bet she suspected something.

Still, I can’t dismiss everything Tobias told me or the scenes from Silas’s mind. The shock won’t wear off anytime soon, but I mean what I said to Tobias—if he runs again, I’ll follow and demonstrate that if he turns away from us he’ll piss me off more than his past.

I squeeze my eyes closed. Anastasia taunted me over and over, attempted to harm me and to take Tobias back. The witch would’ve loved if this permanently divided me and Tobias or interfered in our fight against the Dominion. That’s a thought I need to hold on to.

Tobias never returned to Anastasia, but he put himself in danger by insisting he came too when Anastasia abducted me. He also never yielded to Anastasia at the Blackwood house because she had no influence over him anymore. Tobias risked even more by protecting me. Covering up Nikolai’s death.

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