Page 121 of Winterfall Destiny

"Do you want to leave?" I break my silence. All are pale; tense and edgy. The witches' barriers aren't only in their minds, or magical. They've closed out those around them. "Do the vamps attack you?"

"Not yet," mutters the second guy, athletic build with tight black curls. "But the witches I met when I arrived disappeared. Bonehead over there taunts us that they died, and Dominion use their bodies for something else. And that we're next."

My mouth parches and I look to 'Bonehead', the vamp who passed us earlier who’s now back and sitting across the room. Watching. "He might be lying," says Jamie.

"Yeah? The witches that the leaders take never return," says the girl on the floor.

"How long have you been here? What's happening?" I ask. I'm keeping my distance, but each time I speak, their attention draws my way.

"Couple of days. And you know why we're here. The blood," says the curly-haired guy.

"And I told you we took a risk, Carter," says the girl against the wall. "The blood comes from vamps."

"I'm not taking the blood," whispers the girl on the floor. "I've strong magic. They can use me for that instead. You should offer the same, Carter."

"And maybe that's why AJ and Della never returned. Not because they took the blood, but because they refused." The stocky guy rubs his mouth as he looks around. "We don't know what the fuck happened to the pair or if the same thing happened to other witches before them."

"Like I said," says the standing girl. "There're few witches here. We expected more."

"I swear the recruiters use mind magic on witches because I had doubts about joining. Yet I'm here and can't remember agreeing," says the other girl. "Did that happen to you two?"

"These two came with the Dominion reps and the dragon." Carter gestures towards the door Tobias and Ash are behind. "No way can they leave now."

What is Gabriella aiming to do? Create a world controlled by vamps?

"Do the hemia bother you?" asks Jamie.

"'Bother us'." The girl leaning against the wall makes a derisive noise. "Vamps aren't allowed to touch witches. Not publicly. But the ones with the blood—they've less control. I don't feel safe."

I dart another look around to the bored looking recruits. I sense the First's presence in some of their heartbeats, but not as many as I expected. "People in this room have the blood? How many?"

"A handful," says Carter.

"What's in the blood?" I ask. "Nobody told us."

The athletic guy shrugs. "Some say it's blood from the original vamp families mixed with illegal magic."

"Too much for witches to handle, that's what it is," says Carter. "And Melissa is right—I don't remember agreeing, and I want out too."

A shiver trips along my spine. Mind controlled into joining?

"Are you all the same type of witch?" asks Jamie. "Elemental or something else?"

The group exchange glances, a silent discussion on what to tell us. "Dual. Elemental and mental," says Melissa. "What are you?"

She looks directly at me, suspicion filling her features.

Dual. Rarer. Not as rare as Eloise, the Trinity witch who's now a vampire hybrid, but witches who're treated differently by the Confederacy: automatic entry into the academies, their magic encouraged and honed.

Once they graduate, are these witches recruited like the Ravenhold volunteers? Is Gabriella catching them before the Confederacy do? Either way, the people with us are valuable assets to both sides.

“What are you?” repeats Melissa.

"I'm an ex-Nightworld student. Mental magic. I'm here because the Confederacy let us down, and my friends died at the academy," I reply.

The sitting girl sneers. "Yeah, thought your guy sounded posh. Don't think that your privilege will count for anything in this place, Adam."

But Melissa now stares at me, slanting her head before subtly moving closer. I take a step back and Jamie blocks her. "There's something weird about Nicole," she says, eyes narrowing.

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