Page 14 of Winterfall Destiny

Now, we take turns in sitting with Andrei, never leaving him alone for a second.

The way Tobias and Ash should've stayed with him to stop this happening.

But there's no blame, even if that selfish thought sneaks in sometimes. If the First wanted this to happen, nothing we did could stop the creature’s plan.

Four days—nothing has changed with Andrei, and the First hasn't returned. Were the creature’s words a parting shot? The middle finger to us as representatives of the world who trapped her? Tobias thinks the First will return; I'm unsure. Ash agrees with Jamie that even if the First does kill Gabriella, the creature will return to continue its games.

The seven days the First gave us to perform our task are up, but that's irrelevant, since killing Gabriella no longer threatens Andrei’s life too. But if the First already killed Gabriella, I'll be fucking furious because I've nurtured all the magic prompted by the creature, honing it, ready to end Gabriella.

This afternoon, Jamie goes to Andrei, and Tobias returns to me and Ash where they've persuaded me to sit on the patio by the gardens, away from the stale house and amongst the soothing scents of lavender and rose. I'm not sleeping, and Tobias hasn't volunteered to help by touching my mind again. He's slipping back into his old, protective habits while pretending he isn't. On sleepless nights, Jamie and Ash sit up with me if neither are with Andrei.

"Anything from Dorian?" asks Ash as he leans back in the chair beside me, long legs stretched out and crossed at the ankles.

Tobias did something I objected to today—he went to Dorian and told him what's happened to Andrei. I would've argued harder, but I'm worried I'll push Tobias away, and could lose someone else I love without warning. Who knows with Tobias? But his argument that Dorian's offer to help with locating Gabriella could make a difference is understandable—as long as he doesn't steal our kill either.

"Nothing from Dorian yet. He's looked for Gabriella since the day after he took the ring but found nothing," Tobias says, as if he's still in my mind.

"Dorian's little stunt pissed off Eloise," says Ash. "The other two guys weren't impressed, either. Ethan told me Eloise threatened to leave Dorian and take Mia. She really lost her shit, like completely destroyed a room when they argued."

"As if anybody could leave Dorian if he didn't want them to," I say.

"Eloise is the one with the real power, Maeve." Tobias stands at the edge of the patio, hands in his jeans pockets. Vampires never look tired, but even his eyes are duller. "Just like you and us."

Like that helps Andrei right now.

"So, however much Dorian wants the big kill, he won't do anything without Eloise," says Ash.

"Without her permission?" I ask and splutter.

"No. Her help, and Eloise promised to wait until..." Ash pauses and looks away. "The time's right."

"We're not killing Gabriella," I say firmly. "Andrei is. He's going to walk out of that room and destroy her and everything she's created. I'll help him burn the whole fucking lot of them."

"Sometimes, you sound very like Dorian," Ash says and rubs a thumb across my eyebrow before kissing my nose.

"Then if I ever become a self-absorbed, narcissistic prick, please kick me up the backside." I half-smile. I didn't think we'd laugh again, and the sound seems wrong when Andrei's suffering.

Is he suffering? I look to the attic window. Andrei never moves, as if already in the stasis the First threatened, but I always hold his hand and tell him to fight in the way I fought from the void in my mind control-induced dream.

As I look back from the attic window, Ash's smile disappears as quickly as it came. In the daytime, if I'm not with Andrei, I can tell myself he's up there as with any other day, the guy pissed off that he can't walk out. But after our conversation in the woods, even that thought doesn't comfort me. We can't be sure how much he's suffering in his silence, but Andrei told me he already suffered up there in the day.

"He'll be with us soon, Maeve," says Tobias.

"Yeah, or he'll miss all the fun," says Ash wryly, "And you know how pissed off Andrei gets if we make plans without him."

"In this case, we need to." I rub my cheek. "Is Dorian coming here?"

"He wants to."

"That's foolish for a Blackwood," I say. "Even him. What if the First comes back and squishes us all like bugs?"

"Dorian wants to see Andrei," says Tobias cautiously.

"He's not a freak show exhibit," I snap, then swallow. "Sorry. I know—stay calm."

"We'll find Gabriella," says Ash. "Someone will slip up and might exchange information for their life."

"Or a less painful death," puts in Tobias.

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