Page 2 of Winterfall Destiny

His eyes go wide. "Vision?"

"I can't see Andrei. He's gone."

Lex frowns. "He's a vampire. You don't have that type of bond, however much you care about Andrei. You're worried about him, that's all."

My mouth goes dry. “Since he took the blood from Gabriella we do. Only a slight one, but we've noticed a connection."

"Lex is probably right. You're tired. I texted Tobias before we ate, and everything was fine at the house." Jamie smiles. "We can send another message now?"

"Please." I don't care what Lex and Jamie think, I know something's wrong. Andrei isn't a witch but something inside us matches, otherwise why such an intense link between two once opposite people?

"I'll grab my phone. Left it in the lounge." Jamie stands and the soup churns in my stomach as he walks away.

"Maybe I will go back to the Winterfall house tonight," I say to Lex and stir my meal, the smell now nauseating. "We can meet up again soon?"

'Soon'. After what? We all kill Gabriella?

Again, Andrei's face won't appear.

Jamie returns and sits. I once connected to him emotionally despite the miles between us, at the time Ione attacked him. Now closer to me, Jamie can't hide his change in energy, however hard he tries. I may be weaker this evening, but don't need our bond to sense his unease.

"Jamie?"

"Text from Ash." He places the phone down. "Everything's fine, but I think I'd rather stay tonight. I prefer driving in daylight."

"I'll drive," I say stiffly. Jamie's phone sounds again and I straighten.

"You're tired, Maeve. Not a good idea." I look at Lex, who's staring at Jamie. Has he picked up on something too?

The energy deadens as Jamie closes his mind. "Why are you blocking me, Jamie?"

"I'm not. You're tired."

My fingers dig into the table edge again. "Show me the text."

Jamie sighs and turns the phone over; I study the message exchange.

everything okay there?

Jamie, then Ash's reply.

all okay see you tomorrow

I swallow hard as I notice the timestamp, then check my own phone. "Ash sent his message after you walked back into the room, Jamie."

"And?"

"You walked in and told me you already had a message saying everything's okay. I heard that last message arrive." I snatch the phone and stare as if the truth might appear. Slowly, I turn my eyes to his. "These aren't the messages you exchanged in the hallway. Ash asked you to stay here. Told you something bad. You deleted the conversation you had."

Jamie's pulse rate spikes. Who needs a lie detector between bonded witches? I've an inbuilt one. "What did the deleted message say?" I ask coldly. "Why do you want to stay? Tell me."

He rubs his cheek and looks at the table. "Ash just suggested we stay away tonight." Jamie looks back up. "He told me to delete that message in case you worried, and that he’d send another saying everything's okay. But he didn't tell me why we should stay, Maeve," he mumbles.

The truth?

"You make a bad liar, Jamie. If you had any sense, you would've waited for the second text before walking in here." I swallow. "This is about Andrei."

Ash. What's happening? Tell me the truth

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