Page 6 of Winterfall Destiny

I look at Jamie, who shakes his head. "Not me. I can't cope with seeing him right now,” he says.

Maeve's gaze remains steady and when I reach out, she slams another barrier to repel my mental magic. If Jamie can't feel Maeve's emotions, where the hell are they? I'm not as in tune with Maeve since the curse broke, and that’s as painful as anything else right now.

After confronting the First earlier, I cleaned up Andrei as best I could and left him on his bed. I checked on him around the time I estimated Maeve and Jamie would return, half-expecting the same gruesome scene, but he hadn't moved from beneath the blanket.

But now?

"Tobias. Take me to Andrei and allow me to process this," she says.

Process. Maeve really is like me right now.

* * *

Maeve hesitates in the bedroom doorway, immediately looking at Andrei before walking over, the situation a sick mirror of a loved one visiting a patient in the hospital. She kneels on the floor beside him, and I dart over in case he's vomited more blood that'll frighten Maeve.

Nothing, but Maeve's harsh look warns me to back off.

"Is Andrei worse than earlier?" she asks.

"He's more peaceful."

Her lips thin. "That sounds like he died. Andrei isn't dead. I can hear his heart." She places a hand on his naked chest, where blood no longer covers the raven tattoo. "But it’s slow."

"The First's heartbeat is slow," I remind her.

"How like it will he be?"

"I don't know."

She strokes his cheek with the back of her steady hand and although her voice drops to a whisper, Maeve's demeanour doesn’t change.

But she has hope that he'll 'be'—that Andrei will live.

"You think he'll die." I blink at her accusation. "I caught your thoughts earlier—he's blood born and not fully hemia yet. Weaker than one who is, and definitely weaker than the original vamps."

"He's Petrescu," I whisper, as if he might hear the name he tries to disassociate from as much as his mother's. "And Tepes. They're original, and their families survived against the human purge of vampires. Few did. He’s strong, Maeve. All the original families are."

Maeve sits back on her heels and remains silent long enough that I'm worried she's about to slip into a vision, but she watches Andrei's chest rise and fall, her tight muscles finally slackening.

"Why, Andrei?" she asks quietly. "You promised."

Promised. My chest tightens. Like I promised Maeve we'd all survive.

"The First offered Andrei one chance only," I remind her. "He'd already made the decision; the creature made the offer too soon."

"I wish Andrei held more hope we could fix this without taking such a risk."

Maeve's hair curtains Andrei's face as she leans over and kisses him, and when she sits back again, the hand touching him shakes. Finally, something seeps through the cracks, reaching out to me for help.

Unsteadily, Maeve stands and pushes Andrei's fringe to one side before placing a kiss on his forehead. Andrei hasn't moved the whole time and I will him to, even a single finger, but this is no fairy tale where a kiss from a true love would bring him back.

"If you die, Andrei, I'll bloody kill you," she says, words catching in her throat.

Then she finally turns to me and walks over, an emotional storm gathering behind her.

"I need your help, Tobias," she whispers.

Despite Maeve's words, when I try to take hold of her she backs away and walks out of the room, heading straight down the stairs into the hallway between the main bedrooms.

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