Page 62 of Winterfall Destiny

The flowing magic and intensity builds, the fear I'll lose her unleashing a wave of spell energy that hits. Maeve stumbles and grips onto my sleeves, the eyes that were fixed on mine changing as her pupils grow. However much I've urged Maeve into this, deliberately thrown all my magic into her body, I'm still shocked when Maeve's pupils dilate completely, and she slackens.

But perhaps this is what Maeve needs. Not to spend time holding my hands and staring at crystals, frustrating herself when the magic stalls, but to fully open herself by giving herself over. Not trying. Not thinking. Allowing.

"Maeve?" Her body slumps into my arms, and I catch her just before she hits the floor. "Maeve?" I repeat, kneeling, holding Maeve, and staring at her vacant eyes.

Has our magic prompted something else that's more than a vision, triggered by the intensity? Fuck. What have I done? I haven't experienced Maeve this distant from reality since I pulled her back from the deadly Blackwood spell—the day at the academy when I knew for sure Maeve and I are witch bonded. Have I pushed too far? Is this the shadows prompted by my obsessive rant? Heart thundering, I check her hands for darkness. None. But Maeve doesn't move and she's growing distant.

"Guys!" I shout out. "Help me."

Andrei arrives in the room in half a second. Was he outside the door?

"What the fuck?" He throws himself to his knees and dips his head to look at Maeve's face. "Maeve?"

"What happened?" asks Tobias from the doorway. "Did you force the shadows? Shit, Jamie!"

"No," I snap back. "Look at Maeve. No shadows."

"You think this is a vision?" asks Andrei, stroking hair from Maeve's face.

"No. They never last longer than a minute or two," says Tobias.

But he's wrong. I run both hands down my face. "Once, at the cottage on campus, this happened. Ask Ash. Maeve was out for maybe twenty minutes."

And took more time to recover than usual.

Tobias goes rigid. "How did I not know this?"

"Because this was before you were..." I wave a hand. "Part of us."

Andrei sits back. "I know the time you mean. A really vivid vision? Maeve told me she'd kissed me and at the time, in reality, we were definitely not friendly."

"What did Maeve see that time?" demands Tobias.

"We think she witnessed the day of the academy attack but before anything happened," says Jamie.

"And she was alright afterwards?" Tobias finally enters the room and joins us.

"She spent a few hours in the infirmary." I push at Tobias. "Don't crowd her."

I've barely finished the sentence before Andrei scoops up Maeve and lies her on the bed. Tobias watches but doesn't touch her, face colourless, eyes darting to Andrei.

"This isn't the same situation as Andrei," I say to him. "She'll be back soon."

"No," he says quietly. "And this will never be the same as Andrei. Maeve won't take the First's blood."

Andrei sits on the end of the bed and stares at the open window—at the day he'd love to step into but that he's hidden from for now. My stomach lurches when he doesn't respond.

Tobias chews on his lip as he watches Maeve. "Is she strong enough for the shadows, Jamie?" he whispers.

I straighten, hope rising. "Yes. With me. Us. Lex, if he agrees. Tobias, it's the way forward."

His eyes turn to mine. "Is Maeve strong enough for this? She couldn't control what's happening to her now."

"The levy broke, Tobias," I say. "Maeve hasn't managed a vision for a long time. At least now that she has, we can start to work on controlling them."

"If this is a vision," says Andrei, looking back. "What did you do to her?"

If he'd spoken in an accusatory tone, I would've lost my shit again, but he's partly curious. "I told Maeve she needed to look at the future to understand why I'm right."

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