Page 131 of Winterfall Destiny

“Me? I was looking for Gabriella.” He glowers at Tobias again.

“Art won’t remember us,” says Tobias. “The recruits will because I’d no chance to influence all their minds. We needed out, asap.”

“Apart from the dead ones,” puts in Dorian. “They won’t remember.”

And I bet Dorian added to Andrei’s count.

“Quite the mess left for Gabriella to clean up,” mutters Jamie. “She’ll know we’re onto her now.”

Dorian waves a hand. “Oh, she already does. The woman keeps tabs on everything.”

“I would’ve helped if Andrei hadn’t taken me,” I say.

“We wouldn’t need to do any of this if Andrei hadn’t killed people,” retorts Tobias.

Everybody else in the room focuses on something behind me, and even if I wasn’t linked to him, I’d know who by the deathly silence.

Andrei.

I close my eyes. Please let everybody stay calm.

Andrei doesn’t speak for a moment, focusing on Jamie. “Sorry for the…” He points at his head. “I was pissed off. Not thinking straight.”

“Yeah, seems you always take shit out on me if something annoys you,” he snaps back.

“I do not.”

“Forgotten how you attacked me when the Blackwoods took Maeve?” he says coldly.

“I only pushed you,” says Andrei.

“Oh? So, I’m lucky you didn’t burn my eyes out?”

“Stop that,” says Ash. “Not helpful.”

Jamie shakes his head. “Andrei. Everything you did was insane. Look at the issues it caused.”

He rubs his nose. “Sorry?”

The word really isn’t helping him as Tobias meets Andrei face to face. “Why did you ignore what we agreed?”

“I was protecting Maeve.”

“Someone touched Maeve,” mutters Jamie in explanation. “Literally just touched her face. Nothing else.”

“Are you serious?” chokes out Tobias. “Maeve doesn’t need you fucking things up by turning into a hero.”

“I was not! I’m not in control of how I react if Maeve’s in danger.”

“I wasn’t in danger, Andrei.”

“I know,” he says through gritted teeth.

Ash sinks back in his seat. “Will you lose your mind and self if the wrong person touches Maeve? Every time?”

“At least we know the shadows have an effect on me,” says Andrei brightly and sits in a chair, dodging the question. “That’s a good outcome.”

Tobias swears beneath his breath. “This isn’t a good situation, Andrei. Apart from the temper tantrum, we’ve left three bodies killed in a unique way, and any hemia who survived the chaos will have a pretty damn good description of you.”

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