Page 150 of Winterfall Destiny

I take Jamie’s phone.

please be careful

Vamps weren’t hard to kill we’ll get the others when she’s away from them

the first here?

no

I hand the phone back to Jamie. Still no response from Andrei, so I link an arm through his. “Stop plotting. Please don’t act alone.”

“I won’t,” he mutters.

“Now say that again convincingly.” I take his cheeks in one hand and turn his face.

“I’m aware I messed up last time, so I won’t.” He wrinkles his nose. “I’ve another headache like the shadows gave. Maybe sitting with you influences me?”

“I hope so.” I nudge him.

Andrei laces his fingers through mine and places my hand on his knee. “I love you,” he whispers and presses his lips to mine.

“And I love you. Now, promise not to be a psycho.” My mouth tips into a smile and he pokes his tongue out at me.

As much for reassurance as connection to his magic, I link fingers with Jamie too, sitting between the pair ready to challenge Gabriella at the right moment. I take calming breaths before studying my fingers, reaching inside to find my magic. Are the shadows with me?

My spine goes completely straight, eyes wide as the curtain opens to reveal nothing but a simple podium and a vertical banner behind that drops from the top of the stage to the floor.

“Is this a ritual or a political rally?” asks Jamie.

The Dominion don’t use anything to symbolise their organisation, preferring to keep off the radar in all ways. The images flash into my mind again and I grip Jamie’s hand harder. “The same symbol from the coffins. On the banner.”

“Shit.”

The dramatic music I’d half-expected doesn’t join Gabriella as she moves slowly across the stage to stand behind the podium, leading someone with her, while two male figures stand either side at the edge of the wings.

Dressed in a smart grey skirt suit with a scarlet red blouse to match her lipstick, Gabriella could be a politician addressing her supporters. The First’s blood within Gabriella adds an aura of superiority to her already lofty self-opinion. I swallow, her appearance reminding me of the first time we met at the Blackwood house and everything that happened in those horrible days.

Can she detect Andrei yet?

The change in Andrei hits immediately as his heartbeat speeds in my ears, and the aura gifted by the First surrounds him.

I’m too focused in shock on the person accompanying her to react to him, and the world lurches. I’m not close enough to see her freckled cheeks, but recognise the girl with curly hair.

The witch from the catacombs. Melissa, stumbling and pale, eyes glazed.

“No,” I say beneath my breath. “No.”

“Good evening.” Gabriella’s sonorous voice drifts across the theatre, the acoustics taking her words to every ear. “Thank you for joining.” She pauses and grips the edge of the podium. “Both this evening and our crusade.”

A murmur and applause ripple through the gathered recruits and her painted lips spread into a superior smile.

“Apologies for the somewhat secretive nature of tonight’s events, but I’ve tried to avoid individuals who may interfere.” Gabriella’s gaze sweeps the stalls, and I shuffle down in my seat, further out of sight.

Andrei mumbles something about whose death and the darkness around him spreads.

“Andrei?” I whisper.

“Tobias is right. We need to watch for people entering the door behind,” whispers Jamie.

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