Page 33 of Winterfall Destiny

A smile spreads across Andrei's face. "I'm looking forward to seeing Dorian again."

Again, Maeve subtly kicks him.

"Leave it, Ethan." Zeke blows air into his cheeks and wanders away, hands in pockets. "Ash? Can we talk?"

Finally, the reason they're here.

* * *

Ethan sits at the kitchen table, forearms spreading across the wood, and he stares at an empty space on the table. Zeke yanks out a chair to sit beside him and points at the place Ethan's focused on.

"Glad to see you've removed the bloodstains." He chuckles.

Seriously? They think their psycho kid's behaviour is amusing? Like father, like daughter, I guess.

"Yeah. Um. How are Mia and Eloise?" I ask.

Zeke splutters a laugh. "So polite asking after your guests' family." I scowl. "Sorry, mate. Yeah, they're okay. It's hard to keep a low profile though, even in London."

"London?" My back goes rigid. "You're in London looking for Gabriella without us?"

Ethan leans back in his chair. "Dorian's scouting for Dominion, but we've other concerns. We tracked down dragons connected to Declan in the city. Higher up the chain. Dangerous."

My chest goes tight. "Higher? Isn't Declan the alpha?"

"Of his little syndicate, yeah."

"Shit," I mutter. "And these London dragons know about what you did to him?"

"What we did," Ethan reminds me.

Bloody hell. More dragons know my name? Declan wasn't the pinnacle?

"Word spreads. They already knew about your existence," says Ethan, as if reading my mind when I know that he can't. "These dragons also know you're with us, so don't stress."

"Exactly how powerful are these people?" I ask hoarsely.

Zeke grins. "Powerful enough that Gabriella ingratiated herself with them. We believe they're helping her."

My back goes even straighter. "What? We should have this discussion with everybody!"

"Eventually." Zeke links his hands behind his head, revealing more of the stripes hidden beneath his shirt sleeves. "But we wanted to check something with you before we put the proposal to the others."

"Proposal?" Perspiration slicks my palms. "And I don't keep secrets from my friends."

"You don't need to." Ethan leans across the table. "Infiltrating their organisation is the next step. Gabriella must have approached them for help; she doesn't have other connections strong enough. The woman needs supes that straddle the human world and our world to aid the escape she needs to pull off."

"And what do you expect me to do?" I ask cautiously.

"They own hotels and casinos. You can pay a visit. With Maeve."

"And the others?"

"Just you two, and us." Ethan leans back in his chair. "Fact finding, but I also want you to bring Maeve and make a point."

"A point?" My stomach tightens. This doesn't sound good.

"That you will not be intimidated. That branding you does not mean you belong to anybody. I want to show them the future," says Ethan.

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