Page 44 of Winterfall Destiny

"Right. Perfect. The creature hasn't left us to starve and rot," says Dorian, and stands. "A win for the day."

I shake my head. "We've importance to the First. The creature wouldn't leave us here."

"Either that or the thing's still playing its sick game," says Andrei. "Maybe left us here to fight to the death once we go stir crazy?"

We lapse back into silence, and I ponder Andrei's words. No. That's not how the First gets its kicks. I'm also certain if the creature wanted to watch the three of us tearing into each other that it'd ensure the spectacle happened in front of the others.

"At least if the First's here, the others are safe," I suggest. "How's the Gabriella search going, Dorian?"

"Found a few Dominion. Pockets of the bastards dotted around London. Red herrings."

"Did you get any info from them?" asks Andrei.

"Nah. Half were necromancer constructs or newer vamps with no info to extract." He rubs his nose. "Seems the Dominion are on a massive recruitment drive."

"Did they contain the blood mix?" I ask. How big is Gabriella's army growing?

"Only normal blood in the recruits we found. Some hadn't attended their special training yet and never will."

Shit. Training? "Let me guess. You ended their lives?" I say.

He scowls. "No choice. Either that or they'd report back to higher ups."

"Do you know where this special training takes place?" Andrei asks.

"Nope. The Dominion summon the new recruits once they're ready. I've pushed into a few minds but found nothing yet. No venue. No clue what the training is." He taps the side of his head. "If we get out of here, that's one skill you're better at than I am, Tobias."

"You mean you're not perfect?" asks Andrei with a mock gasp.

"And Confederacy?" I ask before the pair start bickering again.

Dorian falls silent, his only answer a shrug. He should share info with us about his other crusade. Maeve's half-right in that we need to detach ourselves from Dorian and his crazy plans to take down some of toughest and best protected supernatural creatures in this world.

But will we ever be safe until Oskar and the Confederacy are gone?

I'm unsure how long the three of us sit here, mostly in silence, lost in our own thoughts. I'm worrying about the others—did they reach London? Did an attacker wait? Or more than one?

The scrape of stone brings brighter light into the room, and I blink as the sealed door inches open. Dorian's on his feet in a heartbeat—as am I—but Andrei remains on the floor.

"It's the First," he says with a weird confidence that it won't attack us.

The light silhouetting the First isn't daylight, but a dimly lit stone hallway. The First looks like 'she' again, dressed the same as earlier—simple blue dress, but now with the side of her bobbed hair pinned back by a sunflower clip.

Silently, I seethe at the thing stealing Maeve's possessions. Jamie bought Maeve the hair clip, and it shouldn't be in that creature's hair.

"Sorry to keep you waiting," the First says. "Do follow me."

"Where to?" asks Dorian. "You already tricked me once today."

Ah. That's how he's here. Did the First lure him with pretence that he could take the blood?

The First sticks her bottom lip out at Dorian, then waves a hand. "Out. All of you."

I'm not relieved that I walk away from the tomb-like room, instead my stomach drops lower with each step we take after the First. What's the creature planning?

Fire-filled lanterns guide our way through similarly hewn rock, not a window in sight. "Are we underground?" I ask.

"Yes. As you can imagine, I don't visit often as I'm not fond of underground environments. But I suppose neither are they," the First says, blue sandals barely making a sound on the uneven ground.

---