Page 73 of Winterfall Destiny

"What the... No."

"You want to help," she says calmly.

He shakes his head again, as if dislodging a buzzing insect from his ear, then suddenly stares at his hands. Callum's eyes squeeze closed, and he presses shaking fingers against his temples. "You—I..."

"You want to show us the folder of documents you have in there," she continues.

Callum's eyes turn glassy, and his expression goes blank. My breath catches as he kneels on the floor, hidden from view. Something buzzes and clicks. The safe.

"Impressive," murmurs Ethan beneath his breath.

Maeve's zoned out. Too silent and still. I've only witnessed her control another person once—Gabriella's vampire consort outside the Blackwood House, and I could barely see her face in the dark. A silent Callum follows the instructions in his mind—thoughts he believes he's having himself.

I remain quiet too and gaze towards the panoramic windows across the room. Earlier, Maeve mentioned that she might use controlling magic if we got into a tricky situation, and I worried she might not be strong enough to fool Callum. Then Maeve quietly mentioned how shifters are easy to influence, immediately backing this up with she doesn't think I'm stupid. I understand. Our brains are more susceptible—one reason necromancers mostly target shifters as constructs.

Callum finishes his task and places a manila folder on the desk. "In your laptop, you've a coded list," says Maeve. "Put that on a USB and place it on your desk."

Obediently, Callum turns the laptop to face him, his focus shifting from us.

"Ash. Photograph the documents," says Ethan quietly. "I'll keep an eye on Callum in case Maeve's magic breaks."

I'm gob smacked. Truly. Maeve's determination to master her mind-control has taken up as much time as her divination attempts. Seems her and Tobias weren't spending as much time in bed together as I'd presumed when they locked themselves away. Either shifters really are easy to manipulate, or she's improved a shitload after all the practice with Tobias.

Despite her discomfort, Maeve walked in here with the confidence she can pull off the magic. Since Andrei, her determination to hone her magic skills to use against Gabriella intensified. What will happen when she adds in the Blackwood magic?

I slide the folder towards myself and spread the documents onto the table, glancing at the door in case security returns. There're pages with lists of items, others with signatures and numbers that could be bank payments, many stamped with a company seal. I don't look closely as I flick through, taking the photos as quickly as I can.

I've barely finished before Ethan snatches the folder from me and places it on the floor at Callum's feet. Have Ethan and Maeve co-ordinated this? Callum breaks his focus on the laptop and places a USB on the desk.

Maeve subtly slides a hand across and picks up the white object, before holding an arm behind her back for me to take and pocket the USB and phone.

By using her own body again, Maeve breaks the control over Callum, and he frowns before holding his head. His mouth parts and he stares at his hands, face scrunched up with confusion. Maeve clears her throat, causing him to look up. She snatches his gaze and her cheeks flush with the concentration.

Adrenaline spiking, I ready myself to run. It's one thing to control Callum's body, another to wipe his mind until he's unaware of what happened.

"Are you trying to read my mind, witch?" he snaps.

"No."

The truth. I relax—a little. Bloody hell, Maeve.

"Bullshit." He glares between us. "I want you off my premises. Now."

"You won't register me as a witch and allow me to use the casino?" asks Maeve with false disappointment.

"Not one who tried to invade my head, no." He eyes Ethan. "You leave. I don't know why you're here, but piss off and don't touch me. I can have my men in this room like that." Callum clicks his fingers.

Ethan blinks slowly. "You're not interested in discussing Ashley's refusal to assist and take on his role? Surely as one of the dragon leaders, you'd back up Declan."

"After what happened to the guy when you visited him? No bloody way. Leave me to my business and let other dragons deal with the witch-lover. I only wanted to see for myself whether he's what the other alphas say."

"Odd you don't want to challenge us." Ethan slants his head. "Since you're the local alpha, and Ash and I are taking every dragon syndicate down."

He stiffens. "I said, don't touch me." As Ethan rises and approaches, Callum tenses further. Please don't start a fight again, Ethan. I don't want Maeve caught in the crossfire.

"I agree. We should leave," says Maeve. "Ethan."

"If I find you've lied to us about dealings with Gabriella, I will be back and not as pleasant next time."

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