Page 77 of Winterfall Destiny

Ash shrugs. Great. I edge further along the alleyway away from the faint light illuminating the entrance and rest against the wall, close to a dumpster reeking of rotten vegetables. We're not hiding—watching for our pursuers separately makes more sense.

"It's hard to haul someone off a street subtly," I comment to Ash's broad back, and he shrugs again.

I've no coat to help against the cool evening, and I rub my arms as I look at my impractical shoes. I expected a quick walk back to the house, but of course nothing's ever easy.

There's a scuffle and I snap my head up as Ash drags a hooded figure into the alleyway. Within a heartbeat, he's dragged the individual halfway along the cobbled ground. A second, smaller figure charges after him, and a female voice shouts out Ash's name. Ash pauses, fist drawn back, a moment away from hitting the guy in the face.

"Dude!" shouts the guy and Ash pulls the witch's hood down. With no light shining that far along the alleyway, I struggle to see why Ash doesn't strike.

The smaller figure in the entrance draws down her hood too and watches my hands warily. I drop my eyes to my fingers and jerk in surprise, but the shadows that sprang to my fingers dissipate.

"Amelia?" I half-whisper, as I look up again.

"And Matt. Ash! You must know it's him!" she calls.

Ash steps back and drags a hand through his hair. "Why the fuck are you stalking us?" he growls. "We do have phones!"

"Because you're all hiding shit from us," retorts Matt and Amelia's lips purse at me.

"You were away," I say, still so shocked by Amelia's presence that I don't hug her.

"Like Ash says, you have phones," she says pointedly. "What's happening? Why are you in London?"

The pair dressed for their roles, dark clothes and hooded jackets, a world away from to the Amelia who liked brighter colours. Everything about her changed. She's lost weight, her hair now long enough to pull back from her pale face. Amelia startles at a voice outside the alleyway, bracing herself, palm upwards, ready to conjure.

"Like I said, if you knew we were in London, you should've bloody called," says Ash as he and Matt walk over to us. I've only met Matt once, the guy’s similar in build to Jamie, but he's slimmer now too, hair cut shorter and a harder set to his jaw.

"Tobias is paranoid someone might follow us if we go straight to you," says Amelia. "He wouldn't tell Alaric where you are and made us promise not to call."

"Tobias spoke to him?" I gawk. Why didn't he tell us?

"Yeah. Gave half a story." He looks Ash up and down and then switches to examining me—closely—then looks back to Amelia. "I told you! Andrei hasn't turned her, Amelia."

"What?" I ask sharply. "You think we're hiding from you because I've become a vampire?"

"Something's happened. What?" asks Matt. "Take us back to where you're living and explain because there're too many secrets around. Weird shit is happening inside the Dominion, too."

"You know what the Dominion are doing right now?" I ask.

Amelia crosses her arms. "I think it's time for an information exchange, don't you?"

"Yeah, and for you to show us where you're hiding—and why," adds Matt.

30

MAEVE

Matt and Amelia receive a warmer welcome from Jamie than the almost fist in the face from Ash. Andrei's in his room, so at least that's one secret we don't need to touch on straightaway.

I corner Tobias in the kitchen the moment Amelia and Matt walk inside, leaving an excited reunion between Jamie and his two best friends, and an apologetic Ash.

"Why did you hide that Amelia and Matt tried to contact us?" I demand.

Instead of the wary look I expected, Tobias crosses his arms, and that familiar but annoying 'I'm in charge' look takes over. "The fewer people who know everything, the better, Maeve."

"Why? Matt and Amelia wouldn't betray us."

I remain standing close, half in his face, and he looks back, unblinking. "No. But if the Dominion knew the names of two other witches involved and got a hold of them? What then? You want your friends tortured? Killed? Matt and Amelia are distant enough from us now not to get dragged into this shit. Things should stay that way."

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