Page 78 of Winterfall Destiny

I take a sharp breath. He has a point, but I'm pissed off he's made decisions for us all again. "Amelia and Matt need to know about the First, Andrei, everything that's happened. We haven't seen them since Ash's birthday."

"Well, they'll find out now you've brought them here," he says tersely. "And do you think I'd tell Alaric that we're working with Dorian? The hybrid killed Alaric's father." Tobias sighs and looks behind me and gently closes the kitchen door. "Before we go out there, tell me what happened with the dragons."

"Dragon." I lean against the kitchen counter and explain events to Tobias, who listens expressionlessly.

"Good. No bloodshed," he says eventually, then cups my cheek with a hand. "I'm proud of you."

"Thanks. All due to your excellent training, Professor Whitlock.”

He scowls at me. "I mean that. You've more confidence in yourself if you're able to pull off what you did."

"I had reliable back-up if things went pear-shaped, and could feel the meeting wasn't going well. I worried Ash might lose his temper when Callum was rude about me, and that would've disrupted everything."

"Rude about you?" Tobias's brow tugs. "In what way?"

"Because I'm a witch who's weakened him. Callum just stopped short of calling me a whore because I live with more than one guy."

"Hmm." Tobias strokes my cheek with the back of his fingers. "A dragon alpha should have a powerful mate. In a way, Ash has one, just not in the way the dragons would like."

"I hate that word."

"And do you think a shifter likes the word consort? Ash's situation is a total reversal of their society's norms, Maeve. Normal for a witch or vampire, yes, but not shifters."

"I've never asked him," I admit. "And that's their word. We're not a witch with her consorts; we're a family."

"Exactly," he says and smiles.

Something unusual brightens in Tobias's eyes. I miss that I can't exchange thoughts with him anymore, now wishing my mental magic skill matched Tobias's. He has so many layers I've not even begun to peel away. Secrets I'm unsure he'll ever let go of.

"Did you have a family?" I ask cautiously. "You've never spoken about them."

"More than one. Like you, although I knew who I was." He skims his thumb across my mouth. "But this isn't about the past. We focus on the future."

"Maeve!" shrieks Amelia and I startle away from my conversation with Tobias. "What the hell is this?"

Tobias opens the door before I can reply. Amelia stands in the lounge room, now pressed against the wall, but Matt remains on the sofa.

Andrei stands in the doorway and regards the pair impassively. "Are you talking about me?"

I see Andrei through Amelia's eyes, as I did the first time I saw his changes. Andrei's the same guy in his usual jeans and T-shirt combination, but not. His face has subtly changed—skin flawless and his alluring hemia features smoothed into an unnatural perfection, and vivid emerald eyes now edged by silver. But that's not what Amelia's picking up on. Each time Andrei walks into a room, he brings an energy that any supe would react to. There's something different about Andrei that's intangible but unsettling.

Tobias darts through the door towards Andrei and holds his upper arm, whispering something.

"Oh, no. No secrets. Tell the truth," says Amelia and shoves at Tobias. "Andrei? What's happened to you? Did Gabriella do this?"

"You could say that," Andrei says calmly as he looks down at her.

"What's wrong with you?" asks Matt, not moving. "You sound different."

"He looks different." Amelia peers at him and he makes a face to peer back.

"I'm not an animal in a zoo, Amelia." Andrei side-steps and flops down in the armchair opposite Matt.

Andrei looks at me, then Tobias, and I look between him and Ash. We've never discussed what we'd say to the pair the next time we met up because we never expected to this soon. I believed Tobias at least told Alaric some of the events that happened, but Matt and Amelia don't know about the First and we can't put that on them. Not yet.

Ash is the wild card here—will he tell them? Matt's a close friend to both him and Jamie, but Jamie knows to keep things quiet.

And what did Tobias whisper to Andrei?

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