Page 81 of Winterfall Destiny

"That's unfair. A lot of people who join with Alaric aren't exactly... rational. The group takes risks."

"Don't defend him, Amelia," Matt snaps at her. "You're rational. One of his best."

Amelia shakes her head. "Not anymore."

"Why didn't you call me after you left Alaric, Amelia?" I ask. "Any of us?"

"In case Alaric was tracking our phones—it's what he does, mostly for safety," says Matt.

Amelia's lips thin. "Umm. And because Matt dumped them the same night everything happened in case Alaric followed."

"You could've called before destroying them," I protest.

Jamie snorts. "Lost your shit, Matt? Didn't think before you acted? Nothing much changes."

"Too late now," interrupts Amelia as Matt's cheeks mottle pink. "But at least we found you."

Matt studies us all. "If you don't know about the First, do you know where Gabriella is? We've no real leads."

"We believe she's in London preparing to leave by boat," replies Tobias.

"Yeah. We knew that. But do you know her location?" Tobias shakes his head at him. "Damn. We need to find her before the ritual."

I snap my head around. "What ritual?"

"The one she's planning before she leaves. Probably the same night. Alaric's still figuring out the date, but we don't have any shipping manifests and our shifters haven't got close to the dragons," explains Amelia.

Tobias's muscles tighten. "What is this ritual?"

"We don't know. I presume it involves the thing under the academy if Gabriella still has it?" Matt pauses. "Fuck. Has Gabriella given this blood to anybody else?"

"Some of her followers," says Jamie.

Matt drags a hand through his hair and stares at Andrei. "They'll be as strong as I can sense Andrei is! We don't have a bloody chance if Gabriella built an army."

"They won't match Andrei's abilities," says Tobias.

"How do you know?"

"This so-called army has weaker amounts of the blood because Gabriella mixed it with hers," I say.

Amelia touches Matt’s arm. "The vamps that attacked Alaric's place were stronger than any I've met before."

"That's why Alaric came back to the UK!" Matt drags fingers through his hair a second time. "Alaric knows all this and never told us."

"Possibly," says Tobias. "But he might think Gabriella's using witches and magic. Don't judge Alaric yet."

"I want to know more about this ritual," says Jamie. "Have you any idea where or when, Matt?" He looks to Amelia too. "You've followed more of Gabriella's people than we have, since we're trying to keep a low profile."

"The vamp that Dorian caught didn't know anything," adds Tobias.

I look away. The one in a room that Tobias walked from covered in blood. The vamp he helped kill, I'm sure.

"I can not believe you're working with Dorian Blackwood," says Matt. "He'll kill you once he's done. You know that, right?"

Andrei snorts. "He killed me once. Won't get the chance again. And if Dorian touches anybody in this room, he'll discover what this blood has done to me."

Amelia's mouth parts. "You can't fight a hybrid. Nobody's stronger than Dorian or Eloise and they have backup."

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