Page 10 of Winterfall Destiny

Now, Tobias examines the runes from Jamie's memories that I’ve haphazardly drawn on the page, some no doubt incorrect and others missing. Tobias’s grey face and tired lines show how much he’s struggling, not as composed as usual, and I partly blame myself since helping me used a lot of his energy.

Jamie rests his elbows on the table, hands beneath his chin, silent.

"These are from Jamie's memories?" asks Tobias, and I nod. "Are they accurate?"

"Not all of them." I bite my lip. "I didn't stay in Jamie's mind long enough to see everything."

"I've tried to recall the Blackwood runes too," says Jamie. "Ones I saw in the grimoire that I used at the academy."

Tobias pulls on his lip, before quietly saying, "I may be able to help with the Blackwood runes. I spent time at the house and with the family years ago."

Normally, Jamie would tense around any talk of Tobias's past, but he merely nods. "Could you remember the runes, or will Maeve need to look in your mind?"

He's silent for too long. "I'll try to envision the runes and draw them. I don't want Maeve looking into that part of my history."

"I've seen the worst," I whisper. "The day in your rooms at the academy, when I saw your memories of the Winterfall deaths."

"No," he says firmly. "I'd rather you didn't connect with my past again, and I’d rather not either."

Because I haven't seen the worst?

"Using runes might be pointless now, anyway." I take the paper and trace the shapes with my finger. "If we trap the First, we trap Andrei. These are locking runes used to seal the creature in the pit."

"What are you saying?" asks Jamie.

"If we're to succeed in trapping the First again, we need to use different Winterfall and Blackwood magic to…" I drag hair from my face. "I don't know. Whatever we do to the creature, the same might happen to Andrei. What do we do, Tobias?"

"Hope the First never returns?" puts in Jamie, scoffing at his vain hope. "That the thing has finished playing with us?"

"Unlikely," says Tobias.

I sink back in my seat. "We've no grimoires, no idea where the creature went, nor do we know precisely what it is. The First had no human body when held beneath the academy—the thing could leave the one it has and take another. And now the First tied Andrei to itself in some way. We're hopeless."

Tobias rubs a hand down his cheek, and Jamie shakes his head. "No. We're hopeless now, but there's more knowledge out there," say Jamie. "The First is distracted by Gabriella and possibly Oskar. That gives us time."

"Unless she left to kill Gabriella," suggests Tobias.

"It," I say through clenched teeth. "Not she. That's part of the act. The creature is not a woman we can attack and kill like we will Gabriella."

"Why is the First so insistent that we kill Gabriella?" asks Jamie.

"I've considered this over and over," says Tobias. "Partially, the First enjoys playing around with us, for whatever reason, and secondly, I don't think the First wants the future disrupting. Maybe we're destined to kill Gabriella and if somebody else does, that'll change the future the First can see and control. The creature won’t want that changing. Maeve already shifted future events once at the academy; the First wants things back in line."

"We’re chess pieces," mutters Jamie.

Tobias's hand closes over mine. "We will find a way to break the First's hold on us and then seal the creature away from the world again, somehow."

I smile weakly at an optimism I struggle to share currently. "I need to see that future, Tobias. We need to change what the First plans."

"And we need to know more about her…its past," adds Jamie. "Why would an entity like that choose a weak human body? There's a reason—is the creature harder to catch or deal with in physical form? Can we return the First to the state that the Winterfalls and Blackwoods trapped the creature in and win?"

"Fight pure magic energy?" Tobias's brow tugs down. "That would be impossible."

"I'm only making suggestions," snaps Jamie. "Besides, you're not a witch. You don't know everything about magic."

"Jamie," I say softly. "I know you're stressed, but don't do this. We need to stick together."

He leans back, crossing his arms over his chest. "One thing I'm certain about—Maeve's the answer. She's Winterfall and Blackwood."

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