Page 96 of Winterfall Destiny

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At 10pm, the streets around the centre of the suburb still bustle with people, some visiting the cafes and bars, others heading towards the Thames for evening river walks. I spent my childhood and teen years in a small village, and the number who live and work in just a small space feels as alien as when I moved to the academy.

I'm struck by one thing above all others: those wandering around this evening aren't bothered by what the night might hide—they're enjoying just being. There's no hint of threat to those sitting and holding lively conversations outside cafes filled with laughter, or those pausing to listen to live music spilling from a bar. Their biggest concern is the best way to spend the evening.

Maeve says little as we wander towards the cobbled street that runs close to the café she longingly looked at the evening after the dragons. She hesitates as we reach the edge of the mismatched tables and chairs, watching those around with nervous suspicion.

"I've changed my mind about the coffee," she says.

"Don't you dare go back to the house yet." I frown at her with mock seriousness.

"No. I want to take a walk. Hopefully one where nobody stalks us this time."

"Sure." I kiss her forehead. Maeve's more shaken by tonight than I realised. "We can walk along the river? Maybe we really will find a stray Dominion member to attack?" I whisper.

Maeve smiles weakly and we wander onwards.

I'm happy we're not more central to London; that would overwhelm me. Here, the night air is fresher, and the river lined with pathways and benches amongst trees, and not the city's Thames that I'd seen in photographs.

Other couples smile and greet us as we pass, following the well-trodden pathway along the river's edge. As I walk with my arm wrapped around Maeve, I'm again struck by how small and delicate she is. Does Maeve seem smaller because she's more vulnerable this evening? Or do I forget until I see other couples and the guy isn't almost a foot taller than the girl?

Maeve pauses and tips her head to the sky, eyes closed as she breathes deeply. I move to hold Maeve around the waist and look down, and her eyes open. She's smiling, and my heart swells—I did that.

"Good plan, Ash. Thank you."

""Course it was." I poke her nose. "You need to breathe more. Everything's suffocating you."

She tiptoes and places a small hand against the nape of my neck, kissing me before running the back of her fingers along my stubbled cheek. "I prefer the time spent with you this evening than the time with Tobias."

"Uh huh." I lace my fingers together against Maeve's back and pull her closer. "Do you want to talk now? Or not? I'm happy either way."

"Yes."

Maeve explains about the old friend Tobias encountered and what she saw in his head. Not everything—she frequently hesitates, but I know enough about our world to fill in the sick gaps. We all know Tobias killed and once worked with the Dominion, but I'm shocked at how out of control he sounded. Groups living in that underbelly exist all over the country, as witches seek out vamps too, with a mutual desire for pushing boundaries to a dangerous edge.

But when things get out of hand, witches die. I almost don't ask the next question. "Did Tobias assault the witches? Like things happened that the witches didn't agree to?"

"I don't think so. I don't know." Her lips tremble. "I didn't see everything in Silas's mind, but consent would be a fine line considering Tobias's powers."

A line he crossed? That would be a game breaker if I were Maeve.

"Did you ask Tobias outright what he did to the witches?" She shakes her head. "Why?"

"All my questions dropped away as soon as Tobias admitted his relationship with Anastasia."

I move a hand to brush hair from her cool cheek. Maeve came to me because she knew I'd react differently than Andrei and Jamie, but what does she want to hear?

"You need to ask him that question. If I were you, Maeve, Tobias assaulting people and killing your family would be a much bigger deal than his relationship with Anastasia."

"I've known for a long time that Tobias worked with the most powerful Dominion, but I never imagined he'd be that close to one of them." She sighs and meets my eyes. "I need to get to grips with all of this, and I will, but it's the lying that bothers me most."

If she's seen the worst of Tobias's past in someone else's mind, and he's told her about Anastasia, another crack appeared in the ground between the pair tonight. Dumb bastard.

"Maeve." I hold her face in both hands. "We move on. We fight the Dominion, and the First, and anything else that threatens us. And then? If you want Tobias to leave, I'm sure he would."

I understand Maeve's sense of betrayal because Tobias lied by not telling her about something significant, but I can't lose the thought that his relationship with a dead witch isn't relevant to the present. Because it is that relationship bothering Maeve more than anything else she discovered tonight. Nothing about the old Tobias's behaviour should surprise or shock any of us, including her, because he stopped hiding that truth a while ago.

Maeve's breaths come faster after telling her story, widened blue eyes looking to me for answers. "You don't know what else to say to me about all this, do you, Ash?"

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