"You mean like my inevitable death?" he mutters.
Before I have time to register what I'm doing, I place my hand over Andrei’s. "That won't happen."
He doesn't move and stares into the dark. "Are you holding my hand, Maeve?" he asks with soft amusement.
"Me? No. I'd never do that."
"True. That would be weird."
He links his long fingers through mine, and we sit in silence for a few moments. Andrei's skin is warmer than I imagined, and my heart thuds faster.
"Definitely would be strange," I reply.
Andrei shifts so our legs touch, his hand still firmly holding mine. Reaching out, he places fingertips on my cheek.
"Are you touching my face, Andrei?"
"Me? No. I would never touch you." He traces his fingers across my cheek to my mouth and my stomach flutters at his soft touch.
"Not even when we hide in the dark?"
He pauses. "Be careful who you hide with, Maeve. You can't see through the shadows."
"But I see you more clearly when we're alone in the dark. Don't I?"
A shiver ripples through me as he skims my bottom lip with his thumb. "Maybe you do."
Is this where everything starts? The beginning of the Andrei and me in my vision? The last time I spoke to Andrei in the dark, at the bonfire, he was this guy. Less guarded. Reaching out. Wanting to connect.
Every time we connect. Each time he helps me. Everything between us happens in the dark.
But Andrei’s holding back. His fingers press into my cheek and he pulls away, breath coming faster as he looks at me.
"You should be frightened of fire too, Maeve. Don’t play in the flames."
I rub my lips together imagining his kiss. "I’ve walked through the fire since I arrived and you need to follow."
Why won’t he put his arms around me? Hold me closer? I ache for this affection as much as I crave his kiss.
Andrei moves from me and goes back to staring ahead, and our hands and lives stay firmly intertwined.
"I’d like to not hold your hand again sometime," he says with a quirk to his mouth. "If you want to, meet me again tomorrow. I know you follow me."
My heart races with the desire to stay here with Andrei longer, but he stands. Stepping away, he releases my hand at the last second before shoving them into his pockets.
"I told you once, you can’t resist the bad boy, huh?"
I poke my tongue out at his teasing. "You’re not the bad boy, Andrei."
"Sure, Maeve." I bristle at the derision in his laugh, until I realise this is at himself. "See you tomorrow."
Chapter Fifteen
MAEVE
I cross from the main academy building towards the staff quarters with my hand in Ash’s. Jamie and Amelia walk alongside us, although Amelia hangs back. I understand her concern—I’m nervous that Vincent invited a pack of shifters to his welcome party. Ash invited me, Jamie, and Amelia to join the celebrations. I was hesitant knowing Vincent’s dislike of witches, especially a future-sighted one, but Ash insisted. I wanted him to invite Andrei too, but Ash just looked at me as if I were insane.
Knowing Andrei, he’ll arrive anyway.
The staff quarters are contained inside a building to the rear of the grounds; each professor has a separate wing and temporary visitors stay in rooms on the ground floor overlooking the gardens. Theodora lives in seclusion at the top of the building, where she can literally oversee her academy by looking across the grounds and to the moors beyond. The place is off limits to students, a place of privacy for the staff, and a party unusual. Which staff will visit tonight, if any?
We step inside the rooms and I immediately stop. Not due to the number of shifters draped across sofas or gathered in corners, but the size and opulence of the place. The wood-panelled walls and flock wallpaper look like original features, and the decor lovingly recreates the era. People sit in wing-backed armchairs beside small tables with ornately carved legs. Persian rugs cover the polished floor and heavy maroon velvet drapes hang to the floor.
Two doors lead to the left and right and a staircase at the rear of this room heads upwards. In a residence like this, I’d expect a refined party with expensively dressed guests sipping wine from crystal-cut glasses.
Not rowdy shifters in scruffy casual clothes piling up empty beer cans or half-empty whiskey bottles.
"Nice," murmurs Ash.
What do Tobias’s rooms look like? What does he do there? Who does he invite? I shake the crazy questions from my mind. That isn’t my business.
But I can’t drop one question—will he attend tonight?
Others in the room watch as the four of us walk through the door, some in silence and others muttering to each other.
"Drinks first," says Ash with a grin. "Then I’ll introduce you to my brother. He looks pretty busy."
Vincent stands with a small group of guys close to a door, but I can only see his broad back and the mass of brown curls touching his collar. He’s taller than Ash, and larger than most of the group he’s with. I find him more formidable than I expected for a guy suffering after his years imprisoned.
I’m tempted to ask Ash for something stronger than Coke, but I agreed with Jamie that we’d keep ourselves fully alert tonight. We huddle into a corner close by the door while we wait for Ash to return. I’m relieved he’s quick as he returns with several drinks held effortlessly between his palms. He nods to his brother on the way by.
"Having fun yet?" he asks and nudges Jamie, who continues to watch the room as if he’ll be eaten alive any moment.
I take my drink. "Thank you for inviting us."
"So formal, Maeve. You know I want you to meet Vincent properly."
"Yeah, I heard you had an awkward moment," butts in Jamie.
Ash widens his eyes and looks at me. "What did you say?"
"Nothing. Your secret is safe," says Jamie with a chuckle.
Despite the insinuation, I’m happy their banter has lightened the mood.
Ash laughs loudly and Vincent turns.
I meet Vincent’s eyes and the hard suspicion in his ramps up my anxiety. Crap. I refocus on the Coke Ash hands to me. Maybe I should’ve slipped a vodka into this. Sipping my drink, I lift my eyes back to Vincent.
He’s as attractive as Ash, sharing the same large brown eyes set into a handsome face. His square jawline is covered with a day’s growth and his lips curve into a smile as he shifts his attention to Ash.
With a pat on the back of the guy he’s speaking to, Vincent heads over. His imposing nature isn’t only physical. Ash radiates a commanding power; his brother has a presence that focuses everybody on him and not only because this is his night.
Running his tongue along his bottom lip, Vincent stares at me and Amelia.
"Which witch is which?" He chuckles at his joke and Jamie tenses beside me. "I mean, who’s your latest? The blonde one? Both?"
I clench my jaw at his reducing me to my hair colour, and the connotations of his ‘latest’. He knows damn well I’m the girl Ash is with. Ash takes my hand in both of his and rubs my knuckles.
"This is Maeve."
Again, the disdain as he drops his eyes to our interlocked hands and then back to me. "Cute. What happened to Cordelia? I thought she was your girlfriend."
Ash scoffs. "When I was twelve."
"Yeah, but her family and ours. Close, y’know? Good match." He nods at me. "I’ve heard about you. I thought my brother was star pupil and now here you are, superwitch."
Ash’s fingers grip mine tighter at Vincent’s rudeness.
"Just kidding!" he says. "If you’re able to help catch the bastards who abducted me, I’m happy you’re a super witch."
Amelia stands close to Jamie, further away from Vincent. "You’re Amelia, right?" She smiles and nods. I’m uneasy but poor Amelia’s not coping. She loves her excursions into the human world, but not this time. This is a shifter world.
He smiles back and switched focus to Jamie. "You’ve
changed. You’re not the scrawny kid I remember."
Jamie holds his hand out. "Great to see you again."
Vincent wrinkles his nose at Jamie’s offer of a handshake and takes a step back. "No need for formality, man."
"I’m happy you’re back," says Jamie.
Vincent drinks from the bottle in his hands. Was that a deliberate attempt to avoid physical contact or is that my paranoia speaking? "Me too." He gestures at his friends. "Why no Gilgamesh, Ash? I hoped you’d invite some proper friends."
"These are ‘proper’ friends." His indigence drops when Vincent glares.
"Come and chat the guys, Ash," Vincent says as he walks away.
Ash huffs. "Sorry he was weird. Vincent’s not himself."
"Agreed," mutters Jamie.
"What?" asks Ash sharply.
"I mean, he’s different to the Vincent I remember." Ash’s eyes remain narrowed. "Jeez, man. That’s all."
I rub Ash’s arm. "Of course, Vincent isn’t behaving like himself yet. I understand."
"I didn’t think it would be a big deal for me to bring witches and not shifters. You guys are my best friends." He chews his lip. "I should talk to his friends, though."
He lets go of my hand and wanders away as if magnetically pulled after his brother. Vincent wraps an arm around Ash’s shoulders and raises a loud toast to his little brother.
The three of us watch silently for a moment. "Let’s move." Jamie indicates a small sofa in the corner, away from most partygoers.
A grateful Amelia follows and I glance back at Ash. No point telling him we’re moving, he’s engrossed.
Chapter Sixteen
MAEVE
Why did Ash invite us? He’s hardly spent any time with us. Instead, we’ve faced an evening of awkwardness around shifters watching us with suspicion as we stood with an academy professor who once told us frightening secrets.
"You should slow down, Jamie," I say as he drains his third beer. "You don’t usually drink much."
"I almost didn’t come," Jamie admits as he drops down, and I sit beside him.
"Why?" asks Amelia, joining us.
"Because this party is full of prejudiced shifters, as I expected." He indicates a squat guy at a table with two others, his face round and features hard. "That’s Ollie. He hates witches. I heard he caused a huge divide between Gilgamesh and Walcott when he was at the academy. Him and his two friends are like those Petrescu guys from the ball—they like trouble."
Amelia sips her drink. "Tell Maeve why you really came."
"Because I don’t believe this guy is Vincent."
I blink. "We spoke about this, Jamie. Don’t cause trouble."
"I hate to agree with Tobias on anything, but I’m suspicious."
"Ash would know," I protest.
"Ash wouldn’t admit to himself even if he did." Jamie watches Ash joking around with his brother. "He just wants his brother back."
Amelia leans towards me. "Jamie wants to find something that belongs to Vincent. Something he had when he returned to the school that night."
"He didn’t have anything, Jamie. I was with Ash when he left and all Vincent had was his clothes and a signet ring. His clothes were trashed, I doubt he’d keep them."
Jamie grits his teeth. "Shit."
"Well what did you expect to find?" I ask, confused. "Vincent was half-dead when they found him. He had no belongings. This is unfair of you."
Jamie glances at the group. "Ash is my friend, and if somebody wants to hurt him, I don’t care how unfair I am."
Amelia presses her fingers onto the back of Jamie’s hand. "Sorry, I shouldn’t have said anything, I’m worried about trouble. That’s all."
I’m more worried about the vision standing in the open doorway. Tobias brushes a hand across the top of his head where snow has settled on the way in. As the door closes behind him, a conversation between a group of shifters close by comes to an abrupt stop.
Tobias looks like the one in my vision—not the professor, but the young guy who could be one of us. This is the first time I’ve seen him since the afternoon I imagined him in the middle of a fire. I’ve avoided him since our last encounter, because whenever he speaks down to or ignores me, it hurts, but I can't avoid talking to him about what I saw.
Tobias spots us and walks over. The cold has put pink in his cheeks, and I hate how my heart thrums whenever he’s around me. Why was he in the fire in my vision? He brushes melting snow from his coat sleeve and unbuttons it before folding it over a chair as if he’s returning home.
"What are you doing here?" asks Jamie.
"Theodora wanted me to attend," Tobias looks down at Jamie. "I had to cut my evening short for this because she wanted at least one professor here."
I stare ahead and the Coke glass cools my hands as I grip harder.
"Are you here to spy?" whispers Jamie.
Tobias gives him a sour look. "I’m here to keep an eye on drunk shifters."
I laugh and I’m the one to receive a sour look from Tobias this time. "Is she asking you to spy on Vincent?" repeats Jamie.
"Keep an eye on," he repeats then wrinkles his nose. "I don’t want to spend an evening with this many shifters. The place stinks of testosterone."
I catch sight of Vincent striding across the room towards us. He frowns down at Tobias and squares his shoulders. "Why are you here?"
Tobias scratches his nose with one finger, unintimidated by Vince’s aggressiveness and size difference. "I’m here on behalf of the other professors."
"Ash?" Vincent calls over his shoulder. "Come here."
A confused Ash breaks free of a group he’s with and when he sees Tobias, his expressions matches his brother’s. "You weren’t supposed to come here tonight. I told Theodora not to send professors," retorts Vince.
Tobias jerks his chin up. "Theodora is in charge of the academy. If she requests I attend, I attend."
"Yeah, but this is my party, and I don’t want vamps here."
"Yet you allowed witches," continues Tobias.
"Ash invited them. I’ll tolerate his little friends."
I swallow the invisible lump in my throat. Hopefully the other shifters will tolerate us too.
"Is Andrei with you?" Amelia asks Tobias.
"I don’t take the boy everywhere with me," he retorts.
Vincent crosses his arms, the muscles in his forearms bulging. "Why are you at my home?"
"I am here to represent the staff." Tobias’s stiff formal speech confuses me sometimes, as it’s at odds with his age. “Theodora believes you shouldn’t isolate yourself from the faculty. She’d like you to be ‘one of us’."
"Yeah? Well, I’d prefer to stick with my own kind when I’m not working on academy business."
I squirm again at the implications.
"Perhaps Theodora has concerns over how impartial you’ll be when judging?"
The edge between them sharpens, and I tense as Vincent jabs a finger at Tobias. "You teach mental magic, don’t you, Professor?"
"Correct."
"Has she sent you to read my mind?"
Tobias looks unblinkingly at him. "That’s a little paranoid, Vincent."
"You think?" he sneers. "Excuse me that I don’t trust people."
"I heard you’re struggling to access your memories. My door is always open if you’d like me to help." He rubs his chin. "I’m skilled at finding my way into people’s minds."
"Is that a threat?" snaps Vincent.
Ash touches his arm. "Vince. Calm down."
Vincent ignores his brother and steps backwards, away from Tobias. "I’m working through this with my own kind, thank you."
"Very well." Tobias nods.
"We’re just happy you’re back," puts in Ash, and I give an encouraging smile at his desperate attempt to interrupt the head-butting. "I’m sure you’ll remember everything soon and then people can stop pointing fingers."
Tobias nods. "I am happy that you returned, Vincent. Your death was a tragic
event that hit the community hard."
"I’m not fucking dead."
"Clearly." Tobias’s serene smile hides the suspicion we all detect. "Hopefully once we unlock your mind, we can discover what we’re dealing with—the Dominion connection, I mean."
Oh, hell. Why is Tobias deliberately provoking Vincent?
Vincent looks to Ash. "You trust the vamp?"
"Yeah. He’s a professor here, remember, Vince. Best you stay friendly if you want to stay, huh?"
Vincent’s tips his chin at Tobias. "Keep away from me." He turns away and stalks back to his pack of friends.
"The man needs to remember he’s part of academy staff. I’m not keen on his attitude." Tobias shakes his head with a rueful smile, but continues to stare after Vincent.
"I’ll talk to him." Before anyone can respond, Ash joins his brother again and my spirits sink. Our introduction to his brother isn’t going well.
Amelia clears her throat. "I don’t think you should’ve come, Tobias. Ash knows you don’t trust his brother, and Vincent obviously doesn’t trust you. This could cause problems."
He rubs his chin and surveys the room, where the guests either stare in disgust at our group, or look straight through us. "I’m not staying after that welcome. I’ll tell Theodora I attended—she didn’t say how long I needed to remain here for."
Is he frightened of spending time somewhere so many people dislike him?
"I spoke to Theodora before," he says, looking between me and Jamie. "I believe you had a vision concerning me."
"You were in it," I say.
"Interesting."
"Yeah, it was," puts in Jamie.
With a tight smile, Tobias walks away. What the hell? Doesn’t he want to discuss what I saw?
"Huh. Well that’s not suspicious." Jamie drains his bottle. "I need a drink. Amelia? Maeve?"
I shake my head, confused that Tobias never asked for more information. Jamie hauls himself from his seat.
"Don’t you want to leave too?" I ask.
"I said, I want to watch Vincent."
"This is a bad idea," I mutter.
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