by LJ Swallow
No Jamie.
Anxiety spikes. What if something happened? I need to find Andrei. Barging my way through others loitering in the hallways, I burst outside.
The cold air sends an immediate shiver through me to join the shaky nervousness we could’ve misjudged our safety. Andrei seemed convinced we’d be okay, and I’m positive Tobias wouldn't let us come here if he thought there’d be a danger.
But my paranoia that this new world of mine is a constant threat follows me everywhere.
I adjust my eyes to the dim and spot a group several feet away, close to a nearby alleyway. More drug dealing? Surely Jamie wouldn't. I squint through the dark. Not Jamie, but I recognise Andrei’s figure. I always will in the dark.
He’s with three people—two men and a woman. He’s pulled straight, not moving, arms tightly crossed against his chest. I wish I could see his face. The men flank the woman, occasionally glancing around the alleyway.
My stomach lurches as the woman touches Andrei’s face. Am I concerned or jealous? The intense conversation continues and something unsettles me. Why hold a secret meeting out here? Andrei never told us he’d planned to meet anybody. Accidentally bumping into friends would happen inside, surely.
Who are they?
I shake my head. This is distracting me from my hunt for Jamie, who’s not around, and I turn to head back inside. Footsteps click across the pavers behind and I turn my head.
A man steps in front of me and grumbles at me to move away, blocking my view. But I glimpse the woman’s face. I’ve seen her recently, but not at the academy. I struggle with my memories in an attempt to locate her.
Then the image hits me.
This is Ione Petrescu. The vampire in Sofia’s book.
I flee back into the building, terrified she’ll see me. Jamie. I have to find him. Now.
As I stumble back into the main bar area, I desperately look around again, in case he’s returned to the group.
Joining the fear in the pit of my stomach is an overwhelming sadness.
Andrei has links to the Dominion.
Chapter Forty
JAMIE
I stumble through the back door, wishing I hadn’t drunk as much. Desperate for Maeve to stop nagging at me. Dragging a hand through my hair, I pause and let the night air slap some sobriety into me.
Nope. Not happening.
My feet are on the ground, but my head is elsewhere, spinning in the night sky above. I look up and hold my hands outstretched as if soaking in the night. I’m away from the academy. I’m safe. Nobody can touch me.
The Blackwood pendant is chained firmly around my neck. I blame her for not allowing me close, deflecting attention from the truth. I can’t hide forever, and she’ll discover my secret soon. I’m planning how to explain to her and Amelia, but can’t find the words.
They don't understand how much this pendant means to me. I no longer wake up thinking today is the day I might die. Nobody can touch me, whether the dumb Gilgamesh bullies or some arsehole who wants to blast a hole through my chest.
But they won't understand.
I clutch the pendant in my hand and the metal warms. Sometimes I catch glimpses of the item’s past, just snapshots that seep through. A girl once possessed this; the same one I saw when I touched the Blackwood grimoire. What happened to her?
I stagger slightly as nausea takes hold. Maybe I drank too much, too quickly, but I’m craving oblivion. Not drug induced, like Andrei, but alcohol.
I hiccup. There’s no difference, apart from Andrei probably won't puke.
The dealer Andrei followed comes into blurry view, and he pauses as he reaches the doorway.
"You okay, dude?"
"Fine," I mumble. "Be fine soon."
He chuckles. "Alcohol’s a killer. Next time come to me. Your mate did."
I rub my clammy forehead. Should’ve known that’s where Andrei snuck off to. Where is he now?
"Yeah." I turn away, and miss my pockets as I attempt to shove my hands in them. Shit.
The roughly paved area outside the door is rough when my backside hits it. And fucking cold. I swallow down the feeling I’m about to throw up and peer into the darkness.
Four figures stand nearby and I attempt to focus. If I can see them properly, that will help. But they blur in and out of sight.
Andrei? His hair looks similar and I smirk to myself. If I were buying and taking illegal drugs, I’d cover my face with his jacket hood. He has Andrei’s posture and there’s a tall woman in his face. I can’t tell if he’s happy about this or not—too dark.
I stay on the ground, hands on the cool pavers as I focus on not throwing up.
Oh hell.
I look back up at the group. Who’s Andrei with?
A thought burrows into my drunken mind. Did he persuade us to come here because he needed a cover for a meeting with somebody?
I don’t care what the others say, I’ve my suspicions about this guy. I hiccup again. Although Vincent doesn’t like Andrei, which blows apart my theory both are linked with the Dominion. One must be—but who?
The woman turns and a sudden spike of adrenaline cuts through my hazy thoughts.
Ione Tepes. Or she was before she changed her name to her mother’s.
Holy shit. I yank my hood over my head to hide my face. Andrei and his sister? What a big fucking coincidence they visit on the same night.
I can’t let them see me. Struggling to my feet, I keep one eye on the group and the other on the doorway I need to get through before their intense conversation finishes. Neither take their eyes from each other. The two guys with them watch others leaving around me, but pay no attention to the staggering drunk guy.
I can’t think about this right now because my synapses won’t fire. Andrei. Tobias’s closeness to him. To us. Maeve. Fuck.
I focus on moving and shove my way through the door straight into a guy. He’s carrying two glasses and the drinks slosh out and over his shirt.
"Watch where you’re going, arsehole," he snarls, gripping the glasses.
"You watch where you’re going, dickhead." I retort.
"What the fuck?" His ugly features sour further as he stares down at me.
"I said, watch where you’re going." Screw shifters and their attitude.
"Piss off, witch."
"Fuck you." The words I wouldn’t normally use spill from my lips. People like him have talked down to me for years, but no more. I’ll say and do what I think—he can’t hurt me.
Something touches a spot beneath my chin, a gentle stroke that tips it upwards like a lover would to kiss me. Confused, I swipe at my face.
The shifter screeches, lurches backwards, and attempts to steady himself. One hand slides against the wall, damp with condensation from heat and sweaty bodies, and he holds the other against his face.
"What the fuck?" The guy steps towards me and my reactions are too slow to dodge him. He snatches my shirt by the front and buttons fly from the shirt between us.
Tugging me close, he pulls an arm back to punch me again, landing a blow straight in my face. I barely feel it, and I’m fascinated by how his nose shifts and blood leaks down to his mouth. He reels again.
"Are you fucking kidding me?" His voice is muffled by the hand across his nose and mouth, and I chuckle.
With a frustrated snarl, he reaches out and seizes me by the neck. As his fingers touch me, he yells louder before releasing me and holding his hand in the air. "You fucking witch bastard. Look at my hand."
We’ve drawn attention from several onlookers who’ve shifted from bored to intrigued, especially now the shifter's seared hand glows red.
Whoa. That’s new.
"Get him out of here! Before I knock the fucker into next week and we both get banned," he shouts.
Another shifter appears at his shoulder, head and shoulders above me like his friend, and storms towards me.
"He’ll hurt you." The guy spits the words with the vehemence of someone who wants to squash
me beneath his large boot.
"Him?" The guy laughs and looks down at me as if I’m pathetic.
I breathe heavily, steadying myself on the wall as if I’m the one knocked by an assailant. My shirt hangs half open.
"Fucking magic." The first guy swipes a sleeve across his nose.
Doesn’t he know when to give up?
A dark figure looms behind them and a guy dressed in a smart suit with an earpiece glares at us. He steps between me and the injured shifter and slams a hand in each shifter’s chest.
"Leave the shifter dog-fights at the door," he growls. "Or you’re both banned."
"Wasn’t me! Him!" protests my attacker’s friend and he jabs a finger my way. "Tell him, Shane."
"A witch hit you?" The security guard peers at me. "You sure?"
I stare at the floor and bite back a smile.
"What’s happening, Jamie?"
Andrei’s face appears in my line of vision as he ducks down to look into my eyes.
I glare back at him. "Was gonna ask you the same question," I slur.
Andrei straightens and glares back. "Don’t judge me."
I swallow. Don’t tell him you saw. But I’ll bloody tell Maeve and Ash.
I shrug.
"What are you doing in the middle of a shifter fight?" Andrei’s eyes go to my ripped shirt and his mouth parts. "Is that—?"
The pendant.
Fuck.
I curl my hand around the metal and narrow my eyes. "What?"
"Is that... Shit, Jamie. Maeve and Amelia would rip your balls off if they knew."
"If Maeve knew what?" asks a girl’s voice.
Maeve’s distinctive blonde hair appears as she pushes her way through the gathered crowd. Andrei leans forward and yanks at the chain around my neck. It breaks and he shoves the pendant into his pocket.
"I saw that!" she exclaims. "Is that—"
Someone jostles her from behind and the bleeding shifter shouts over her. "Are you going to kick out the witch bastard or not?"
The club passes by in a haze as we’re roughly escorted from the premises. I trip over my own feet and slump back to the ground outside.
"Is that the Blackwood pendant?" Maeve snaps at Andrei.
"Don’t know what you’re talking about." I stare as Maeve grabs at Andrei’s arm. He lifts his hands from his jacket, outstretched, palms outwards.
"Empty your pockets," she demands.
"No. Frisk me if you like, Maeve. You know I’d like that."
The two stare at each other in challenge.
"Fine!" she says in exasperation. "Jamie? Did the pendant protect you again?"
With amazing and disgusting timing, I throw up at their feet.
Chapter Forty-One
MAEVE
Jamie is incoherent on our trip home, and I’m lost at what to say to Andrei. He sits in the front and his avoiding me grates on my nerves. The Uber driver almost refused to take us, thanks to Jamie’s drunkenness, but good old vampire mental magic helped with that one.
As we travelled from the city, I call Amelia to ask if she’ll help with Jamie and there’s no response. I’ve felt her unhappiness grow stronger over the last few weeks, and I’m increasingly worried about her.
The driver drops us at the academy gates and our walk to the building takes twice as long thanks to Jamie. We reach the Walcott building and Andrei helps me haul Jamie back upstairs to his room.
I’m not dumb. I heard the shifter shouting about magic with his nose squashed against his face. Andrei took something from around Jamie’s neck. The Blackwood pendant.
I place Jamie in the recovery position and leave Andrei with him while I search for his roommate. Kyle reluctantly returns from the common room, complaining I interrupted his movie.
"Has he puked on himself?" asks Kyle and wrinkles his nose.
Jamie has dragged himself up and sits on the floor, back resting against his bed. "Mostly on the ground," he mumbles.
"Where did Andrei go?" I ask sharply. "He told me he'd wait with you."
Jamie looks up at me through bleary eyes. "Dunno." He's ashen and makes a gagging sound. I grab a nearby wastepaper bin to put close to him.
Kyle groans. "Dude..."
"You do this too," he mumbles out. "Helped you before."
"I’m never as bad as you," he retorts.
Has Andrei snuck off to his room?
Since I saw him with the Dominion, the sick feeling has grown. What upsets me most? His betrayal or that I let my guard down and trusted him?
Jamie's ripped shirt exposes the top of his naked chest. "I need to talk to you about how the shifter broke his nose."
He lies back and holds his arm over his eyes. "Whatever."
Kyle watches and I choose my words carefully. "You used certain magic on him, didn't you?"
Jamie mutters something and keels over to rest his head on the floor. This conversation is useless.
I push both hands into my hair, confused what to do next. Or what if Andrei went to Tobias and the pair run? If Andrei’s involved with the Dominion, Tobias could be too.
My head hurts. Why is nothing straightforward?
"I need to go," I say to Kyle. "Can you stay with Jamie?"
"Yeah." He nods at me. "Dumb bastard will be okay. Apart from tomorrow morning; then he won't be."
With a grateful goodbye, I close the door and debate what to do.
There's only one choice.
Pulling my jacket closer around myself, I stride along the hallway before anybody sees me leave.
The grounds are quiet as I cross towards the Petrescu building. The bench I sit on with Andrei is empty, and I picture us there. How could he lie to me?
A shiver runs through me as I step into the Petrescu building. I haven’t walked in here since the day I followed Andrei. The place creeps me out. Why? I should laugh at the cliché décor, but there's an uncomfortable vibe to the place. Some prejudices are hard to drop—especially when I'm told witches tempt them to the point they lose control. I shiver as if one stands behind me and runs cold fingers along my back.
But my discomfort isn't only from the students who live here—there’s an eeriness, as if the place is haunted.
My heart hammers as I creep up the stairs and pass rooms. Chatter and music come from behind doors and I pray nobody sees me walk by. My hasty decision to come here might be a waste of time, since I don't know where Andrei's room is. No way do I want to ask anybody; I don't even want to see anybody.
I chew my lip as I walk along the carpeted hallway. The doors to dorm rooms are identical to Walcott and I peer at a few. Some have name plaques the way ours do too.
Which means the common room isn't far. Hesitating, I watch the doorway that I need to pass and hope nobody leaves. The double doorways are open and a couple of girls intent on their conversation walk out. They block the doorway long enough for me to sidle past with my head down.
"Maeve Foster."
I halt.
Shit.
"Have you come to visit our common room?" continues the dulcet female voice. "I do hope you were invited."
Turning, I startle as I’m face to face with Katherine. I haven't seen her since the mental magic challenge, and behind the haughty tone I sense wariness. Does she think I’m here to find her?
"I'm looking for somebody."
She wrinkles her nose. "You know Tobias is a professor and doesn't live here, right?"
"Yes," I retort. "I'm aware Tobias lives with the other staff. I’m not looking for him."
"Andrei, then?" She arches a brow. "Did you know he threatened the girl who helped me with my practical joke? Upset her a lot. Rather uncalled for, in my opinion."
"You mean when you cheated?" I keep my tone light. Standing with a predator in the midst of her territory isn't a place I can show fear.
She snorts. "People overreacted. You're such a drama queen, Maeve."
I choke out a sound of disbelief. The girls who stepped from the common room p
ass, and scrutinise me from head to toe as they do.
"Fine. I'm looking for Andrei. Tell me where his room is and go spread your rumours."
She arches a brow. "Well, I am impressed, Maeve. I didn't think you had it in you. I mean, hooking up in guys' rooms doesn't seem like your style."
"I am not hooking up."
"Oh? Then why come here in the early hours to find him?"
My head twinges and I shove her intrusion away. "You can't read my mind, Katherine. That's why you needed to cheat, remember?"
"I did not cheat."
"Sure," I scoff.
With a deliberate yawn, Katherine pats her mouth with a palm and points into the dim. "Andrei's room is at the end of the hallway. You'll be pleased to hear he doesn't share. Those of us from the more important families have that privilege."
"Thanks." I step away and make my way down the hallway before our 'chat' descends into a bitchfest.
"Do be careful, Maeve," she calls with false concern. "We all know Andrei can be a bit... bitey."
Her laughter irritates me but I refuse to rise to her taunt.
A heavy-looking door painted black is the last in the hallway. There's no name on the wall beside. Andrei's? I can't see any other room doors set into the wood-panelled walls, so I knock.
No response.
I knock harder. Shit. Has Andrei left? One more time and then I’m headed to Tobias’s rooms instead. Maybe I should've headed straight there.
My knuckles rap on the door.
"Shut the fuck up," yells Andrei. "And piss off."
I pause, fist in the air. Judging by his tone, Andrei's mood isn't good.
Neither is mine.
"Andrei," I call. "It’s Maeve."
Silence greets me.
"I'm not leaving until you talk to me."
I close my eyes and hope he won't be childish.
The door opens. He's dressed and has the glassy look in his eyes from earlier. His face is strained and brows pulled into a deep frown. "What are you doing here?"
"I need to talk to you. Now." I pull myself straight and fix him with a determined stare.
