Tobias pulls away from the turbulence threatening to drag him under too and moves his mouth from mine. We remain pressed together, Tobias as shaken by desire as I am. I take a shuddering breath as I meet his eyes.
Something new reflects in them. For weeks now, I’ve read his thoughts, and the physical pull began the day we met. Only recently have his emotions become easier to detect, but this is more. Much more.
“I feel you.” I place my hand on his chest. “Everything. Right now, you’re fighting this because you’re worried.”
“You should worry too.” His voice is thick with want and he cups my cheek. “Do you understand how tightly this pulls us?”
“I don’t always experience your emotions. Not unless we touch or... kiss.”
He skims his thumb across my lips. “You know that’s changing. I don’t only hear your words in my mind, I’ve begun to experience your emotions. Do you?”
“Yes, a little like Jamie but magnified. I don’t understand. You’re not a witch. How could I have that bond with you?”
Tobias gently moves me away from him. “I thought it was impossible to meet a witch like you, but you're here. I thought I was safe and I’m not.”
“Why aren't you safe? I don’t want to hurt you.”
His eyes sadden. “Nobody who kills witches can walk away unscathed. I’m cursed.”
“I don’t understand. What curse?”
He touches my cheek and closes his eyes. "You. You’re the curse.” My stomach drops to my feet and all I can do is shake my head at him. “I denied you existed,” he says as if speaking to himself. “Even when I met you and the pull began, I tried to hide from the threat.”
Curses make no sense to me, but Tobias’s words implies he wishes I didn’t exist, and that cuts me. I move away. “Why am I a threat? You’re much stronger than me." My voice rises. “Explain what you mean—this is crazy!”
He pushes both hands through his hair and watches me warily. “You know what I am. What I did. I had a dark soul filled with the death I’d caused. I never cared for anybody but myself and believed I was invincible. Until I discovered I’m not. A dying witch cursed me—she told me I’d meet a witch with the same powers as she had, one who would have a grip on my heart, mind, and soul.” He takes a sharp breath. “My life will tie to hers, and the curse will destroy me the way I destroyed many lives.”
“How?” I ask hoarsely.
“Once the witch enters my life, mine will be over.”
I can barely grasp his words. “I don’t want to destroy you. Your life isn’t over.”
“Yes. It is. I’ll either save your life and die, or I’ll kill you.” Reeling, I hold a hand over my mouth and shake my head. He reaches out. “But I will never hurt you. I am doing everything I can to keep you safe. That’s why I know what will happen to me now.”
“I don’t believe this,” I say, voice still hoarse. “This can’t be true.”
“It’s true. I knew the first day I saw you, and now I feel things I was incapable of before. You can tap into every part of me now, Maeve. I can’t ever hide from you. Not anymore.”
I reach out to his mind and he gives a small nod. Tobias came here to protect me. He put himself back in a place with people who could tempt him back to the past, but I don’t need to read his mind to know he doesn’t want this. I also don’t need to reach far inside to know that Tobias cares for me. He doesn’t care about the curse, but two emotions overwhelm him: love and fear for my life.
These emotions are his curses.
“I'm sorry," I whisper.
"I killed the witch who cursed me. I slaughtered her family, and I deserve this. I’m the one who’s sorry—sorry that you’re forced into this situation. I should’ve left the academy when you arrived."
Each time I'm reminded of Tobias's past, a sickness fills me because I'm frightened that deep in the dark soul he talks about, a part of him will never change.
"But you stayed," I say. "And now—why have you given in to the curse when you could’ve run?"
"I stopped fighting the future, Maeve."
"You're helping me because of a curse?" I ask in confusion.
Tobias tips my chin and his mouth touches mine, tugging me back to the place where we're one. The gentle kiss consumes me as much as his passion before, but this time his mental guard is down.
"I could've stayed away. I tried to stay away, which was easy when you frustrated me, but I've watched you change. The magic from the curse drew me in, but my attraction became more than a spell, and you know that's the truth."
I don’t recognise this Tobias. In this moment, he looks younger, more vulnerable, and the earnestness in his voice and expression catch me off-guard. This was forced onto us, but as Maeve and Tobias, we’re more.
"You came here knowing if they try to kill me that you'd die?"
"Maeve, wherever I am with you, that's a possibility. You have too many enemies for me to count. In my heart, I don't believe the Blackwoods will, but their magic corrupts even the strongest witch." He tenderly strokes my face. "I'll ensure that doesn’t happen."
We both tense at the footsteps moving along the hallway and I relax against him as they pass by. He pulls himself from the doorway and moves me away from him again. "I can't stay."
My stomach lurches. “Don’t go.”
Tobias holds the back of my head and kisses me gently on the forehead. "Someone might come. Sorry. Trust that I’m figuring out what to do, but don't consciously connect with me when the Blackwoods are nearby."
I nod, suppressing the panic that almost has me clinging to Tobias and begging him to stay. But what's the point? Tobias can pick up on my fear.
"Nobody will hurt you. They're too busy preparing for Gabriella's arrival tonight."
Gabriella. I’m terrified what she’ll say or do to me. “Is she as powerful as the Blackwoods?" I ask with trepidation.
"They complement each other. Maeve, again, I promise I'll keep you safe. We'll find a way out of the estate."
With one final hug, he sneaks from the room. I sit back on the bed and try to calm the swarming emotions inside. I've dreamed of Tobias in ways I never should, and ached for him to kiss me, but now I know the reason he kept away; I wish I’d never shared that kiss.
I’m lying to myself.
His explanation fills me with dread, but I want more from Tobias even though this could kill one of us—or both.
And Tobias feels the same.
Chapter Eight
MAEVE
The woman who walks into the room is slender and with curves that remind me of Theodora. She’s wearing a short, business-like grey skirt and a red satin shirt, partially unbuttoned at the top to reveal a large onyx stone. The dark hair pulled from her pale face and into a ponytail reveals earrings matching her necklace.
The day I saw Gabriella's photograph, I saw Andrei in her eyes and face. Although her image is blurred in my mind, as soon as I look into this woman’s eyes, there’s no mistaking who she is.