He doesn't. Instead, Andrei continues to show me images of us and sex.
"Omigod, Andrei," I whisper. "Stop that."
"Stop watching," he whispers back.
I pull myself away from Andrei's pornographic memories and delve elsewhere. I come across a wider, darker section of the wall inside his mind and my magic bounces off. Annoyed, I move along the barrier looking for another way in. A small gap appears, and I edge my way inside.
Us again. His last vision was a memory because I recognised the time and place. This isn't something I remember. We're in the library, on the lowest level. I'm sitting on the windowsill, the same place Andrei approached me the first time. The day he triggered something in me that I hated—temptation and a confused obsession that led to me wanting but resisting his attention.
This scene is different to that day in many ways, including the fact I’m seeing this as myself and not him.
The library is dark—empty—but the thrill of getting caught adds to my arousal as his tongue invades my mouth and he touches me beneath my skirt. He pulls away and I look into his eyes, my lips hurting from the crushing kisses we share. There's something different in Andrei's eyes as they glitter darker and more primal than I've seen, and I'm midway between nervous and aroused by the danger lurking in them. He pulls me forward by the arms and roughly turns me around to face the window.
The first time I spent a night in his bed, Andrei warned me he wasn't gentle. I’ve since decided he said this to dissuade me, because he's never treated me roughly. His control slipped once, but Andrei pulled back and dropped the strength threatening to overwhelm us both.
Not this time.
I should back away from his fantasy, but I'm aroused and desperate to see what he wants. His movements are harder than usual, his hands beneath my shirt holding my breasts as he presses his chest against my back. We're not undressed, clothes loosened, and perspiration builds again his forehead.
Everything switches and I’m him. He wants to do more. Go further, and his fantasy Maeve whispers to him that he can.
I'm shocked when he moves his hand around my neck and other arm tightens vice-like around my waist. I'm under his control, but experiencing Andrei's arousal, and the building pressure inside him fascinates and intoxicates me. The Maeve in his arms welcomes everything he's doing and as I'm transfixed by the scene. This is oh-so-wrong, but I want to be there.
Andrei’s mind twists and the scene reduces to flickering images as he tries to shut down. I need to see how this ends, and drag myself back into the scenario. He succeeds in blanking his thoughts and swears, as he desperately tries to re-build the barrier. In frustration, I pull at the edges before he closes me out.
"No, Maeve. Don’t."
Andrei speaks to my thoughts for the first time and his breathy protest only urges me on. The scene materialises in front of me again. I'm Andrei, experiencing the turbulence in his mind, the shadows in his vampire soul swirling with the pleasure as he tries to steady his thoughts.
And I'm confronted by why Andrei doesn't play rough with me.
The skin on my neck breaks beneath Andrei's teeth, the blood fills his mouth and I experience his high, pushing me towards a place high above the whirlwind of his thoughts. There's no longer a fight against the darker desires as every muscle in his body fills with the need to feed and hold onto the moment.
To chase the high from the witch blood.
My arousal snaps away, replaced with nauseated disgust and shock. I pull back from his mind, and I break my magic hold on him.
"Maeve, I'm sorry." I hear his voice but can't focus my vision as the room dances in specks of white and black
"Andrei," I say, barely audible. My eyesight sharpens as he reaches out to me, but I'm out of my chair in a heartbeat, stumbling backwards away from him.
I hold a palm across my mouth, terrified by what I saw but disturbed by more than his actions. The metallic taste when I was in Andrei’s mind remains in my mouth, even though I'm no longer deep in his head.
A familiar heartbeat pounds in my ears, growing louder and dulling my hearing. I place my hands over my ears and make a break for the classroom door before I lose control.
As I reach for the handle, I drop to the floor and my cheek lands against the runes Tobias uses to protect his space.
Chapter Forty-Seven
MAEVE
I regain consciousness within seconds, but not quickly enough to stop the whole class focusing on me. Tobias's voice is tinny as he tells the class to settle down and continue their work. Jamie's beside me, palm on my clammy forehead. I push myself to sit and blink the class into focus. No Andrei. Jamie holds me beneath the arms and helps me back onto the chair. I rest my head on the table, wishing I had the energy to leave.
Jamie rubs my back. "Did you have a vision?"
"No." I turn my face the other way. "I don't feel well, that's all."
Tobias's voice easily enters my weakened mind. What happened? Why did Andrei leave?
I close my eyes and force away the last few images I saw in Andrei's head—not only because I want to forget them, but I don't want Tobias seeing what Andrei imagined.
"Would you like to leave, Maeve?" Tobias asks, now standing in front of my desk.
The silent class stares. Once again, I'm the day's entertainment. "No. I'm okay. Just dizzy."
"What did you see in Andrei's head?" asks Yvette with a mixture of curiosity and scorn. "Did you have a vision that he’ll rip your throat out?"
"Why are you such a bitch about me and him?" I snap, lifting my head from the table.
"Oh, did I hit a nerve, Maeve?" She smiles and nudges her grinning friend. "And you know why. The guy is a murderer."
Tobias clears his throat. "I will not listen to spurious accusations about somebody who’s proven innocent."
"Yeah, he's your golden boy," mutters a guy beside her. I've seen them together a lot recently—he's strongly elemental attuned: fire to her earth. The reminds me of the bond between Izzy and Anton.
Anton, whose death I contributed to.
"Enough." Tobias's composure slips as his voice rises and I widen my eyes. Katherine chews on a pen as she watches him, running her tongue along her top teeth. Our gazes lock and we look at each other in silence for a suspiciously long moment. I turn my head and Katherine sinks back in her chair; lips pursed.
Is she still obsessed with Tobias? I swear part of the reason Katherine doesn't like me is because she wants his attention.
"Back to work," he snaps and turns away.
For the last ten minutes of the lesson, I sit upright with my hands on the desk again, refusing to be the weird witch whose so-called magic causes her to have visions, pass out, and leave the class.
If only they knew the extent of my powers. What if one day my magic spills again, the way it did with Nikolai the other night, and there's no Tobias to wipe up the mess—or wipe minds?
I'm the last student in the classroom once the lesson ends and everybody noisily files out, apart from Jamie, who sits rubbing my arm.
"Jamie. Perhaps find Ash," says Tobias. "He'll hear the gossip and panic. It's best you go to him first."