Page 93 of Thicker than Water

“Let her go!” I yell, flying up toward Cedric.

I close the distance quickly, grabbing him by the wrist and twisting. He lets go of Amara’s broom. I grab him by the shirt and pin him against the far wall of the club, several feet above the ground.

Amara hovers anxiously nearby. From out of the corner of my eye, I can see Renata and Lexi watching.

“Finish him, C!” Lexi shouts.

I take the dagger-stake from its sheath and put it to his throat. His lip twitches, but he doesn’t protest. He shuts his eyes tightly.

It’s tempting…I could end this all right now. Put my anger to bed. Come out the victor. Ensure that I never have to worry about my monstrous brother ever again.

Or is he really so monstrous? After all, he and I had the exact same upbringing. Made the same choices.

Well, not quite the same.

I regard him quietly, stretching out this moment. He’s accepted his fate. He knows he’s lost.

For just this moment, he looks like the scared young man that dug me up.

I take my dagger…and slide it into my belt.

“Celine!” Renata shouts. “What are youdoing?”

Cedric’s eyes open. He looks even more scared, wondering what I’m going to do.

I look him in the eyes, my voice oddly steady.

“You’re going to get away from here,” I tell him. “Far, far away. You’re never going to drain another living human. And you’renever,evergoing to set foot in the northern region again. Do you understand?”

He licks his lips, then nods once.

I don’t need anything else. I drop him.

He falls to the ground, then dashes out of the emergency exit of the club, like a cockroach released from a trap.

“That goes for all of you, too!” I shout to his remaining vampire guard.

They don’t need much convincing. They follow their leader, scattering into the snowy December night.

Nova shifts out of their bear form, and Xia disembarks. Renata and Lexi survey the damage in the club.

But I only care about one person. She hovers closer to me on her broom, looking at me with an expression of pure love.

“You…you let him go,” she breathes.

I nod. “I guess we weren’t the same, after all.”

Amara swallows, a ripple along the smooth line of her neck. “Celine, I…”

“Celine! Renata!” shouts a voice.

My head snaps toward the emergency exit. What could it be now?

It’s an…owl?

A HEART BURIED DEEP

Celine