Page 68 of Thicker than Water
With an inhuman blur of motion, Celine arcs around me. She grabsthe man on my right by the collar of his shirt and hoists him up, then tosses him through the air toward the man standing in the middle, knocking them both to the ground like a bowling ball and pin. As the fall, their heads crack together sharply, and they cry out in pain as they tumble down, one on top of the other. Their limbs wriggle ungracefully on the ground.
Celine steps toward the man on my left, the one who made the last comment. She left him for last. Her eyes are narrowed in focus. She moves like a hunter, stalking her prey. The man’s face is contorted in confusion, too stunned to move.
“What thefuck!” he gasps. “How did you…”
“Go on then,” Celine hisses. “Why don’t you show us what areal manis, hm?”
She takes the man by his neck and holds him straight up in the air. He’s too afraid to even shout, or perhaps his windpipe is restricted. He tries desperately to free himself, kicking his legs out and clawing at her hands. But she’s much too strong for him, of course. Her eyes are tinted red, and she opens her mouth, revealing her fully-protruded fangs, which curve with malicious elegance over her bottom lip.
The two men on the ground scramble to their feet, screaming in horror at Celine’s eyes and fangs. Without looking back, they run down the path to the entrance of the park.
But Celine’s gaze is trained on the third man, the one she dangles in the air in front of her. I know what she’s planning to do. I can feel the golden energy magic begin to pool around my fingers, my own power itching to join the fight. I put my hands behind my back.
“Celine, stop!” I shout. “He’s not worth it! Don’t hurt him!”
She ignores me, and her grip tightens on the man’s throat. He lets out a horrible, gargling noise as his windpipe is crushed. I’ve heard that noise before, too many times to count.
I’m not going to hear it again. Not if I can help it.
“Celine Côté!” I yell, forcing my body between her and the man. I look her dead in the eyes, forcing her to face me. “Let him downright now! You’re not going to hurt this man!”
Irritation sharpens her features. “And why not? He started it! He would do the same to us.”
I shake my head, my resolve making my words bold, despite thefear building inside me. “It’s not about whetherhewould do the same to us. It’s about what you wouldwanthim to do, if he had the power we have.”
With a jolt of anxiety, I realize that I should have said “you” and not “we.” But she doesn’t seem to have noticed my slip. Her eyes become a little less red, and her grip loosens. I can hear the man take a rattling, shaky breath. He makes a whimpering sound.
“If you have power, you have the responsibility to treat others how you would want to be treated,” I tell her. “You have the right to defend yourself, but you don’t have the right to take his life if it isn’t necessary.Nobodyhas that right, no matter how powerful.”
She narrows her eyes, moving her gaze fully onto mine.
Her voice lowers, as quiet as the night itself. “Whoareyou?”
My heart stops. I fear she’s discovered me. But then she opens her hand, dropping the choking man. He stumbles down onto the paved ground. Wisely, he runs away toward the park entrance, without a word or another look.
And just like that, like the moon rising out of a cloud, the evening is illuminated. There’s only Celine and I, standing a hair’s breath away from each other on the silent path.
She surveys me with that same, probing look. Like she’s trying to figure me out.
“Why did you say that?” she asks, more curious than upset. “Why would you care about that man?”
I take a shaky breath, and pull the leather jacket more tightly around my shoulders. “It’s not about the man. It’s about us. I don’t want to be the sort of person who would stand by and watch someone be killed like that. That’s not who I am. That’s not how I was raised.
“And…that’s not whoyouare, either. You’re better than that. You’re better than Tudor Thornblade and Lazarus Gray.”
She doesn’t move, but something changes. Something shifts behind her violet eyes. Something softens deep within her.
And my heart beats a steady rhythm, one for both of us.
“Amara.” Her voice is like the whisper of the tall evergreens surrounding us, ageless and without fear. “Amara, I love you.”
I know it now. I know that it’s her. That she’s the only one I could everlove like this.
“I…I love you, too.”
I’m completely fucked.
But I don’t care right now.
