Page 79 of Thicker than Water
We fly far away from Silverlake City, an hour north of Hemlock Haven. A small mountain range punctuates the thick, wintry woods. I feel uneasy, being this far from the city. It’s much too quiet out here.
“Here it is,” Oana says.
We’ve come to a clearing at the foot of a tall mountain. At its base, the mountain fans out, leaving an opening like a deep cavern. It’s impossible to see from the air. You would have to know exactly how to find it.
It makes sense. The entrance to the Cave is a closely guarded secret, known only to the elite members of the Triple Council. The most notorious magical prison in North America holds all of the enemies of the Hecate coven. Hecate witches consider themselves too noble to kill their enemies, so they leave them to a torturous eternity instead. Witches, vampires, shifters, even mermaids, all doomed to spend the rest of their existence in a rotting, underground hell.
I’d rather die in battle, any day.
“I’ll keep watch,” I say firmly. Tudor and Oana don’t argue with me. They immediately disappear into the invisible opening in the mountain.
The night is overcast and heavy. We’re far enough north that the ground and trees are covered in a blanket of fresh snow. I’m glad I’m not affected by the cold. In moments like these, I can almost remember how the chill seeps into your bones.
As the minutes tick by, I start to wish I had gone with my Creator and our ally into the Cave. The stark quiet of the forest is unsettling. My mind starts to wander.
I should tell Tudor about Amara. If he finds out that I knew about the Hecate coven’s spy and didn’t tell him, it will be very bad for me. I know how ruthless he can be. If I’m lucky, he’ll torture me. If I’m unlucky…I wouldn’t be surprised if he makes good on his threat to stake one of my sisters.
And yet, I can’t bring myself to reveal it to him. I can barely believe that it’s true.
But I suppose it makes sense. Amara never could havetrulycared for me. Never thought that I could be redeemed. She only wanted to get close to me. That’s why she never wanted me to bite her.
A sickly, hot feeling rises in my stomach. All that time…she thought I was a monster.
But then…why did she allow me to bite her? Ask for it, even?
And in that moment…I felt…
No. I can’t let myself think about it.
And yet the questions keep nagging me…
Whydidn’tAmara kill me? She had so many opportunities to stake me. Private moments where she easily could have disposed of me and no one would have been the wiser. Perhaps she was concerned it would be traced back to the Hecate coven? That Tudor would find out and be provoked?
Yes. That must have been it.
But then…
A rustling in the trees breaks me out of my thoughts. Immediately, I prepare for an attack. I feel the red rise in my eyes and the magic swirl inside me.
Amara’s magic.
The power she shared with me.
I’ve never fed from such a powerful witch before, certainly never a Hecate witch. Her light energy magic feels amazing, completely unlike anything I’ve experienced before. For a moment, my feet leave the snowy, hard ground. My limbs feel light, tingling with the promise of power.
But it’s not the witches.
No, it’s just a bird. A small hawk. He sets down on the ground in front of me, shaking his wings in agitation. Something about him is animated, human-like. To my surprise, he speaks.
“Celine Côté,” he says, with a shake of his tawny head.
I stare at him in wonder. He must be a witch’s familiar, like Amrita’s owl.
“Thank Hecate I found you,” he continues. “It’s Amara, she’s been captured!”
This throws me completely off guard. “Captured? How?”
“Cedric Ducharme. Him and his guard kidnapped her last night. They took her back to Lazarus’s headquarters.”
