“Daughter, I need a word,” Tudor Thornblade says sternly, slamming the door behind him.
“Can it wait?” I snap, licking the woman’s neck with a healing charm so that her blood stops flowing. “I’m preoccupied at the moment.”
Tudor glares at me. “Did you stake Lazarus Gray’s newest progeny?”
I roll my eyes. “Yes, but-”
“Celine,whatwere you thinking?”
“I hate it when they sneak around like that,” I hiss. “Lazarus is throwing his victory in our faces…”
Tudor clicks his tongue dismissively. It only fans my fury.
“Well, he was draining one of our customers!” I take the woman on my lap and place her down on the couch beside me. She frowns in confusion, but she’s still dazed from the spell.
“And?” Tudor raises his blond eyebrows at me. “What does it matter? Do you have any idea how many breathers have been drained by vampires over the years? They’re ourprey, Celine.”
I have to stop myself from wincing at his words. “It’s bad for business. Too many bodies show up and the politicians start to notice.Do you want to have to move our operationagain…”
“We’re not moving,” says Tudor firmly. “Our business is well-established in Silverlake City. Nobody will care if one or two breathers lose their lives. It’s more important to maintain the peace with Lazarus and Cedric.”
I bristle at his name.
My Creator frowns. “We can’t risk angering the the other vampire gangs. Not now. We have to focus on the witches.”
I rise to my feet, my anger boiling over. “Howcan you just sit back and let them taunt us this way?”
Tudor’s nostrils flare slightly. And I can see it, just behind his eyes. A hint of that same anger, that same sadness.
“How can you not be upset?” I ask. “After everything he did to us…”
“Of course I’m upset,” says Tudor, his voice harsh. “But there’s nothing we can do about it now. Let it go, Celine.”
I have no more words for him, and he has none for me. In the past three hundred years, we can communicate without them. With a final, fierce gaze, he steps out of the room.
The girl beside me sighs as she comes out of her daze.
But I’ve lost my appetite.
RIGHT AND WRONG
Amara
During my first week, I find myself wandering through the hotel one night on my lunch break. I try to appear nonchalant, wandering the hallways as though I belong here. Lavinia is putting a ton of pressure on me to find something on Tudor Thornblade. I still think she’s being overly paranoid, but maybe if I tell her that I searched the hotel thoroughly and didn’t find anything, she’ll be satisfied and she’ll let me come home.
I can’t stay here much longer. I’m inwayover my head. I might be a strong fighter, but I’m not a spy. I’m not cut out for all this undercover bullshit. Yesterday, when I met my landlord, I almost introduced myself as “Amara Moonfall” instead of “Amara Monroe.” I had to cover it up by pretending to cough, and she thought I was totally weird.
And pretending to be normal is getting old very fast. I’ve been a practicing witch for two hundred years! It’s almostimpossiblefor me not to use magic in my day-to-day life. I was perfectly happy to live out the rest of my days in Hemlock Haven, baking overpriced pies for tourists and teaching young witches how to ride broomsticks.
But the worst thing is being around so many vampires. It brings back memories I would rather keep buried. I still feel slightly shaken up after watching Tudor’s eldest progeny stake a vampire right in front of me. I’m sure that if I were discovered, she would do the same to me, without batting an eyelash.
I have to keep an eye on them, to ensure my own safety, and the safety of the innocent humans in the club. In the past week, I’ve been noticing the vampires more and more. I even saw Tudor’s other two progeny. One of them was yelling at another bartender for not up-selling tequila shots, and the other one was making faces at a rectangular, black device she was holding in her hand. It was bizarre.
But Celine Côté is at the club most often. I’ve seen her going in and out of her private suite with customers. I try to keep an eye on them, to make sure that nothing bad is happening. So far, I haven’t seen her hurt anylivinghumans, but that doesn’t mean she wouldn’t. I’ve seen a lot of awful things in my time. Witches and vampires frequently get into conflicts, so I’ve encountered them on the battlefield on more than one occasion. I’ve fought countless wars against them, and many other foes. Enemies who wouldn’t think twice about taking an innocent life.
But I’ve never killed anyone, or harmed anyone unnecessarily. It’s an important moral tenet of mine.
I inherited it from my father. He was the high priest of the Hecate coven, a powerful good witch, for many years before Lavinia Nox was appointed. I remember how he loved teaching young witches the art of witchcraft, and instilling the values of our coven among its members. I was his keenest student.
