Blood Isn't Always Thicker Than Water

“Excuse me,” I whispered. Sandy scrambled off my back and Monty jolted awake as I stood up then exited the room. Lancaster’s worried eyes bored burning holes into my back as I left, cape whirling around. I didn’t want to worry him, but I had a crisis to take care of right now, and it required the assistance—or at least presence—of someone other than him and Sandy.

I found Samantha in her room—one of the guest rooms. She was scurrying around in a tank top and floppy, baggy pajama pants, gathering little trinkets and gadgets from all over the room. I stood just inside the door that I had shut silently behind me and watched her work. After two minutes, she suddenly saw me and gasped.

“Oh, sorry Cas! How long have you been there? I didn’t see you!”

“Is now…not a good time?” I asked, stepping toward her.

“Um…” she hummed, glancing edgily around the room. “Cas, I’ve got a ton to do. I’m leaving tomorrow, and I need to pack, and—”

“Samantha, I get it.” I placed a hand on her shoulder. “You’re busy. It’s alright.”

She looked down at the floor. “Yes… Busy…” Her eyes slowly found their way back to mine. I didn’t know what to think as I stared right down at her. I did know, however, that I was replaying the time that we kissed in my head—her lips on mine, mine covering hers, the heat emanating into me from the her swiftly coursing veins, the sheer closeness, the intoxicating scent of her blood that would drive me insane if I was severely thirsty, her enticing model body…

“Oh God help me…” I whispered, staring at her, all sorts of feelings roiling inside me. Including the thought that staring at her like this and having her stare back was not part of my plan in the first place. Then I looked down and noticed that her hand was pressing lightly, palm-down, on my chest. Her cheeks lit up with light rosy color as she turned head away from my steady gaze.

“Cas, I…” She suddenly wrapped her hand into my shirt and pulled me closer. “Cas…”

Her voice wasn’t doing very good things to my head. I started to lean in closer to her unconsciously. She noticed, and took a step back, then continued until her leg hit the bed, pulling me along with her. Her entrancing eyes had me trailing behind, along with the hand gripping my shirt. Then she wrapped her arms around my shoulders and purposely fell onto the bed, dragging me with her. I landed on top of her, breathing speeding up as I found my waist between her legs. It was almost too much—the thighs on the outside of mine, lean body spread out beneath me, small breasts pressed against my chest, beckoning eyes staring shamelessly at me, tantalizing lips merely millimeters out of reach… All I had to do was lean forward… Not even a centimeter… Not even…

Our skin barely touched as I gave in, letting our mouths almost connect, heated breath mingling, senses going wild, escalating the minimal contact up to the next level in my head. I was tingling with anticipation and ecstasy at the feel of us being so close. And we could get so much closer…

“No,” I suddenly whispered, flying off of Samantha and propelling myself backward so hard I slammed into the wall. “No…”

She sat up and looked at me curiously, blushing a little in the process. She may have been fearless before, but now that I had clearly rejected her, she looked so uncertain.

“We…we shouldn’t…” I mumbled. I didn’t even know what I was saying. Why had I even done that? Why had I pulled away? “Look, Samantha. I don’t know why, but this isn’t right.” I sighed, eyes sliding shut. Then, before I could see the crestfallen look on her face, I opened the door, a new problem added to my steadily growing list. “Happy packing.”

Slam.

I was now searching for Fallen. I found him sitting contemplatively on the staircase leading up to my attic bedroom. I joined him and asked after a bit of silence, “You thinking?”

He nodded while running his finger over a length of wood in the banister.

“Same,” I said quietly. “What about?”

“My being regent, I guess.” He stared at the banister, still feeling it.

I nodded even though he wasn’t looking. “Nervous?”

He frowned, hands now folded in his lap. “Not really. Just…curious.” He looked into my eyes. I could just detect the faintest tint of lavender in his. “What does it feel like? Being ruler of such a large amount of people…no one there to hold you back…”

Now I folded my hands in my lap. “I don’t think I’ve really experienced much of being Prince yet, but so far… It’s really just a battle between you and your conscience. It comes down to what you think is right or wrong, and what you choose to do. Will you choose right? The obvious answer is yes. But what if the right path is hard to follow? What if it seems impossible? Will you stick with it, even if it hurts those around you? Or even if it hurts you[?”

There was silence for a second, then Fallen said, “You’re not just asking me. You’re asking yourself, too. What’s up?”

I fingered my cape. “Fallen, will I make a good Prince? Should I really take the position? Will it go to my head? Will I totally lose myself? Have I already?”

“Caspian, I have absolutely no doubt in my mind. You will make a great Prince someday in the near future. Would Liam and the Council have approved of you if they didn’t think so?” He stared at me as if waiting for me to answer, but I just waited for him to finish. He wasn’t done. I could tell. He hesitantly began speaking again. “As for it going to your head… It’s up to you. Will you let it? Will you let yourself go? Will you give up yourself to the title of ‘Prince’?” He stared again. “Answer me, Caspian.”

I glared ahead of me. “No. No, I will not.”

Aren't I just a cake of cheese?

He smiled. “Good. Remember your conviction if the going gets tough. Think of what I just asked you. If the answer is ever yes, I’m always going to be right here, willing to fill in if you ever need to…gather yourself up. Okay?”

I nodded, but I knew I was lying. Fallen wouldn’t always be there. He did have a life. He was going to get a job and a girlfriend someday. Then he’d get married and have happy little purebred kids and live in a dainty house in Nevada and go visit his mom every week. No way in hell was he ever going to just abandon all that to help me out, his little half-brother, the stuck-up Prince. It was just common sense.

“Cas, I know that look. What are you thinking?”

“Nothing,” I said normally, letting my eyes slide shut.

“Oh…” George—Ryan—suddenly appeared out of nowhere. “Um, want me to go?”

“No,” Fallen said, much to my disappointment. “Let’s finally have one time in our lives where it’s just us—the three purebred brothers.”

A bittersweet smile appeared on Ryan’s face and he sat down on the floor across from us, leaning against the wall. “Now, I know Fallen a bit—”

Fallen snorted. “Noooo. We didn’t have a ton of talks over the past two weeks and I don’t know that your favorite cookies are oatmeal raisin and snickerdoodles. I also don’t know that—”

“Yeah, we get it,” I interrupted. “You know tons of random facts about each other. As you were saying…” I didn’t even look at Geo—Ryan, but he knew that I meant for him to continue.

“Yeah… I know Fallen okay, but you Cas…” I looked apathetically at his eyes that seemed to be trying to pull a Callie Stare and see right into me. Sorry, dude, blue eyes only. “You’re a huge mystery.” Then he began to elaborate. “At first glance I thought you were just someone who looked a tiny bit like me—an insignificant teenager. Then I find out that you’re my long-lost brother that I hadn’t seen in almost eighteen years. And then it turns out that not only are you a vampire, but the Prince of ’em all. Sometimes you’re fun and playful, sometimes you’re absolutely…crazy…other times you’re dead serious, and other times you’re an absolute emotional wreck.” He put his chin in his hand. “I can’t figure you out, even though you’re my own flesh and blood.” We stared at each other for a few seconds. Then he seemed to realize that I wasn’t exactly keen on speaking with him. He sighed and asked me, “Care to explain yourself?”

“No, not exactly…” I whispered coldly.

“This is just what I mean. What have I done to make you so…hard?” Fallen snorted at that and George cut himself off to say, “Shut up,” to his half-brother. I was utterly confused, but let it slide. “As I was saying,” George said, still giving Fallen a dirty look, “I feel like I don’t even know you, yet you’re so cold and hard toward me. Did I say something offensive or do something you didn’t like?”

“No,” I said. “I’ve just always had harsh, basically hateful feelings for you ever since I found out you existed.” Nothing personal…

“No duh,” Fallen put in, causing George—Ryan!—to join me in the fantastical world of confusion. “What?” Fallen asked when we both gave him the one-eyebrow quirk. “It’s so obvious why Cas feels like that, I can’t believe he didn’t figure it out earlier. Ryan’s grown up with his parents, living his life almost uninterrupted. Cas is jealous.”

I blinked then blushed a bit, but I didn’t say a word.

“Why would my little brother be jealous of me?” Geo—RYAN!—asked. “If anything, it should be that he wants my fame, which isn’t that huge, anyhow. I don’t have half the amount of fans that…say…Justin Timberlake or someone like that does.” He shrugged. “My home life really wasn’t that exciting, so what’s there to be jealous of?”

I put a hand over my face and kept it there. “Listen, Ryan. I wasn’t sure what my name was until the day I turned seventeen. Sound good to you?”

He was staring incredulously at me. I knew it. I felt like I could see him through my fingers and eyelids.

“He’s kidding, right?” Ryan asked Fallen.

I “saw” Fallen shake his head. I think I could predict what people were going to do too well.

“Naw, that’s right. That blonde guy who was there when we were confronting the King—”

“Jeremy?” George asked.

Fallen nodded. “Yep. He told me some about Cas, and it’s true that he didn’t know what his name was until not that long ago. Jeremy had lots of special sensory powers, and that was how he found out who Cas was. He was that powerful. I’ve got one sensory power, and I can go into a super-mode if I ingest Guardian illusion blood.”

Geo—RYAN! IT’S RYAN, DAMMIT!—stared blankly at Fallen. “Wow. I know I’m crazy because I believe what you just said.

Fallen shrugged. “You get used to the weird stuff after a while. I’ve only known about this stuff for about a month. You’ll get used to it.” Fallen sighed, then shook his head a bit. “So. On the topic of weird stuff, Cas, you got any special powers like mine and Jeremy’s?”

I shrugged grudgingly. “Since I’ve become Prince, my eyes have been able to change color, a cape follows me around, and I think I saw some sort of…of…vision, I guess. It was two weeks ago or something. That might count. I can sense Guardians and recently I’ve found that I’ve been able to see much better in the dark. Am I getting night vision…?” I shrugged again then finished up with, “And I found out before I became Prince that I’m impervious to fire. I won’t get burnt or hurt or anything by it.” Keeping my eyes on the floor, I asked Ryan, “How about you?”

No, not being able to sleep did not count on this list.

He frowned. “Ah…no. No, not really. Do ya think,” he started slowly, “I should have all sorts of powers like you two?”

Fallen shook his head, frowning like George. I mean Ryan. “Definitely not. I’m like a normal human unless I drink blood—of any kind, really, except Guardian and probably fairy. And even then, I only get hardened skin, an internal people-locater and purple eyes.”

I added, “If it weren’t for my being Prince, I’d just have very good Guardian-finding senses and an uncanny resemblance to asbestos.”

Both of my brothers stared at me. “What?” I tried to act all unknowing and unaware of why they were staring at me—it was because I had basically called myself asbestos—while inside I was feeling something very warm and uplifting yet constricting and pressuring. Seriously, I liked it, and it was all gathered around my heart. And it had started as soon as I thought the word "brothers".

Oh no. I’m going all family-loving and gushy. Lord have mercy…

"Really, ‘an uncanny resemblance to asbestos'?” George asked.

Okay, I give up on the Ryan thing. I simply can’t do it.

I nodded. “It’s inflammable, right?”

He smiled and nodded, rolling his eyes. “Okay, okay, you’re right.”

I began fingering my cloak, letting the smooth fabric give my fingertips a tingly sensation.

“Hey, can I see that?” Fallen asked me.

I immediately shook my head. “I don’t think…”

He gave me something that looked suspiciously like a puppy-dog face. “Aw, come on, please? I swear I’ll be really really careful.”

“It’s not that…” I mumbled, frowning. “But fine. You can hold it.” I unclasped the cape from around my neck. I could’ve sworn that it tried to resist me and clung a bit tighter. I yanked it off me and handed it over to Fallen. He held it like he thought it would crumble to dust if he made one wrong move. “It’s not silk,” I chided. “As far as I’m concerned, you can rugby tackle it into a wall of ten-inch metal spikes and I wouldn’t care.”

Fallen glared at me. “Well I would.”

“Watch this,” I told him, then grabbed the cape, brought it up to my mouth, bit it, and tried to tear it apart using both hands and teeth. I managed to rip it into uneven halves, and Fallen looked too outraged to speak. He probably thought of it as some ancient vampire royalty artifact. I let go of the thing with my mouth and held up the pieces as they sewed themselves back together.

Now Fallen was speechless in awe.

I smiled bitterly. “Yeah. I wouldn’t worry about it if I were you.” I threw the piece of self-healing cloth back at my wonderful ex-model of a half-brother and watched as he scooted away from the cape.

“What the hell did you do to it?” he asked me, still horrified.

I shook my head. “Nothin’.”

George looked ecstatic. “That’s fricken awesome! I wish I had one of those!”

I rolled my eyes. “No, you don’t. It follows me around and it’s annoying.”

George shook his head. “I don’t care. That thing is sick! If I could do a concert in that—” He stopped talking abruptly. “Uh, never mind.”

I frowned, then quickly rid my face of any emotion. I was mad at him. I didn’t like him. And according to Fallen, I was jealous of his past with our parents. I was not going to show him any sort or worry or care.

“But you’ve got a new band now, right?” Fallen asked. “With Jon?”

George shook his head. “It’s just a cover-up. We’re going to focus all we’ve got on a peaceful coexistence between our three races.”

Wow. That’s dedication and self-sacrifice.

But I was still jealous and therefore mad and therefore I would remain silent. Yeah.

Fallen nodded at George. “Good for you. Well, us vampires, actually. We’re just sitting around letting you work.” Fallen sighed. “It’s so weird, calling myself a vampire and actually believing that it’s true. Hah… Well, it’s better than believing I’m Robert Pattinson.”

I nodded emphatically. “Exponentially.”

Both of them looked at me. “You just used a big word,” George said.

I shrugged. “Well, I am going to college.”

Fallen blanched. “That’s why you’re leaving? Oh my…”

I nodded. “So?”

Fallen placed a hand on my shoulder. “Beware the kitty-cats, Cas. Beware the kitty-cats.”

Puzzled, I frowned at him. “Alright.” Avoid felines. Check.

He sighed. “You’ll know what I mean. Now. Where ya goin’?”

I shrugged. “Our father’s university.” They blinked, frowned and looked entirely lost so I elaborated. “It’s called George Ryan Ross II University. It’s in the Sierra Nevada Mountains, doesn’t allow pets, looks like some Greek military fortress that interbred with an albino castle, and it’s strictly vampires only. Absolutely no humans allowed. Oh, and there are less than fifty students.”

Yet more blinks…

“Sandy and I are going there. I’ve got to choose my courses soon, I think.”

“What’s your major?” George asked.

“Huh? What’s a major?”

Fallen sighed. “What do you have interest in, Cas?”

I shrugged. “Gym.”

Both of them groaned. George said, “You’re hopeless,” and Fallen whispered, “I am so fucking thirsty.”

“You know,” I began thoughtfully, “you haven’t been swearing as much as usual, Fallen.”

“I haven’t? Well fuck.”

I sighed.

“What, you got a fucking problem with that?” George asked.

I put my head in my hands. “Look, I was just enjoying the peace.”

“To hell with peace!” Fallen exclaimed. “Oh, you’re in for it now, Cas. We’re not gonna fucking drop this until you fuckin’ crack.”

I shrugged, head back out of my hands. “Then I’ll just wait for you guys to get fed up with your excessive amounts of swearing. And in return, I won’t swear. If I do, that means I cracked.”

George and Fallen cackled evilly, and I had a feeling I was going to regret this.