Chapter 24

Doug was leaning above her, panting. Not because of exertion. Jamie wasn't struggling at all. She couldn't seem to move her gaze away from the icy darkness in his eyes. He was panting purely from fury and the state he'd worked himself into.

Jamie tried not to swallow too hard as she felt the blade pressed uncomfortably against her throat. If her throat convulsed too much, she might very well end up with another cut. She had enough of them already. Dozens of tiny little cuts covered her body. Some of them still had silver embedded in their openings. She couldn't feel the TryptoKeri getting to work yet. It probably wouldn't have an effect on her at all. She had had so little.

"Doug," Jamie swallowed again. "Please don't."

At that same moment, Bella let out a wail. She gripped her tiny little hands around Doug's large wrist and tried to pry his wrist away from Jamie's throat with little effect. She was strong for one so little, but not enough to move someone as strong and furious as Doug.

"Leave her alone!" The blonde child cried. "Don't hurt her!"

Doug flicked his wrist then, nearly cutting a slice out of Jamie's throat. He put enough force behind the movement to push the tiny child backward. Bella fell on her butt with another cry. She stood up to move for him again. Jamie had to hand it to the little girl, she had guts.

Doug pointed the knife waveringly at the child. "Stay away!" he warned. "My business isn't with you."

Bella backed off. She was glad for it. She didn't want the child to get hurt and she was strangely certain that Doug wouldn't hurt Bella. Not really. Maybe he really did care about the fact that she was a child—despite what he had said.

Jamie could have fought back while he was focused on the little girl. She could have turned this situation around. With a deft move she could have flipped him onto his back. And if she twisted his wrist, the blade would be pointed at his throat instead of hers. But she didn't do it. She didn't move a muscle.

She had realized then, what this had all come down to. Her death or his. He would never be satisfied to let her live. She knew what he thought of her. She was just a shadow of the sister who had once breathed and lived. She was a mockery of his sister's death—the shell without the inside. The only things her insides carried were evil and the hunt.

She wanted to tell him that this wasn't true. She wanted to tell him that she loved him and wanted the best for him. But in the end, it would make no difference. He wouldn't believe a single word that came out of her mouth. She wasn't Jamie anymore. Not to him.

So it had come down to a final fight. She could fight him, but eventually she would have to kill him because he would keep coming back. Keep trying to kill her if he had to make a life out of it. Like the Colonel. He would live his life with one single goal and hatred would fill his soul. When he finally got what he wanted—killed her—then he would be vapid. Lifeless. He'd no longer know what to do with himself, so he'd follow the same path as the Colonel.

She couldn't let that happen. Not to him. Not to her brother.

So she had to let him kill her now, while the goal was not pent up in him, destroying him. Because she knew, no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't kill him. This was the boy who had protected her throughout their childhood; watched over her. He was her brother and she couldn't change that.

She didn't want to change it, she thought fiercely.

Doug looked at her with disbelieving disgust. "You really are an idiot," he mocked. "You had the chance to kill me and you didn't take it."

"I can't kill you," she emphasized the word.

"Don't play your mind tricks on me," he spat, pushing the blade harder into her throat.

Jamie shrugged her shoulders and turned her face away. She closed her eyes. She didn't have to see this. Besides, she could feel a faint swelling in her chest—like she would start to cry if she looked at him much longer. It was better this way. Then she couldn't see the knife threatening to sever her air passage.

"Go ahead," she offered. "Do it."

Doug's wrists slackened, the knife still resting on her. "What are you playing at?" he asked weakly. "You're already taken her from me. All of you. And now you want to torture me some more?"

Jamie looked up into those brown eyes, so very like her own. The only difference was that his brimmed with hate while hers were brimmed with tears. She loved Doug, but she really wanted to slap him right then. If she had a free hand, she would have.

"Just do it or don't do it!" she snapped. "Don't leave me in suspense!"

Slowly, Doug took in a wavering breath. "You're really going to let me, aren't you?"

Jamie didn't reply. It was hard to believe she was putting her own self in this position. If she said it out loud, it would be like admitting to her own insanity.

"Do you want to die?" Doug asked.

"No," Jamie's throat felt so utterly dry. "But I can't kill you and this seems like the only alternative."

Doug looked at her oddly, his eyes filling. "You're still in there somewhere, aren't you?"

"Loud and clear," Jamie muttered in a self-mocking way. "The wolf is barely part of me."

With a deft toss, Doug threw the silver dagger away. He slumped to the ground, letting her free. The fight seemed to have totally left him. Jamie sat, rubbing her sore throat and inspecting the little cuts that still littered her skin.

He looked so sullen, so lost. Jamie reached out a hand to touch his shoulder. He stiffened, moving back an inch.

"Doug," she sniffled, feeling a tear roll down her cheek. "It's really me."

"I know," he muttered, finally looking up at her. "I just can't get used to the idea so easily. I don't think I can be around you anymore."

Jamie swallowed. Her heart swelled again, threatening to push its way outside of her chest. "What will you do? Where will you go?"

"Don't know," he said. "But it's time I left the Colonel anyway. Maybe I'll go to school—do something with my life."

Jamie nodded eagerly. "Yes. Do that. Don't waste your life away. And if you get the chance…" her arms floundered about as she tried to finish. "If you can handle it—come and visit me. I'll miss you. You're my favorite brother, Doug."

Doug snorted derisively. "I'm your only brother."

"You know what I mean," she feigned a dark look.

They both broke out smiling hesitantly. He just sat there for a moment, as if he was trying to pluck up the courage to do something. Finally, he moved toward her jerkily. He embraced her in a stiff hug. She reached up to hug him back.

He pulled back. "I'll miss you too."

With that, he turned and left, walking away from the plot of land where the Henderson mansion had once stood. Jamie felt a sear of worry bolt across her just then. She worried that she would never see him again. And the truth was, it was a very likely possibility.

But she was happy too because Doug was finally moving on to a new stage of life. He was finally moving on to a stage where he could make a life for himself, follow his own passions and dreams. And maybe…just maybe…he could leave some of his memories behind.

She smiled as she watched his retreating back.

To Ande and incarnated-soul and all the people who really wanted Doug to be happy.