Blood Ties

"Is this why you said we couldn't be friends?" he shouted. "Because you couldn't bear the thought of betraying me?"

"No!" I shoved him back, anger finally igniting through the shock. "I had no idea."

He stilled, just for a moment.

But I kept going, because stopping felt worse.

"Just because I didn't help plan it doesn't mean I was going to stop it," I said, my voice shaking despite myself. "I didn't come here to save you from them, Klaus. I came here to save them from you."

Something in his expression broke open.

"So you can forgive the monster in Elijah because he hides behind suits and manners," he said bitterly. "You can accept that. But not me? I'm no more a monster than he is."

Adeline Salvatore has always been the one to look after her brothers. Breaking up fights, keeping the peace, and being their voice of reason. So when she's called back to Mystic Falls to pull her brother back from the edge once again, she expects the familiar chaos.

What she doesn't expect is a girl who looks exactly like her worst enemy, a group of high schoolers who don't fully trust her, and a pair of Original brothers who can't decide whether they want her... or want her dead.

Adeline carries secrets, and a dark past that threatens to resurface as she fights to keep her family together while struggling against the new, dangerous feelings growing in her heart. How long can she hold on before the darkness she's been running from catches up to her?

#1 in Adeline
#2 in Ian Sommerhalder