The Soul's Mark: Broken (16 page)

Cole wrapped an arm around her waist,
securing her arms and keeping them pinned to her sides.   He tucked her frizzy
hair behind her ear, and he began poking at her tender neck.  “No,” he finally
grunted after examining the bite.

“Amelia, listen to me.  He was going to
kill you!” Josh shouted.  He slid around a corner, squealing the tires as he
headed back into town.

“No, he wasn’t,” she yelled hysterically. 
“He let me go.  He didn’t want to hurt me!”  Okay, technically, she knew that
wasn’t entirely true.  Mitchell had hurt her.  He had bitten her, and he was
probably hunting her right now, but still, he had given her a chance to run.

Amelia looked up and caught a glimpse of
the plethora of vehicles that popped up like mushrooms in the rearview mirror. 
She let out a shaky sigh of relief.  The hunters were following.  She hadn’t
realized how terrified she had been that they might have stayed behind,
mindlessly killing her family, until that very second.  Was it completely
horrible that the hunters’ safety had been the furthest thing from her mind? 
Amelia didn’t know, and she seriously didn’t want to explore that thought, even
for another second.

“You’re delusional,” Josh seethed.  “You’re
just a piece of property to him.  He doesn’t give a crap about you.”  He
clenched the steering wheel tighter.  “He never did.”

Amelia sucked in a breath and began to
tremble against Cole.  That was the last thing she wanted to hear.  She wanted
to deny it, tell him that he was wrong, but he wasn’t.  Mitchell had just tried
to kill her.  But didn’t they realize he had stopped?  He had pushed her away. 
How could Josh say he never cared?  Obviously, he did.  And he still does.

Cole loosened his grip and began rubbing
her arms with his skeleton hands, as if he was trying to warm her up.  After a
moment, his boney legs thickened underneath her as his skin pieced back
together.  “Jeez, shut up, Josh,” he said.  And then he whispered softly in
Amelia’s ear, just as a parent would when their child had had a bad dream. 
“Millie, they put out the fire.  He’ll be okay,” he murmured soothingly, “Mitchell
is going to be fine.”

“Who shot him?” Amelia demanded, or least
that’s what she tried for, but in reality, the demand came out as gurgled
hiccup.

Cole tensed against her back and squirmed
underneath her weight.  “Um, it was me,” he mumbled, barely audible.  “It was
just his arm.  I was trying to get him to let go of you.”

The better part of Amelia wanted to unleash
her wrath within the vehicle.  She imagined commanding them not to change,
letting her magic loose, wrapping them in paralyzing whip-like strands of
electricity, and letting Cole feel exactly what it was like to burn alive.  But
then the vision from the past flickered before her eyes.  She could see herself
crying over Mitchell’s dead body.  A rolling chill rushed over her shoulders
and then down her back as the image shifted, and all she could see was the
slithering blackness that had surrounded her after he had died.   Her fury
vanished instantly, sinking into a hole of emptiness that was quickly growing
around her heart.

“Amelia,” Josh said.  “I know how you
feel.  I get it, but sacrificing yourself to him isn’t going fix this.”  There
was something in his voice.  It held a gloomy air to it that made her stomach
twist into tender knots.  The feeling distressed her, and she desperately wanted
to comfort him.  She wanted to reach out and caress his dark hair, and run her
fingers through it.  And she wanted to tell him everything was going to work
out.  And she was about to, until she caught the soft scent of gumdrops and
cotton candy, and the compassion she had felt for him moments ago vanished.

“You have no clue how I feel,” Amelia said
with an icy edge.  But then again, maybe he did.

The silence was deafening as they drove the
rest of the way back to the house.  Amelia figured that she should be
happy—kind of.  They had completed the mission that they had set out to do. 
They had rounded up the humans without any casualties, and as a bonus, she had
found Mitchell, even if she had lost him again shortly afterwards.  At least
she knew he was still alive.  But to her dismay, happy was not how she felt. 
As they drove, she only felt empty and completely alone.

At the house, Josh was still in a snit.  He
drove around back, parking in the carport beside Eric’s Corvette, and he was
out of the car, slamming the door before Amelia had even managed to open hers. 
Without even a backwards glance, he stormed back out to the driveway where the
hunters were pulling in.

Cole popped the handle, swinging the door
open, and Amelia wiggled off of his lap.  She started towards Josh, ready to
rip him a new one.  Fuming didn’t even begin to touch the rage she was feeling
at that very moment, as she watched the hunters gather around him, looking at
him expectantly for the next order.  He was making a bunch of very vocal hand
gestures as he spoke to them, and the way he was trying to take control had her
seeing red.

Off to the side, another group was
gathering, which Amelia assumed were the humans from the fair. 
What am I
going to do with all these people?
she thought, as she watched Tyler walk
over to them.  His movement was quite abrupt, as if he was forcibly giving his
brain a command with each step he took to make the other foot move, and his
shoulders were hunched over.  Amelia was about to veer over to the newcomers,
but then she glanced back at Josh and heat rushed up her neck and burned in her
cheeks.

“Amelia, can I speak to you for a minute?”
Cole asked from behind her.

Amelia hesitated, stopped, and then with
burning reluctance, she turned.  “What is it, Cole?” she asked through gritted
teeth.  Her shoulders ached from tension, and her hands were balled so tightly
that her fingernails were biting into her palms.

“That was too easy,” he said, staring off
into the trees.  “They didn’t put up a fight.  They didn’t chase us.  It was
too easy.”  He scrunched his chubby cheeks, and when he looked at her, his
sterling silver eyes were hard, cold, and vicious.

“They’re not monsters!” she shouted, and
then quickly bit her tongue, hoping no one noticed her outburst, and stomped
back to him in three short strides.

“Actually, they are,” he said
matter-of-factly, meeting her glare straight on.  “I know you saw his soul
leave you, Amelia.  I saw it, too.  Mitchell’s soul isn’t attached to
anything.  No soul equals no humanity, which kind of makes him a monster.”

Amelia wanted to punch him.  She pictured
it, her fist was already clenched, and a new rush of steam settled into her
cheeks.  But she didn’t.  Instead, she bit back a bunch of nasty words and
hissed furiously, “Do you have a point?”

“The point is that it was too easy to get
away.” He arched a brow, which looked completely out of place on his childish
face.  “Aren’t you wondering why?”  He paused, waiting, but Amelia said
nothing.  He closed his eyes and shook his head in a way that made her feel
like a moron.  He leaned into her, grabbed her chin, and turned her head in
Josh’s direction.   “That guy right there,” he extended his finger, pointing at
Josh, as if forcing her to look wasn’t enough, “you know the one you are about
to rip apart?  Well, he’s the only one out of all those people that gives a
shit about you.  And he’s the only one that would have cared if that
monster
had actually killed you today. So, you might want to take it easy on him.” 
Cole dropped his grip on her chin and abruptly walked away, but not before he
let out an annoyed and exaggerated huff.

Amelia was stunned silent.  It was as if
her brain had just stopped working.  She turned, watching him with her jaw
dropped and her hands on her hips.  Her brain was trying to work through
everything, but it was hitting walls at every turn. 
Did Cole completely
miss the fact that Josh was the one who got us into this mess?

“It was a vampire!” a deep voice shouted.

Crap!
  The
shout effectively snapped Amelia out of her stupor, and she jogged over to
where Josh stood, with the people from the fair crowding around him.  She
ducked under an arm and then pushed her way to the center.

Josh’s six-foot frame towered over a young
man, sixteen or seventeen, and he was a good foot shorter than Josh.  He was
lean and lanky and, compared to Josh, he looked small and insignificant.  Or
maybe he looked small and weak because he was so shaken, Amelia wasn’t sure,
not that she blamed him though; she had freaked out when she found out vampires
were real, too.  Beside him, a small bird of a girl cowered and had a death
grip on his back jean pocket.

“No it wasn’t,” Josh said.  “Like I told
you, there was a chemical spill; the fumes are messing with your mind.”  He
folded his arms over his chest, making himself look even bigger, and Amelia
didn’t miss the slight ripples in his skin.

 “But … but … I saw the fangs, and … and
her neck,” he gasped, pointing to Amelia, “It bit her, the blood!  I saw it
all!” he said with a shudder in his voice. “If … if that didn’t happen, then
why are you trying to force us to stay here?” the boy demanded.  His arms flew
around in jerky, coiled motions, and his eyes darted around, looking at
everything like a frightened and caged wild animal but not staying on one thing
long enough to actually see anything.

“Strong walls,” Josh answered.  “Keeps the
fumes out.”

“You can’t hold us here!” the boy yelled. 
“There’s no way we are staying with these… these beasts running wild!”  He
grabbed his girl’s hand, and spun around, most likely looking for a new escape
route.  Amelia had never seen anyone deflate as quickly as he did when his eyes
locked with her stare.

“Actually, yes, we can,” Amelia said.  She
smiled, trying to appear reassuring and unthreatening.  “The town is under
quarantine.”

The smile didn’t work.  “Don’t lie to me.” 
He inched back, pushing the girl behind him.  “I saw that … that thing bite you. 
And you had light shooting from your skin.”  His voice trembled, and he took
another step back.  And the way he looked at her, it was as if Mitchell wasn’t
the only monster.  She was also something to be feared.

But the only thing Amelia’s brain would
understand were his words,
Light shooting from her skin.
  That statement
crushed any small bit of hope she had.  She had been holding onto the idea that
Mitchell had stopped.  That he had let her go because he wanted to.  She hadn’t
even considered that she might have stopped him.

Amelia blinked back burning tears and
cleared her throat.  “Excuse me, but no one bit me,” she said.  She was aiming
for strong, but even she heard the tremor in her voice.  “Maybe you should go
lay down.  Get some rest.”

“I know what I saw,” he countered.  “I’m
not staying here, and neither is my girl.  None of us are!”

All around them, the agitated crowed began
to mutter and murmur their agreement amongst themselves.  “Please,” Amelia
started.  She didn’t know what else to say.  It was just all too much.  The
people.  The vampires.  The hunters.  Everything was falling apart and crushing
her, and she suddenly felt as if she was lying beneath a bunch of boulders,
with more burying her as every second passed.

Cole pushed through the buzzing crowd and
cut her off.  “No, Millie, he’s right.  We can’t keep them if they want to go.” 
He smiled a surprisingly gentle smile at the boy, and went to step forwards.

“Cole, what are you doing?” Amelia
whispered, grabbing his arm, as panic gripped at her chest.

Cole shrugged off her hand and winked at
her.  “If you’ll just come with me first, I need you to sign a waiver before
you go.  You know, to confirm that you know the risks and won’t hold us liable
for any injuries that I am sure you will incur by venturing out on your own.” 
He waved his hand, gesturing for the boy to follow, and Amelia caught the now familiar
smell of cotton candy and gumdrops.  The boy licked his lips, and the girl
peeked around his back, peering at Cole, and they both followed without another
word.  The rest of the crowd fell silent, looking just as dazed, and in no
time, they all fell into step behind him.  “Works every time,” Cole said with a
chuckle and another wink at Amelia, and then he led them into the house.

Tristan was like the perfect little devil,
whispering in his ear.  He could make the simplest comments sound demented and
thrilling all at once, and Mitchell couldn’t lie, it was wonderfully sinful and
picture perfect, even if the kid was starting to grate on his nerves, just a
little bit.

After he had let Amelia and her
friends
flee, Mitchell had rounded up his troops and took them back to town.  He had
thought about following her, but he knew he didn’t need to.  She would go back
to his house, he was certain of it.  If there was one thing he knew about
Amelia, it was that she was a scared little child, and she would run to the one
place she felt safe, a place where she could hide.

So he decided to give her the illusion of
safe.  He had meant what he said; he wanted to have some fun with her, and
right now, his fun was just beginning.  He’d sit back for a bit and let them
sweat.  He hadn’t missed how many of those hunters looked at her with daggers,
and he also hadn’t missed how many were born leaders.  They would be at each
other’s throats in no time, and that’s when he would strike.