The Soul's Mark: Broken (26 page)

“Nope, not a pet,” he said with a shake of
his head.  “I’m your boyfriend.”  There was something about the way he said it
that made Mitchell believe it.  There was softness and longing behind the words
that couldn’t be acted; it was real and mindboggling.

Mitchell used his senses, tuning into
Tyler’s heartbeat, breathing in his confidence.  He shut out all the other
smells, honing in on Tyler, searching for the telltale signs of a lie.  And all
that did was fill him with even more infuriating confusion.  He took a step,
moving out of the shadows and into the doorway, ready to end the little
reunion, and then his eyes landed on her.  Amelia.  And suddenly he couldn’t
move.

Amelia watched Tyler with her mouth hanging
open, but she wasn’t the only one.  Everyone in the hallway froze, gawking. 
Angelle looked like she was considering, or at least trying, to consider his
statement.  But then her fangs sharpened, and like a snake, her head darted out,
and she sunk her fangs into his neck.

Snarls and erratic giggles erupted as the
vampires began to herd the hunters together, encircling them as if they were
nothing more than cattle.  Amelia let a strand of magic fly, snapping it like a
whip around Angelle and yanking her off Tyler, sending her flying into the
wall.  She opened her mouth to release the order so the hunters could protect
themselves, remembering what Cole had said.  The words were on the tip of her
tongue, and then she caught sight of Erin and then Lucy and then Eric, and
suddenly her tongue felt like sandpaper, her throat like itchy cotton, and the
words lodged themselves in her throat.

Lola leaned in closely, her breath puffing
against Amelia’s ear, as she said, “You may be his pet, but Mitchell has
declared your creatures fair game.  You can’t stop all of us.”

“Amelia!” Josh shouted, and as if that was
the cue the vampires had been waiting for, they attacked with predator-like
grace.  Lola laughed, watching in delight as the vamps sunk their fangs into
the nearest victims, and Amelia jumped back.  She tried to force the words out,
but they just wouldn’t come.   She knew if she said nothing, people, innocent
people, would die, but if she gave the order, her family would die.  How was
she supposed to decide who lived?  How had Mitchell made those calls?  Her
breathing came fast, in short, hard bursts, and her pulse quickened.  She felt
like a trapped mouse with nowhere to run.

“Amelia, please,” Josh begged, his voice
rough as gravel.

In that moment, time stood still.  Amelia
looked up and met Josh’s yellow-green eyes.  His skin was gone; in its place
stood a skeleton, and that should have been disturbing, but it really wasn’t. 
Not compared to the vicious looks and hateful glares that clouded the faces of
the hunters.  An idea began to form, shifting and molding itself from a spark
to a plan, and suddenly, Amelia grinned.  “You shouldn’t have come,” she said
to Lola, magic licking at her fingertips.  She let out a deep breath and
yelled, “Josh, Cole, I order you to protect your people.  Do not kill.”  And
just like that, the world around her began to move again.

The vamps looked at her, tilting their
heads to the side like birds of prey.  In that moment of distraction, Josh and
Cole pushed through the center of the herd, golden sparks shivering from their
bones like smoldering embers.  Amelia shot forwards, and with a flick of the
wrist, a shimmering plume of white light blossomed in the air.  She pushed it,
draping it around the hunters, caging them within the magic.

“Push them back and hold them,” Amelia
shouted over her shoulder.

The air crackled with power, and blinding
red tinted light flared all around her.  Agonized screams ruptured,
reverberating off the walls, and one by one, the vampires began to drop to the
ground, with what resembled flames spreading over their flesh.

“Millie, make it stop,” Angelle shrieked as
she fell to her knees.  “Please make it stop.”

Amelia felt sick.  Her stomach rolled and
clenched, and for a second, she could have sworn she could smell the pungent
odor of charring flesh.  Her shield began to waver, and she opened her mouth to
yell at them to stop, when Josh barked, “It’s an illusion, Millie.  Get them
out of here.”

“You saw me do it to Erin,” Cole snapped,
eyeing her with seriously disturbing fluorescent eyes that bobbed around the
sockets of his skull.

With a stiff nod, she said, “Keep them
down.”  And then she started manipulating her magic, shoving the hunters back.

“I told you to run.”  Amelia looked. 
Mitchell.  He looked … angelic standing just inside the door of the dungeon,
and out of the line of magic that crackled and flared through the hallway,
watching with cold and calculating, ice blue eyes.  Even without the bond, she
was drawn to him.  It was like a spark; an electric current ran from her to
him, binding and blending them together, uniting them as one, as they were
always meant to be.  And all she wanted to do was run to him.

He let his gaze sweep the room.  He smiled,
and it was the most complicated smile Amelia had ever seen.  It was full of
wonder, anger, relief, and apprehension.  It was genuine and down to earth, and
right then, Mitchell looked exactly like someone she could imagine kissing.

And just like that, she did.  It was heart
racing and passionate and deliriously sensual, and her brain tried to take it
further but, of course, it was just like Mitchell to ruin her daydream.  “I
told you to run,” he said again; his voice consumed her.  It was deep and
rumbled, but at the same time, soft as silk, and her heart jumped, beating
erratically in her chest.

“And I told you I wasn’t leaving you,” she
whispered, repeating the words he had once said to her not so long ago.  They
locked eyes for a long moment, and in that moment, it was just them—alone.  The
screams, gone; the people melted away.

“Please fix this,” he said with a deep
sigh.  He dropped his head, his messy curls bouncing with the movement, and
looked at the floor.  “I think I miss you.”

Amelia wasn’t sure what she had expected
him to say, but whatever it was, it definitely was not that.  She dropped her
shield and stepped towards him, and she was certain she saw awe and wonder
flash across his face.

But then it changed.

Mitchell’s eyes hardened and flared, and he
licked his lips.  He started to move, stalking towards her.  “You should have hid,”
he whispered, as he closed the distance between them.

Amelia saw a flash of motion to her side—Josh. 
He grabbed a bow, notched the arrow, and she was about to scream at him not to
do it, but then he aimed it at her, and her voice caught in her throat.

Suddenly a shower of hissing lights, white
and gold and blue, rained down over her, and Amelia felt her own magic surge in
response to the pulsing power.  A figure materialized in between Josh and
Mitchell.  “Amelia, you really need to learn some control over these two,” a
familiar voice lilted.

Amelia blinked, and in that second, the
figure gained substance.  “Mom?” Amelia gasped, gawking at the woman that was
now pinching the ears of both Josh and Mitchell.  She blinked and then
everything went dark, and she hit the ground.

As soon as Amelia’s head hit the ground,
air hit her throat and burned all the way to her lungs.  She struggled to her
feet, gasping and coughing and gripping onto the wall to push herself up.  She
blinked furiously, trying to clear the speckles of grays and reds and greens
that were distorting her vision, and looked around; the hunters had retreated,
and were now pressed against a wall with Cole in front of them.  Angelle and
Lola were slowly rising, their eyes wide and jaws dropped.  Some of the
vampires were sliding across the floor towards the hunters, and some were
sitting still—motionless and stunned.  Everyone was gaping, and the silence was
piercing.  She couldn’t even hear the intake of a single breath in the crowded
hallway.

Amelia’s hands trembled, and sweat beaded
up on her upper lip as she followed their gaze, and when her eyes found what
she was searching for, a dizzy rush came over her hard and fast, and she stumbled
back against the wall.

“Mom?” Her voice was strained, and her
heart was beating wildly in her chest.  She squeezed her eyes shut, took a deep
breath, and then opened them again.

Her mom stood there with a sweet half smile
curling her lips.  Her cheeks were blushed with a soft rose, and a halo of
white light surrounded her, pulsing like a heartbeat.  But even with the
magical glow, she looked so real.  So solid.  On her right, she had Mitchell,
and on her left, Josh, and the way she was holding onto them by the ears was as
if they were two rotten children that she had just caught stealing cookies from
the jar.

“Yes, sweetie,” she lilted.  “Now if you
wouldn’t mind coming over here so we can fix this mess.”  She gave a slight tug
on Mitchell and Josh’s ears as if to make it clear they were the mess, and they
both let out little girl yelps from the pressure.

Amelia backed up, pressing herself firmly
against the wall.  “But … but …”  She squeezed her eyes shut again and then
blinked them open. 
She’s not real.  She’s gone.  She’s not real,
she
told herself, but her eyes … Her eyes saw something entirely different.  “How?”

“Amelia,” she said with a tone only a
mother could use.  It was soft and commanding, the kind of tone that made you
want to run for hugs and kisses but also made you want to bolt because you knew
you were in trouble.

Amelia couldn’t move.  She studied her
mother, taking in her loving blue-gray eyes and chocolaty brown hair, curling
around her shoulders.  She looked so tiny and frail standing in between
Mitchell and Josh, both of them towering a good foot over her.  But she also
emitted an air of power and authority, something that Amelia had never seen in
her mother.  She wore a sunshine yellow summer dress with dainty little
flip-flop heels.  Her whole ensemble was sweet, demure even, but yet, she commanded
the attention of everyone, just by standing in the room.  Just moments ago,
everyone had been trying to kill each other, but now, with her there, no one
moved.

Amelia blinked again, and Mitchell’s eyes
caught hers, and the way he was looking at her, as if he could see right into
her soul, took her breath away.  It was so full of…everything.  Pain, loss,
hope, frustration, confusion, fear; it was perfect and devastating all at once.

“Amelia, take his hand,” her mother
commanded, but when Amelia didn’t move, she began pulling Mitchell and Josh
across the narrow space by their ears.

Josh struggled, snapping out of his stupor
with a winded breath.  He grunted and shouted a bunch of nasty things, but her
mother didn’t let go.  She gave him a terrifying look that made Amelia quiver,
but he still fought, pulling at her hand, and trying to get out of her hold. 
Her mother sighed, a deep airy sound, and a brilliant blue light washed over
Josh and he just … stopped.  He stopped moving.  He stopped grunting and fighting,
and for a moment, Amelia thought he even stopped breathing.  Mrs. Caldwell gave
his ear a little tug, and she kept gliding towards Amelia, and he followed
easily.

When her mother stopped just inches from
her, Amelia reached out with her index finger and poked her in the shoulder. 
“Holy crap,” she breathed, when she felt the flesh beneath her finger. 
It’s
a dream,
the idea popped into her head, and suddenly she was certain that
she was still passed out.  Without thinking, Amelia pinched herself hard.  It
hurt—really hurt, and she yelped.

Mrs. Caldwell laughed, a bird-like sound,
high pitched and musical, as Amelia rubbed at her tender arm.  “Honey, this
isn’t the first time you’ve seen me since I died.”

“I was dead the last time, too,” Amelia
whispered, and then she threw her arms around her mother’s neck, and squealed,
hugging her closely.

Mrs. Caldwell kissed her cheek, and her
lips were warm, gentle, and so real that it made Amelia’s heart soar.  “Take
Mitchell’s hand,” she encouraged, her warm breath puffed against Amelia’s cheek
as she spoke.  “It’s time to end this.”

Amelia let her arms fall, and when she
looked up, she couldn’t stop herself from giggling.  Both Mitchell and Josh
wore identical expressions that were a cross between guilty schoolboy and fury
induced madness, and it was definitely the oddest combination Amelia had ever
seen.  Their ears were red as beets where her mother pinched, and they were
both cocked, leaning into her as if they were attempting to relieve some of the
pain, which Amelia was certain had to be radiating in their ears.

The giggles died quickly when Amelia let
her hand slide down Mitchell’s arm.  As she entwined her fingers with his,
pinpricks of red colored the center of his baby-blue eyes.

“Behave,” Mrs. Caldwell lilted, letting go
of Mitchell’s ear.  She leaned into Mitchell, whispering softly in his ear.  He
took a deep intake of breath and relaxed instantly.  She turned her serene
smile on Josh, and murmured, “You will not move.”  He nodded blankly, and then she
let him go as well.  Then she wrapped both of her hands around Amelia and
Mitchell’s clasped ones, and the soft glow that surrounded her intensified,
blinding and shimmering.