The Soul's Mark: CHANGED (5 page)

Lola didn’t know what to do with Amelia.  Her power was out of control.  This wasn’t the first time she’d been burned in the last two weeks, and she was terrified that sooner or later, Amelia wouldn’t stop before Lola was nothing more than a pile of ash.

It was …
weird, having a vampire so much younger than her, be a threat.  Amelia was only two weeks old.  She shouldn’t be stronger than her.  Lola shouldn’t be scared of her own child, but she really, really was.  But then, Amelia wasn’t a normal vampire.  Between her heightened senses, new vampiric powers, and her witch gene, Amelia was a force more powerful than Lola had ever seen.

Maybe Mitchell was right.  Lola had really thought she was doing the right thing by keeping Amelia from biting him, but now she wasn’t so sure.  Amelia had never been an overly stable person, and Lola had to admit, Mitchell did help bring her back to reality when it was necessary.  If he had the bond, maybe he could help carry some of the burden of all that power.  Mitchell had spent the last hour trying to convince her that he could.  He had before.  He had even been able to use her magic himself.  And Lola knew he used to siphon it into himself through the bond when Amelia got out of control.  But he wasn’t a vampire anymore, and Lola didn’t know if he’d be able to do it now that he
was human or if his body could handle it, even if it was possible.  That much power could burn a person up from the inside out if they weren’t careful with it.

But he’s also the one
who pushes her to the brink of explosion,
the soft words floated through her mind.  It was true.  Mitchell and Amelia had always been a bit rickety together.  It had been a constant power struggle between them since they physically met.  There had been days where Lola had actually believed that the two of them would kill each other, and it had almost happened a few times.  It wasn’t really like that anymore.  She knew that.  Something really changed in them when the bond had been broken.  She could see the difference in them; she could feel it.  They weren’t taking each other for granted anymore.  It was as if they were seeing each other, really seeing each other for the first time.  But it still terrified her to think that in a split second one of them could snap again, and something could happen.  She didn’t know when she had started to care so much, but the idea of losing one of them made her feel sick.

Lola brushed her meaty palm across her cheek, wiping away a stray tear that had managed to leak out.  She felt so useless, powerless.  Her body ached from her bones to her skin.  She’
d never imagined that having a child would do this to her; make her crazy with worry.  But right then, that’s exactly how she felt.  The stress, the worrying … it was crushing her; the weight of it pressed on her from all sides, as if she was being buried alive.

“Lola, he’s right, you know,” Luke said.  “They’ve been through the bond before.  She can handle it.  And she needs his help.”

Lola sighed, and glanced at the door.  Luke was giving her that look.  It was the one that wasn’t quite disappointed but far from approving.  She hated that look.  And she hated it even more when he was right.  But then, he usually was right.  He was the only vampire she knew that could completely push aside all the animistic instincts and see life for what it really was.  He rarely gave into the cravings, and even when they had first met, he had been patient with her.  Never forcing the bond, or her change.  He had left everything for her to decide, on her own terms.

If only Mitchell and Amelia
…
She shook off the thought, knowing it was pointless.  And if she was honest with herself, she wouldn’t change a single thing about either of them.

Luke leaned against the doorframe, watching her closely with his consuming hazel eyes.  The soft buzz in her brain warned her
that he was listening, and the slight curve of his lips told her he thought the same thing.  It was a pointless thought.  They both knew it.  Amelia and Mitchell would never have Luke’s patience.  They were just too stubborn.

Lola had been with Luke for
a long time, but even after so long, it amazed her that just seeing him could still make her heart flutter so much.  After a few hundred years, he was still the most gorgeous man alive.  His thick arms flexed as he crossed them over his muscle-lined chest.  She closed the distance between them, rolling up on tiptoes to brush a kiss across his lips.  Just like always, her entire body flared from the heat of his simple touch.

She let him scoop her into his arms, as he swung the door to their bedroom shut, and she rested her head against his chest.  “I’m not worried about her, Luke.  I’m scared for
Mitch.  What if she hurts him?”

Luke carried her over to the cushioned window seat and sat down.  He adjusted his hold on her, pulling her between his outstretched legs, and she leaned into him, relaxing her back against his chest.

“He’d deserve it after all the pain he caused her,” Luke said with a chuckle.  It sounded cruel, but Lola knew it wasn’t meant to be.  That was one of the things she’d always loved about Luke.  He wasn’t a mean person.  Never had been.  “But she won’t.” He caressed her hair, and pressed a soft kiss on her cheek before he said, “Honey, you have to let her make mistakes.  Sooner or later, it’s going to happen.  You can’t protect them from each other forever.”

Lola snuggled deeper into his arms, and gazed blankly out the window.  She knew that
Mitchell and Amelia would take the bond back at some point; she had just hoped it wouldn’t happen until Mitchell was well enough to become a vampire again.  That was it.  She had only wanted to prolong the inevitable until they were both equals, and Amelia couldn’t accidentally inflect the pain that could come with the bond.  Lola knew Amelia would never forgive herself for that.  If nothing else, Amelia had a kind and extremely fragile heart, and hurting Mitchell would throw her over the already slippery edge.

“Mitchell can handle it,” Luke said, plucking the thoughts out of her mind.  “This is not a decision you can make for them, Lola.  She needs him.”

“I think he’s dying,” she whispered.  “He can’t die, Luke.” 
Because I can’t live without him.
She sent the last thought silently, unable to voice it out loud.  In their long time together, Mitchell had been a father, a brother, a friend.  He’d been her rock, her teacher, and at times, he was even her tormentor.  He’d filled every role that was needed at any given point in her life when Luke couldn’t.  Yes, he could be a jackass, and headstrong, but he could also be kind, and giving.  Aside from Luke, Mitchell was her best friend, and she just knew she wouldn’t survive losing him.  But it wasn’t just her, their family wouldn’t survive it either; she was certain of it.

“Maybe you should stay away from them for a bit,” Luke said.  She knew it wasn’t a suggestion; she could hear it in his voice and feel it through the bond.  He might as well have just said,
You will stay away from them,
because that’s exactly what he meant.

She stiffened in his arms.  “Amelia’s my child.”

He sighed, and pulled her closer.  “And she’s his soulmate.  That trumps child and you know it.”

“What if she …”
Even to her own ears, her voice sounded panicked, and she let the words drift off, despising how weak she felt.

“She won’t,” Luke said, sternly, but not unkindly.  “Amelia would kill herself before him.
”  He leaned into her, brushing his lips against her ear and whispered, “Lola, you know I’m not asking.  Don’t fight me on this.”

Right then, Lola decided that it absolutely sucked that Luke
was not only her soulmate but her maker as well. It wasn’t often that he pulled out the authority card on her, but when he did, everything in her wanted to do exactly what he asked.  She was tied to him in every way a vampire could be tied to another, and ninety-nine percent of the time, she wouldn’t trade that for anything.  This wasn’t one of those times.

Lola didn’t know if she believed him, but she really wanted to. 
God, caring sucked.

Eric was giving her a look.  It was narrowed eyed, with absolutely no humor in it, and it looked completely foreign on his chiseled face.  His leafy-green hair was in its usual perfect mess, and his vibrant green eyes were hard and serious.  He sat on the edge of Amelia’s bed, knees spread, elbows resting on his thighs, and hands clasped together.  His jaw twitched as he gritted his teeth.  Amelia knew he was annoyed at her, but really, she didn’t know what he wanted her to say.

Megan stood beside him giving Amelia the same kind of look.  Her fiery curls were pulled back in a
severe ponytail, and she drummed her fingers against her hips as she glared.  There were a few dots of dried blood staining Megan’s baby-blue T-shirt, and her jeans had a small rip on the right knee.

Mitchell started to cough again, and Amelia rushed over to him, propping another pillow behind his head.  He was sitting in one of the large brown leather chairs in front of the unlit fireplace, with his feet propped up on the coffee table and a white fleece blanket tucked snuggly around him.  “I’m okay, love,” he choked out through a round of hacking coughs, and tried, unsuccessfully, to bat her away.

Amelia ignored his attempts to push her aside and finished fluffing up the pillows.  Once she was done, she stepped back and rolled her eyes at him dramatically.  He wasn’t okay.  Far from okay, but she was going to fix him.  She was sure of it.  Mitchell was the one thing she knew she could take care of, and she would.  No matter what.  Hopefully.

Certain he was comfortable, Amelia focused back on Eric.  “So the vamps are trying to take back their soulmates?” she asked.  She felt a slow smile spread on her lips as she tried to stifle her bubbling laugh.  “And the soulmates are what?  Rebelling?  Is that what you’re trying to tell me?”

Amelia knew that she should be upset about this.  She shouldn’t be smiling.  She knew that.  She’d always hated the pain of the bond, and the way the vamps in the community had used it to force their soulmates into submission.  And in all honesty, she had been the one who had told the human soulmates to stand up for themselves.

But now it was … different.  She
was on the other side, and although she wouldn’t say it out loud, she’d been tempted more than once over the last two weeks to bite Mitchell and force him to listen to her.  Even as a human, he was still the same Mitchell—sort of.  Possessive, overly protective, and he always thought he knew what was best.  And as a vampire, Amelia found it even more annoying.  If the soulmates were in fact pushing back, was it really so wrong for the vamps to try and gain control again?

Yes!
a voice in her mind shouted, but her fangs began to poke through and her gums throbbed anyway.

For about the millionth time, Amelia was kind of glad that she hadn’t done it yet, and that Mitchell couldn’t hear her thoughts.  She felt disgusted and thrilled and wrong.  She knew none of this was okay.  She knew the pain of the bond was not okay and that using it was horrible.  Part of her was even proud that the humans were sticking up for themselves, but a small, teeny tiny part of her
understood what the vamps were doing, and that part of her craved having that kind of control over Mitchell.  And she was really, really glad that he couldn’t see that thought.  She could already picture the disapproval, and the lecture, and the stern look he’d give her if he knew exactly what she was thinking.

“Millie, you need to take this seriously,” Eric said, cutting her another stern glare, which looked extremely wrong on him.  “This morning we found Greg dead, with a stake through his heart.  His soulmate told us that she was standing up for herself like you told her to.”

Amelia’s jaw dropped—literally.  She felt it sagging, and she couldn’t make her lips close. 
So much for Willowberg returning to normal,
she thought to herself. Mitchell clasped her hand, and squeezed it tightly.  She knew he was trying to give her support, but it didn’t help.  Her brain raced as she attempted to imagine how Greg could be killed by his soulmate, or how his soulmate could actually do it.  Amelia had almost killed Mitchell before, but she knew without a doubt, that she would have never been able to actually do it.  The bond wouldn’t have let her.  She was tied to him, mind, body, and soul.  If he died, part of her—the best part of her—would die right along with him.  And if she couldn’t do it, then how the hell had one of the others managed to?

“How?” Amelia blurted.  “How in the hell did one of the humans kill their soulmate?”  Anger sparked through her, and her magic flared in response, licking at her fingertips.  Her eyes tingled as a crimson haze washed over them, and her gums throbbed from the pressure of her fangs as they tried to snap down.

“Amelia,” Mitchell said, and tugged on her hand a little.  She let him pull her onto his lap, and didn’t fight when his arm snaked around her waist, pulling her against his clammy, hot chest.

Fire raced across her skin in a delirious rush of sparks as his fingertips ran along her neck and down her arms, in a soothing
, slow trail.  Even without the bond, he could still make her body hum and burn.  Her magic sputtered away, dissolving into the air, and she sucked in a long, deep breath.

Eric cleared his throat, drawing her attention.  “The vamps aren’t used to them fighting back,” he said, ruining the perfect moment.  “I’m guessing he didn’t expect her to actually do it.”