Before Mitchell could respond, Megan whispered, “She’s inside, isn’t she?” Her big green eyes quickly glazed over, and a tear snaked down her cheek in a shiny stream.
Mitchell sucked in a breath. “It’s a trap, and I’m going to get her out. I’m not going to let her burn. Not this time.” And then he took off at full speed, racing down the street towards the diner, his only thought was of saving Amelia.
The smoke billowed into the night sky, and the scent of charring wood dragged up the memories that he fought so hard to forget. It will not happen again, he told himself as he pushed forward at full speed. This time he would sacrifice himself before he let one single ember singe her skin. He was being given a chance to make the past right, and he would not fail her this time.
Mitchell rounded the last corner and the diner came into view. Fountains of water gushed from the hoses of the three fire trucks that surrounded the building, but the flames continued to grow. For a second, fear consumed him and his steady steps faltered at the edge of the lot. The parking lot was filled with paramedics tending to those who had been pulled from the building, and onlookers stood watching in stunned silence. A firefighter emerged from the blaze and smoke. “I can’t get to them,” he shouted.
Mitchell steadied his shaking knees and gritted his teeth. You can do this, he told himself, searching the entrance, looking for a way in. He needed a gap in the flames, knowing that if his skin ignited before reaching her, there would be no hope in getting her out.
Strong hands clamped down on his shoulders, and with a swift tug, he was swung around. “You can’t go in there,” Eric yelled at him, keeping his grip tight. Megan jumped off Eric’s back and rushed forwards, a layer of sunlight coated her skin. “Please, Dad,” he pleaded, as Mitchell fought against his grip. “Let Meg go. She can protect herself from the fire.”
Mitchell saw the grief on his son’s face, and the pain he saw in Eric’s eyes made him think twice. He glanced back at Megan, who was almost to the doorway, the golden energy growing with every step that she took, and he knew Eric was right. But then an unfamiliar male voice erupted in his mind, I was beginning to think you were going to let them burn. And then he saw Amelia shriveled to the ground, wheezing and gasping for air.
He broke Eric’s grip and raced the last few strides across the parking lot. “Mitchell!” Megan shrieked. “Mitchell, no!” But he ignored her panicked screams and plunged into the inferno.
CHAPTER 21
The sweet fresh air filled her lungs. Amelia sucked it in greedily, with large deep breaths. Too fast, she thought seconds too late, as her body convulsed with a fit of coughs that felt as if her lungs were being ripped from her chest. Sweat and tears ran down her cheeks, and she clasped at her chest, massaging it and trying to get the precious air to fill her burning lungs.
Her brain raced in circles. The diner was on fire. She had just been crawling through the smoke. The scorching heat of the flames had been close to unbearable. How was the air clean and fresh? Had someone pulled her out? She collapsed into an exhausted ball on the floor, and the hacking cough began to subside.
“I really thought you’d be tougher,” a man said, a voice that Amelia thought was familiar, but her brain was struggling to place it. Unexpectedly, a dark shadow loomed over her, and before she could move, she saw the boot coming, and it slammed into her stomach. Amelia bit back a scream of agony, and the little bit of air that had managed to seep into her lungs rushed out in a puff.
“Get up, Amelia,” a female snarled. “Get up!”
I know that voice, Amelia thought, and she tried to roll onto her feet. She made it to her knees and then fell back down, her bottom landing hard on her heels. She surveyed the room with a quick sweep of her eyes. Six, she counted. Two females, four males. Behind them, she could see the reddish glow of the fire and a layer of thick black smoke pushing against some kind of barrier that almost looked like a layer of fog and mist.
“Amelia, get the hell out of here!” one of the girls growled with fury and disgust.
No, it can’t be her, Amelia thought and shifted her eyes towards the voice. She couldn’t stop the scream that fell from her lips as her eyes landed on Fiona. Fiona, or what was left of her, was on her knees, in between two young men that couldn’t be more than seventeen. Both men were holding flamethrowers which were pointed at Fiona’s head. Small bursts of flames shot from the nozzle, not even an inch from her hair. Slithering blackness moved under her skin as if a bunch of worms had found their way into her flesh, inching along her cheekbones, down her arms, across her face. Her left hand had been severed and was dangling by a single flap of skin no more than an inch long and half an inch thick. Amelia could see the bloody bone protruding from the pulpy stump of her wrist.
A chill prickled along her spine and goose bumps covered her skin. It’s a trap, her brain shouted. Her mind went into overdrive trying to calculate the chances of using magic to take the threats out, grab Fiona, and make a run for it. She quickly dismissed the other girl as a non-threat. She was small, and she looked terrified, cowering behind a medium-sized guy. He’d be a bit harder. Amelia quickly sized him up. He looked to be about the same height as her five-foot four frame, but he clearly looked like he worked out regularly. Could she hit them both at the same time?
She was just about to give it a try and send a blast of energy careening at them, when a deep chuckle vibrated around her, breaking her focus. “Here’s the deal, Caldwell,” he said, drawing Amelia’s attention up to his chubby, snide-looking grin. “We’ll let your little friend go in exchange for your alliance.”
Amelia locked eyes with the boy who had tricked her into thinking he was some innocent guy from school. He didn’t look so innocent anymore, and she gagged as his hard, cruel eyes scanned her up and down as if she was some kind of treat.
It took every ounce of strength she had, but she managed to get to her feet and erase the fear from her face. “You clearly didn’t do your research when you snatched her as a hostage, Cole,” Amelia said with a sneer of disgust. She forged her voice to sound cool and calm as if she didn’t care one way or another about Fiona, which to her astonishment was harder than she would have thought. “She’s really not much of a bargaining chip.” For a split second, Amelia glanced out of the corner of her eye at Fiona. She could be mistaken, but Amelia was pretty sure that Fiona actually looked proud of what she had said—at least that’s what it looked like. “You might as well let her go.”
A flicker of doubt passed over Cole’s face, but then he shrugged it off. “Well, then, you won’t care if we just kill her,” he said, and with a flick of his hand, the two men that stood beside Fiona pointed their flame throwers to the ceiling, letting a firestorm erupt from the nozzles. The flames passed through the mist and engulfed the ceiling in a blaze of flames.
Amelia shrugged as if she didn’t care and struggled to keep her expression remote and neutral. “You get that the whole police force and fire department are out there and pretty soon all the vampires in town will be here, right? Do you really want to add another murder on top of all the other charges they’re going to take you in for?”
“She’s already dead. It’s not murder,” he countered with a nod towards Fiona, but his eyes flicked to the window, giving a clear sign that he was starting to get rattled. He turned his back on her and said, “We’ll be long gone before they get in here.”
A nervous laugh fell from her lips. “Did you miss the whole burning building thing? The only way out for you is in handcuffs. Just let her go.” Amelia heard it; that slight tremor in her voice at the end of her words, and she held her breath, hoping that they wouldn’t notice. She crossed her arms over her chest, praying that it would make her look uncaring and tough, and kept her eyes locked on Cole.
Fiona must have noticed her trip up, because right then she shouted, “Look at me, Amelia! Look! They’ve poisoned me. I know you can see it. Just leave. Keep him safe and leave!”
Amelia tried to blo
ck the ring of truth she heard in Fiona’s words from her mind, but she couldn’t. It was as if someone else was controlling her movements, because Amelia couldn’t stop herself from glancing at Fiona. Their eyes fixed on each other, and in that instant, Amelia caught a glimpse of the scared girl that Fiona usually kept hidden under her protective guise of bitchy badass vampire.
“Mitchell! Mitchell, no!” Megan screamed, the sound quickly snapping Amelia out of her trance. Megan’s panicked voice filled her with dread. Amelia spun in the direction of the screams and held her breath, praying that it was just her imagination. She focused in on Mitchell, just as he threw himself into the blazing inferno.
He’ll never make it, a scared little voice in the back of her mind cried, and suddenly she couldn’t breathe. A tortured scream pierced her ears, and it wasn’t until her throat burned that she realized that agonizing sound was coming from her own body.
All of a sudden, Mitchell burst through the fog with a cry that Amelia could only describe as a savage warrior kind of sound. For a brief moment, his crimson eyes scanned her over, and she couldn’t stop the sob of relief that came from somewhere deep within her. The hum of the bond swarmed into her mind as his thoughts raced through her brain. She saw him take a quick inventory of the threats, and then he lunged at one of the men holding a flamethrower. There was a sickening skin tearing sound of meaty flesh ripping from bone as Mitchell ripped out the man’s throat with one swift bite and then tossed him aside. He grabbed Fiona, yanking her up to her feet, just as the other man let loose on the trigger and shot a long burst of fire at him. It all happened before Amelia had even managed to get to her feet.
“No!” Amelia cried, as the flames shot out at Mitchell, and without a single thought for her own safety, she ran forwards. Fiona screamed in agony, and the fire quickly spread over her body. A strong arm wrapped around Amelia’s waist, and with a yank, she was whipped backwards. She thrust her elbow back, connecting with her capturer in the ribs and then again and again, until he let go with a grunt of pain.
Amelia snapped her gaze back to Mitchell. Hot relief washed over her when her eyes found him. But then she saw the warped rage that lined his face. Amelia felt hot and cold and sick all at once. She followed his horrified eyes to a pile of ash that lay at his feet. Fiona. Her mouth was suddenly dry and her hands, clammy. Another body was slumped in an unnatural position close by. How is he still alive? a small voice questioned, and Amelia let her eyes search him over. He was completely unharmed. His clothes were intact, with not even a smudged mark of soot.
Amelia didn’t get a chance to digest it all. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Cole inch back. His eyes widened, and that smug look that he had been brandishing was replaced by what she was sure was fear. “You’ll regret doing that,” he said. There was a clear quiver to his voice, and he tried to cover it with what she thought of as an evil, mad scientist kind of laugh.
“Cole?” Megan’s voice broke through the fog layer that encircled them. A golden glow radiated from her as she stepped through the mist and into the circle. The energy shot from her in ribbons and to Amelia’s utter disbelief it seemed to lace around Mitchell.
She had been protecting him, Amelia realized, before she really grasped what Megan had just said.
“Hey, Megs,” Cole replied with a twisted smile.
Amelia’s body temperature dropped. “You know each other?” she blurted.
Just as the words spewed out of her mouth, several bolts of white lightning flew through the air. Mitchell moved in a distorted blur towards Amelia and pulled her out of the way of the attack.
Cole deflected the first round of missiles expertly, but he wasn’t fast enough for the last three that Megan flung at him, and he crashed to the ground; a steaming hole, the size of a baseball, was visible in the center of his shirt.
Cole vaulted back up to his feet and barked, “You’re fighting for the wrong side.”
“I don’t think so,” Megan said in an alarmingly calm voice that sent a chill up Amelia’s neck, and it rolled outwards along her shoulders. In an undoubtedly practiced motion, she flicked her wrist and flung another intense discharge of magic at Cole.
He jumped out of the way just in time to miss the blast that whizzed by his ear, singeing his hair. “It’s in the prophecy, Megs,” Cole said with a tone that made it clear they knew each other better than Amelia wanted to believe, and his face softened. He waved a hand around at the scene that surrounded them. “This is what we’ve been training you for.”
Stunned silent didn’t seem strong enough to explain how Amelia felt, and clearly, she wasn’t alone. Mitchell narrowed his eyes in concentration as he tried to figure out the missing piece that would make what was happening in front of them make even an ounce of sense. She knew Mitchell was trying to keep a close eye on the other two hunters who had moved in towards Cole, with brows raised pointed in his direction. His brain was moving in slow motion, and he tried to formulate a plan to get them out and kill the other three that were still standing. But his thoughts seemed to have a gaping hole as he shifted his gaze between Megan and Cole.
Megan snorted. “Have you completely lost your mind?” She formed another ball of light in her hand, ready to throw it at Cole.
It was the sizzling snap of the energy that jerked Amelia out of her stupor, and she stepped beside her cousin, her own gleaming sphere growing in her palm. Mitchell moved with her, resting one hand on her shoulder. She was about to shrug it off. She didn’t need a distraction, not now, but just as she was about to push the pestering hand away, a jolt of energy, like a live electric current, surged through her. She risked a glance over her shoulder and gasped. Mitchell was flickering as if a lustrous red cape of light had been wrapped around him, and in his free hand, his own blazing orb of energy shone brightly. She could see the strands of power seeping from her skin where he touched her and snaking along his arm, wrapping around his torso.
He was using her magic, siphoning her energy, Amelia realized with a start. But there was something else. Something was brewing inside her. It was as if they were combined, their auras, their life sources, their beings; everything was united on a whole new and intense level. His energy was hers and hers was his. She had never felt so powerful, so alive.
Cole made a sound somewhere in between a screech and a wheeze, and his jaw dropped, plainly stunned. He stammered over his next words while he shifted his fear stricken gaze between the three of them. “The strongest coven will be marked for the oldest vampire house, and with their alliance, the hunters will fulfill their destiny.”
Amelia laughed and opened her mouth to tell him how absolutely retarded that sounded, when someone shouted. “I can hear them. Over here.” She glanced in the direction of the new voice and could just make out four figures moving through the smoky haze, just outside the bubble of air that was keeping the fire at bay.
“You girls will join us whether you want to or not,” Cole said, inching backwards; what was left of his entourage hurried to their fallen comrades, gripped them under the arms and then followed Cole, dragging the bodies with them. As he moved, the shield of foggy mist moved with him, surrounding him and his companions like a blanket. Within seconds they had disappeared, fading into the smoke.
Mitchell went to follow them but, without the protection of the mist, the flames grew around them, jumping up as if a bottle of liquor had been dumped on them, giving them new life. Megan engaged her own magic, coating them all in a glowing sticky film, and Amelia made a mental note to learn how the spell worked.
Just then, the rescue team stumbled upon them, and Amelia was yanked from Mitchell’s grasp and dragged through the building.
The first face Amelia saw when she made it outside was a paper white Officer McLean. “Amelia,” he said with wide eyes. And then a visible tremor shook through his body as his gaze fixed behind her. He rushed forwards, bypassing her entirely, and went directly to Mitchell and said in a frantic whisper, “Get out of here before
someone sees you guys.”
Mitchell put up a hand and Officer McLean clamped his mouth shut. “Did you catch them?”
Officer McLean looked dumbfounded, and he stuttered, “Catch who?”
“Dammit, McLean,” Mitchell seethed, balling his hands into white knuckled fists. “This was a damn trap. They were in there. How the hell did you let them sneak out?”
Officer McLean vaulted back from Mitchell. “Who was in there?” he questioned in a small and jittery voice. He caught himself quickly, tried to straighten his shoulders, and fixed his face in what looked like an attempt at the I’m the boss glare, but, in Amelia’s opinion, it looked more like a terrified man who knew he had seriously screwed up.
It wouldn’t have taken a brain surgeon to see that Mitchell’s temper was in danger of blowing, so Amelia promptly stepped in between them. “The hunters were here. The fire was a trap,” she said, forcing herself not to burst in frustration.
Eric pulled up in Amelia’s Jeep, stuck his head out the window and said, “Get in before the media sees you guys. We need to get out of here.”
Megan was the first to jump, and within seconds, she was in the car and was practically sitting on Eric’s lap in the driver’s seat, hugging him fiercely. Before Amelia moved, she asked, “Was anyone hurt?”
“No, Ma’am,” Officer McLean replied, his tense stance slacking a little, and he puffed out a pent-up breath. “Everyone is accounted for and fine.”
Amelia nodded, and with nothing else to say, she seized Mitchell’s hand and towed him to the car. Luckily for her, he didn’t protest, but he kept his torrid eyes locked on a blanching and trembling Officer McLean until the Jeep pulled out of sight.
CHAPTER 22
“How the hell do you know the hunter, Megan?” Amelia shouted. She was so mad that she couldn’t stay still, and she paced furiously across the slick hardwood of the main floor living room.