“Mitchell, I,” Amelia started, but then the kiss she shared with Josh played across her mind, and her voice caught in her throat as tears welled up in her eyes. And just like that, all the fight left her, and she said, “Yes, I let him touch me.”
Mitchell made a sound somewhere in between a snarl, a sigh, and a gasp, and it sounded sad and angry and utterly broken. And it made her heart break. She knew it was her imagination. But part of her wanted to believe that he was actually sad about it, and she hung onto that as if it was a lifeboat. Maybe he could still feel? Hadn’t Erin shown some of that in turning Lucy? Maybe, just maybe, he was still her …
His fangs suddenly ripped into her skin, with a force she had never felt before. It burned, and as he drank, she was certain that he was going to suck every last drop of blood out of her. She wondered why she was not fighting and why she was not scared. A small voice in her head whispered, Persuasion. And oddly, it didn’t bother her.
Amelia’s knees began to shake, her eyelids grew heavy, and then she felt cold and disconnected, as if she was teetering on the edge of a cliff. “You need to run,” Mitchell growled in her ear, but she couldn’t move. “Run before I kill you!”
And then Amelia was running.
Her legs trembled with every step, and she stumbled and fell to her knees. Wind whipped around her. Gold and white and blue lines flashed on all sides with dizzying swirls. The air crackled with electricity, and a silky voice began to chant with a rhythmic beat. “Shield this town and keep all who are here within. Shield this town and keep all who are here within.” And then another voice joined and another and another, and the energy increased, pressing on her from all sides. “Shield this town and keep all who are here within.”
“Stop,” Amelia yelled, as she struggled to get to her feet. “You can’t lock these people in here!”
A hand clasped around her forearm and yanked her to her feet. “You should have kept running,” Mitchell said with heart wrenching pain in his voice. “I don’t want to hurt you.” Those words held so much confusion that Amelia couldn’t help but look at him.
Mitchell’s arm ignited in flames, and he roared out in pain. He dropped his grip on her, and shoved her away from the fire, as if he was trying to protect her. Someone picked her up, and she screamed. Suddenly Erin was there, throwing Mitchell to the ground and stomping out the fire.
“Josh, get her out of here!” Mitchell hollered. “Take the hunters and run!”
CHAPTER 15
Mitchell threw Erin off of him and pulled himself to his feet as the last of the flames died out. Those damn hunters had been a thorn in his side for hundreds of years and frankly, he was done with it—done with them. This time they had gone too far, especially that one who had his paws all over Amelia. He knew he was being a hypocrite; he had just told the fool to take her and run, but seeing him grope her was more than he could take. From the sides he noticed his people moving in. “Let them go,” he said with unbridled anger. His heart squeezed as he watched Josh help Amelia into a Jeep, his hand lingering far too long on her thighs.
“You are no fun,” Angelle whined, stomping her feet on the ground. “You should have killed her.”
“Angelle, how many times do I have to tell you? We don’t kill the pets,” Mitchell said distractedly, scanning his numbers. His eyes settled on a small girl, a child really. She was petite, with sharp features and dirty blond hair, and she clung to one of his children.
“But …” Angelle whined. Engines rumbled to life in the distance, and the mob of hunters filed out onto the road, keeping the straggling humans in the center as they ran.
“No,” Mitchell said, raising a hand to silence her. “I want to have some fun with them. And with her.” He narrowed his eyes, watching the Jeep race from the parking lot, and for just a second, he wondered why none of the hunters had attacked. Surely his small numbers were no match for that horde. Could Amelia have ordered them not to? If she did, why? It wasn’t until he had threatened her life that one of them finally acted. Why was nothing making any sense?
Angelle squealed in delight and clapped her hands, drawing Mitchell’s attention away from the cars and back to the child.
“What’s your name?” he asked sharply, stepping in front of the girl. She squealed and scurried behind Erin.
“She’s mine,” Erin said, kicking at the ground and avoiding his eyes. “It’s Lucy.”
“Hum.” Mitchell rubbed his chin as he tried to place the child, and when he did, he smiled. She was one of Amelia’s rescuees. He quickly wiped the smile away and grabbed Erin’s chin, forcing her to look at him. “And you changed her without consulting me because …?”
“I had a weak moment, sir,” she replied meekly. “I didn’t want her to die.”
Mitchell sighed and shook his head in disappointment. “You kill people, child. You are a vampire. That is what we do.” His hand jumped out, snagging Lucy’s wrist and pulling her out from behind Erin. “You cannot save them all, and you are too young for the responsibilities of a maker.”
Lucy whimpered and tried to cower away, but Mitchell held her tightly, and when he looked at her, all he could see was Amelia. Her smile. Her lips. He could hear her laughter and her heartbeat. He could see the hunter’s hands running along her body. And he couldn’t understand why that image threatened to rip out his heart.
“Mitch, please,” Erin begged. She grabbed his arm and tried to pry his fingers from the child’s wrist. “I’ll take care of her. I promise. You won’t even know she is here.”
Mitchell considered it for a moment. If he left the child in Erin’s care, most likely she would become his responsibility. He knew Erin wasn’t ready to teach, and really, what kind of teacher would she be if her first victim ended up as one of them. Clearly, he had a lot to show Erin as it was. But the idea of adding to his numbers won in the end, or was it that the kid reminded him of Amelia? He took a deep, calming breath, released the child, and turned to his people. “Did any of you notice something different about the humans?”
His question was answered with a bunch of blank faces. He was about to enlighten the crowd, but then to his surprise, Lucy squeaked, “Only that I don’t know any of them.”
“Yes, Lucy,” he said and smiled at her. Maybe she wouldn’t be as much trouble as he had thought. “And do you know what that means?” he asked.
“That they are not pets?” she answered hesitantly, as if it was a question, and he chuckled.
“That’s right.” Mitchell ruffled her hair, and she grinned like a child who had just won a prize. “And those cross-breeds have trapped them, and us, within the town limits.”
“But they are with the hunters,” Erin pointed out.
Exactly! Mitchell wanted to yell it out. He may not want to hurt Amelia, but he had no issue with attacking her creations. He filed a mental note to thank the psychic for showing him the truth, even if he didn’t entirely understand why she had. He looked at Erin, and gave her a rolling hand gesture as he said, “And the hunters are not …”
“Pets,” Tristan answered. He shoved Angelle over as he joined the front line of the group that had gathered around Mitchell.
“Why aren’t you dead yet?” Angelle snarled like a jealous sibling, shoving Tristan back. She hadn’t liked him from day one, and at times Mitchell swore she forgot that he hadn’t actually changed her, only taken her under his wing, but anyone that watched the way they bickered would mistake them as brother and sister.
“I was in a charitable mood,” Mitchell answered, before Tristan could say something that would most likely result in a fight.
“Mitch, Amelia took Luke and Eric,” Lola said, stopping Angelle before she could disagree with his decision.
“Did she now?” Mitchell glanced back at the road. Why would she take two vampires when she had all those hunters? Life had been so much easier when he could hear the witch’s thoughts—less confusion that was for sure.
“Why can’t I feel him anymore? I
s he dead?” Her voice quivered, and she looked completely lost without her sidekick glued to her hip.
“You can’t feel him because the witch has finally released us. She has broken the bond. We are free.” He said it with conviction, but it felt wrong. There was something pulling at his conscious; his heart sank a little bit, and right then, Mitchell wasn’t entirely sure that he wanted to be free … At least not free from her.
CHAPTER 16
“Let go, Josh,” Amelia screamed. “Put me down!” She kicked and clawed, digging her nails into his flesh, but he wouldn’t put her down. Amelia summoned her power and let it surge through her, sending out wild blasts of energy. Suddenly Josh’s skin was gone, and she was being carried by bones. He ran to the Jeep, pulled open the door, and tossed her in.
“Cole, hold her still!” he yelled, as he held her firmly in place; his skeletal hands were hard and cold, pressing against her thighs. Cole jumped into the Jeep, pulled Amelia onto his lap, and pinned her arms to her side. She swiveled and bent forwards within his grasp and bit one of his restraining arms hard. Hard enough that she tasted blood, and he yelped. His skin shuddered, melting within her teeth, and then, it was gone. She could feel his sharp ribs digging into her back as he held her tightly.
“Let me go. He’s burning. I have to help him,” Amelia screamed, tossing and turning her body as she fought to get out of Cole’s grip. The door slammed, and within a second, Josh was in the driver’s seat, turning the key, and then peeling out of the parking lot.
“Is it still bleeding?” Josh yelled over Amelia’s awful, grief-stricken screams. Even to her own ears, they sounded raw, full of angst and sorrow, but she couldn’t stop. They just kept falling from her lips, in an incomprehensible slew of demands, and no matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t get the image of Mitchell, with flames racing along his skin, out of her mind.
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. N
o 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.