The Soul's Mark: Broken (14 page)

“Of course,” the psychic said, as if it
should be obvious.  “We can outnumber them now.”

“Seriously?”  Tyler rolled his eyes.  He
went to the window and drew the curtains wide open, surveying the yard. 
“That’s just as bad as Millie’s plan.”

Amelia narrowed her eyes at him and gave
him a hard stare.  “You think going to the fair is a bad plan?”

Tyler barely glanced at her, before he said
crisply, “Don’t give me that look.  You know Mitchell was usually the one with
the plans.  Yours kind of suck.  Like when you locked yourself in your bedroom
or the time you thought it was smart to text me to pick you up.  Your plans
usually fail epically.”

“It was my idea to join the hunters and
lure them out,” she countered, raising her voice defensively.  She knew her
ideas weren’t always stellar, but really, they weren’t that bad.

“That’s what I mean,” he said with
exasperation.  “They fail epically.”

A loud thumping at the door stopped Amelia
from snapping something she was sure would have been counterproductive at
Tyler.  Cole smirked, and before anyone could stop him, he had pulled the door
open.  “Hey, Dad,” he said, stepping back and gesturing for a man to come
inside.

The man didn’t acknowledge Cole, which
Amelia thought was odd, at least until he locked his shiny gray eyes on hers. 
He pushed the hood of his cloak back, took two large steps towards her, and
dropped to his knee and bowed his head.  “We came as soon as we could,” he
said, his voice deep and rough, and then he took Amelia’s hand in his large one
and kissed it.  “Please forgive us for taking so long to arrive.”

Amelia snatched her hand away, and she felt
her cheeks burn bright.  She shot a look at Tyler and Megan, pleading for help,
but they wore identical clueless expressions.  The man hadn’t moved from his
place at her feet, and she inched back half a step.

“Arthur,” Josh growled.  “Jeez, you’re
making her uncomfortable.  Get up.”

****

There were fifty-nine vampire hunters
(including Josh and Cole).  It took twenty-five excruciatingly long minutes to
fill them in on the little accident—that’s what Josh was calling it—and to
ensure that they all knew they were not to kill a single vampire, no matter
what.  To Amelia’s surprise, they didn’t question her.  It was as if they
couldn’t.  She saw the contempt on their faces, the hatred that burned in their
eyes, but not a single one of the hunters voiced their objections.

“I don’t understand why they’re listening
to me,” Amelia whispered to Madame Crystal as she led the way around the house
to the carport.  The sky was clear, denim blue, without a single cloud.  A soft
breeze rustled the budding leaves, and with each breath, Amelia breathed in the
sweet scents of spring.

“They don’t have a choice,” Madame Crystal
replied simply, in a way that made Amelia feel like she should have already
known the answer.

 “If they don’t have a choice, then how the
hell were Josh and Cole able to try and kill her?” Tyler asked, as he veered
left and headed for Eric’s shiny green Corvette.

Megan raced up to him and snatched the keys
out of his hand.  “You are so not driving my car,” she said, shoving the keys
in her pocket.

“Not your car,” Tyler said, and he jutted
out his bottom lip in a pout.

Megan narrowed her eyes at him.  “Actually,
yeah, it is, you know, marital property and all that.”

Tyler looked as if he was about to say
something horribly stupid, but before he could, Josh jumped in, answering his
question, “Because before she only asked us to stop; she didn’t command us.” 
He cut Amelia an apologetic look.  “But, I was pretty sure they were going to
kill you and just wait for you to come back when they found out you were siding
with the vamps.”

“We would have,” Arthur chimed in.  “And
her cousin, but thanks to my useless son, she knows who she is, and with that
knowledge, she not asking anymore, she’s commanding.”  He was rigid; his voice,
his posture, everything about him was coiled, tight as a spool of sewing
thread.

Amelia didn’t let that bother her. 
“Standing right here,” she said, and cut Arthur and Josh a look that she hoped
told them that she was not impressed, and when they both rolled their eyes, 
she stomped over to her Jeep and jumped in.

The ten-minute drive to the park only took
five.  Josh had insisted on riding along with Amelia and Megan, and Tyler drove
Madame Crystal, Cole, and Arthur in the Hummer.  The other hunters had followed
along in their own vehicles.  No matter how much Amelia pleaded with them, they
all insisted on coming along, just to ensure she was safe, and well, she
couldn’t deny them that, especially after one of them pointed out that without
her there to stop them, they could use the free time to hunt the enemy.  She
wasn’t entirely sure if they could in fact do that, but she wasn’t about to
test the theory. Soul or not, they were her family, and she wasn’t about to
risk their lives.

When they pulled into the lot at the park,
there were three cruisers waiting, and the set up for the fair was well underway. 
Small booths stretched along the side of the parking lot, and the top of the
Ferris wheel poked above the thick tree line.  Amelia’s gut twisted with nerves
as she tried to come up with a better plan than just showing up.

Once she parked, she wordlessly jumped out
of the car and instantly heard the dings and chimes of the games, and music,
and laughter, drifting through the air.

“Amelia,” Officer McLean called, and waved
a beckoning hand at her.  The gesture died off quickly, and his eyes grew wide
with something that looked a lot like guilt mixed with horror.  She looked over
her shoulder and spotted the horde of hunters strolling casually into the
parking lot from the street.  McLean shuddered, or shook might have been more
like it.  Amelia thought he looked like a wet dog shaking water from his fur.

“McLean, shouldn’t you be vacating the
premises?” Josh demanded.

Amelia was about to snap at Josh and ask
him who had made him the boss when she noticed McLean’s complexion had turned
ghostly.  “I … I um … I …” he stammered.

Josh growled and balled his fists as barely
controlled rage emanated from him.  “I told you …” Josh started, but then he
glanced at Amelia and clamped his lips shut.

What the hell?
Amelia thought, shifting her gaze between the two of them.  She
clenched her teeth, put her hands on her hips, and narrowed her eyes at Josh. 
“What did you tell him?”

Josh relaxed slightly and offered her an
unconvincing smile.  He opened his mouth to answer, Amelia assumed, when a deep
male voice yelled, “Run!”  It blasted through the speakers and rang with a
frenzied panic.  “They’re going to kill everyone.”

Screams erupted from the park.  A
high-pitched cackle blasted from the speakers followed by a deep chuckle.

Amelia ran.  Raw adrenaline hit her hard
and fast, and the familiar warmth of magic swirled around her in a whirlwind of
energy.  Smacking footsteps rang out behind her, and Josh and Cole fell in
beside her as she reached the opening in the trees that led to the park.

“What’s the plan?” Josh yelled over the
chaotic screams and panic.  People were pushing past them, full tilt to the
parking lot.

The plan…
Amelia was drawing a blank.  She burst into the clearing, slowing her pace
slightly, and scanned the crowd.  With a quick tally, she came out with two
dozen or so humans, and she didn’t know whether to be glad or completely
disappointed that not a single local was there.  At least the locals would have
been easier to contain …

Gleeful laughter continued to belt out over
the speakers, drawing her attention to Erin and Lucy dancing around the stage
in circles.  Her blood ran cold.  Tristan stood behind them, watching people
scramble for safety, with a toothy grin.

“Spread out.  Round up the humans and get
them out.” Amelia shouted.  “And don’t kill …”

“Oh, look.” Angelle’s syrupy voice stopped
Amelia dead in her tracks.  “It’s Amelia coming to save the day.”

Amelia’s insides shuddered as she looked
her friend over.  Angelle watched her with a cold and calculating intensity
that was just…wrong.  Her ruby red fingernails, which matched her blazing eyes
perfectly, were wrapped around a man’s bicep.  Amelia took a quick glanced at
him, hoping it was a local, and her stomach twisted.  She had never seen
before.  Angelle’s skintight jeans had brownish-red splotches, and her blood
red halter top was filthy with what Amelia told herself was just dirt.

“Angelle, let him go,” Amelia said, eyeing
her with caution.  She was grateful that her voice didn’t give away the tremors
that were seizing her stomach.  “This isn’t you.  You’re not a murderer.”

Angelle threw her head back and laughed,
and in that second, she looked so much like Fiona that Amelia’s nerve
faltered.  Angelle didn’t miss it.  She watched with predator-like eyes as
Amelia scampered back a step.

“Angelle, please,” Amelia said, and she
cursed herself for sounding so scared and small.  “I don’t want to hurt you.”

Angelle released the man, shoving him away,
and stalked towards Amelia.  “Oh, that’s so sweet.  But you know …” Her eyes
blazed brighter, and she flashed her fangs.  She brought a tentative finger to
her lips, drumming it lightly, as she paused for thought.  “I
will
hurt
you.”

“I think we should leave her for Mitch,”
Lola said, stepping beside Angelle, her blond pixie cut hair was wild, standing
on end.  She smirked and nudged Angelle playfully in the ribs.  “A treat for
when we break him out.”

Amelia felt the color drain from her face,
and she tried to shake it off. 
They’re playing with you,
she told
herself.  She heard Tristan’s laugh, and something dawned on her.  If Tristan
was here then … “Where is he?” she demanded.

“I kind of feel sorry for her,” Angelle
said, ignoring her question.  “It’s like she actually believed that we cared
about her.”

“Where.  Is. He?” Amelia asked again, enunciating
every word in a short and clipped tone.  Her heart was jumping in her throat
and her palms began to sweat.  And at that moment, she didn’t know what scared
her more, the possibility that Mitchell could already be dead, or the idea that
he could here right now, watching, without her even knowing it.

“Not important, Amelia,” Josh said, and he
moved a little closer, pressing against her side.

She turned to Josh and was about to order
him to help the others, when a deep velvety voice said, “I’m right here, love.”

“Mitchell?” she said, turning towards the
sound of his voice.  When she laid her eyes on him, her body ached. 
Sexiest
man alive,
she thought, taking in his messy hair and noticing the soft
curls that he always tried to hide with gel.  His sky blue eyes and chiseled
frame looked even better than she remembered, and she longed to run her fingers
along his muscled chest and rippling abs.  She licked her lips, and he extended
his hand to her.

Amelia felt her legs move.  She couldn’t
stop them, and she would have been lying if she had said she wanted to stop
them from closing the distance between herself and Mitchell.  She heard him
call her name,
Amelia,
but his lips did not move.  The soft velvet of
his voice filled her thoughts, and her heart fluttered erratically. 
The
bond.  It’s back.  It’s fixed.
  Amelia just knew it, and she took another
step.

Josh stepped in front of her, and his lips
were moving, but she couldn’t hear him.  His eyes were wide, panic marred his
face, and for a moment, Amelia stopped walking.  She titled her head from side
to side, trying to read his lips, and she pulled at her earlobe, as if to
loosen the clog.

Come to me, Amelia.
Mitchell’s voice was loud and clear in her mind, and just like
that, she stepped around Josh and began to move again.  Mitchell’s voice was
like a song that spoke to her heart, and enveloped her in warmth.  She looked
at him; his cloudy white eyes, like creamy milk, took her breath away.

Creamy milk?
She knew that seemed wrong but … She didn’t even like milk, well
unless it was chocolate.  And then she saw his lips—full and seriously
kissable—twitch upwards into a devilishly, sexy smile, and right then, Amelia
was pretty sure her heart stopped beating.

A strong hand planted itself in the center
of her chest.  She pushed against it and swiped at it, but it wouldn’t move. 
She growled in frustration, her eyes locked on Mitchell, and without thought,
she let loose an electric charge.  White-blue electricity rushed along her
skin, and jagged lines of lightning shot out.  And then the hand was gone, and
she was moving again.  And the only thing she saw was Mitchell.

Amelia placed her hand in his, and he
pulled her tightly against his lithe chest.  He smelled good.  The tangy spice
surrounded her, and her skin tingled.  “Do you trust me?” he whispered, his
warm breath puffing against her ear.