The Soul's Mark: HUNTED (20 page)

Amelia opened her mouth and then closed it when no words would come out.  Suddenly Jake lunged across the table at her, covering her with his body.  “Get off of me,” she screeched, as she tried to push him off her, but she could barely move, wedged between him and the booth.  And then she heard the sound of shattering glass and the explosion, and she froze.

Screams erupted all around her, and another explosion reverberated through the diner.  Amelia barely had a second to comprehend what was happening when Jake jumped to his feet, yanking her up with him.  His crowd of friends surrounded her, barricading her from any danger as they rushed her out into the night.

“Where’s your car?”  Jake demanded as soon as they were outside.  The sirens of approaching fire trucks could already be heard in the distance.

Amelia was about to point at her Jeep when another explosion erupted from inside.  Thick black smoke began to cloud the open doorway, and the flames jumped in height, consuming the exit.  Through the flames, she could see people trapped inside, their panicked screams drowning out the rescue vehicles’ high-pitched wails.

Instinct took over.  Before Amelia’s brain registered her actions, she had squirmed away from her ‘security detail’ and was racing around the back of the building, searching for a way to get in.  Pounding footsteps followed her and she heard Jake yelling at her to stop, but she ignored him and kept moving.

She scanned the windows, trying to find one that she could break, but they were all too small; she would just barely be able to squeeze through, and she knew she wouldn’t be able to get the stranded people out that way.  Amelia kept on moving until she found the back door, the kitchen entrance, and she reefed it open.  A pungent, metallic smell assaulted her nose, and her eyes burned as she hit a cloudy wall of smoke.

Amelia’s brain flooded with her seventh grade teacher’s voice as she tried to remember what he had said when they had taken that field trip to the fire station. 
Stay below the smoke,
that sounded right, and she immediately dropped to her hands and knees and pushed herself forwards in a crawl, trying to stay under the smoke.  A hand wrapped around her ankle and someone called her name, but she quickly kicked the hand off and kept on moving.  Her heart was pumping on overdrive as she fought against her lungs to keep her breath small so she wouldn’t choke on the smoke, and she blindly crawled through the kitchen.

Amelia’s throat burned.  Her eyes watered, and she couldn’t stop the hacking cough, but she kept moving forwards.  After what felt like hours, she spotted the large swinging door that she knew would lead her to the dining room.  She was just about to push the door open when she realized how quiet it was.  The screams, the sirens, even the crackling of the fire was gone.  It was as if her ears had been filled with cotton; the only sounds she could hear were her raspy breathing and her thumping heart.

Was she too late?  Her mind just couldn’t accept that idea, especially since she was in the building.  If it was too late for them, then she wouldn’t still be… Amelia shook her head violently, ridding herself of the thoughts and pushed the door open, propelling herself into the dining room with a new determination to get everyone out of the burning building.

She had just crawled over the threshold when she heard him say, “I was beginning to think you were going to let them burn.”

CHAPTER 20

It was happening again.  His worst nightmare.  It was as if he was living through that day, the day he had lost her, all over again.  The paralyzing fear consumed him.  He wanted to shout to her, stop her from going into the blazing fire, but the words wouldn’t come out.  Instead, the vivid image of Amelia tied to a pole, flames licking at her face, and the cold hatred in her eyes filled his vision.

“Mitchell, snap out of it,” Eric yelled and slapped him across the face with bone breaking force.

He felt the pop as his fangs pierced through his gums, and he knew his eyes were blazing as brightly as the crimson fire that surrounded Amelia, but he couldn’t pull it back.  He locked Eric into his sights and sprang from his chair, sending it crashing to the floor with a clatter.  Every muscle in his body was ready, coiled as tight as a spring, and he crouched ready to attack, but before he could advance, Amelia’s beautiful face stepped in front of him, and the fury evaporated just as quickly as it came on.

“Pull it together, Mitch,” Amelia said, placing a soft hand on his cheek.  He pulled her into his arms and relief washed over him.  It had only been a nightmare.  She was here, safe in his arms.

Mitchell’s relief was short lived.  “Get your hands off Megan,” Eric growled menacingly.  Just as he heard the words, Mitchell noticed the red hair and the missing skin tingling feeling that happened any time he touched Amelia.  He let his arms drop to his sides, releasing his grip on Megan.

“Shut up, Eric,” Megan snapped.  And then she reached up and cupped Mitchell’s face in her hands.  “We can’t see anything.  She stopped pushing the pictures through, and she won’t talk to me.  I need you to tell me what’s happening.”

“She’s…the diner…” Mitchell started.  His throat felt tight, and he tried to swallow the lump that had formed, but it just wouldn’t move.  His eyes prickled and his chest hurt.  He squeezed his eyes shut, willing away the threatening tears.

He replayed the last few minutes, seeing Jake jump on top of Amelia, wrapping his body around her, hearing the explosion, watching him drag her to safety, and then seeing her rush back into the flames.  He caught a blurry glimpse of some people standing just inside the flames, and suddenly he knew what she was going in after.  He pulled on the image and using his heightened vision, he zoomed in, squinting through the thick layer of smoke.  He had expected to see panic and terror on the faces of the people who were trapped within the flames, but to his horror, that was not what he found.  His heart dropped and his gut twisted.  It was a trap.

This all happened in less than a second, and, just as quickly, he knew what he had to do.  He would not let her die again, not like this, and he didn’t care if he died trying to get her out.

Luke slid to a stop in front of him.  His normally calm and thoughtful eyes were stained with pain and terror.  “McLean just called,” Luke said, his voice giving way to his fear.  “There’s a fire at the diner.”

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.”