The Soul's Mark: Broken (19 page)

“Try forty-two,” Madame Crystal said,
robotically, as if she wasn’t actually hearing the television, but hearing
something else entirely.

“We get it!” Megan shouted.  Before Josh
could change the station again, she jumped up, fished the cord out from behind
the television stand, and yanked, ripping the plug from the wall.

“It’s happening everywhere,” Cole said,
stunned.  Clearly, he hadn’t thought about what could be happening outside of
Willowberg, but then Amelia was pretty sure none of them had.  He fixed wide
and scared eyes on Amelia.  “You’ve got to fix this.”

How?
a voice
in her head shouted. 
Just tell me how! 
She squeezed her eyes shut,
taking a deep calming breath, because really, she knew freaking out wasn’t
going to help.  She blinked a few times and then focused on the psychic.  “Madame
Crystal, have you had any luck with the spirits yet?” Amelia asked, trying to
keep the desperate hope out of her voice.

“Nope, not one single bit, and please, call
me Sally,” she said happily, and then she gave Amelia a gleaming white smile. 
“Maybe you should try contacting your mother.”

Amelia’s shoulders dropped.  “Yeah, maybe,”
she said.  What was it about seeking help from her dead mother that creeped her
out so much? 
Duh, it’s the dead part,
her brain confirmed, with snarky
sarcasm.

A hand fell on Amelia’s shoulder, and she
blinked herself out of her thoughts and turned.  Josh—badass vampire hunter and
immortal—stood behind her with an expression that was anything but happy. 
“You’re thinking the world is ending, aren’t you?” he asked softly.

“You knew this would happen, didn’t you?”
Amelia responded, curtly, narrowing her eyes.  Maybe she was becoming harder,
less susceptible to the pain and emptiness that death brought, but she couldn’t
believe the
people died and I’m so sad
act Josh was attempting to
convey.  And come to think of it, it was his fault that Mabel, Fiona, Jess, Doug,
Justin, and Amber were all dead.  Had he killed them, or did he just give the
order?  It had become more than clear to her over the last two days that there
was more to him than she had originally thought.  He had been sweet—sort of—but
he was also more than capable of being vicious.  Which one was real?  Amelia
didn’t know, but the other side, the mean and soulless side, was more
believable.  It seemed more … natural, more him.

Josh scrunched his forehead.  “Do you
really think that little of me?”

“Let’s see,” Amelia said, holding out her
hand and ticking things off as she spoke.  “You threatened to kill me.  You tried
to kill my family, and honestly, I wouldn’t be surprised to find out that you
actually did kill some of them.”  She paused, watching his face closely for any
sign of guilt, but if he felt it, it didn’t show.  His face was like a blank
slate, and after another hard examination, she went on.  “You kidnapped me. 
You used my power to break the bond that I didn’t want broken.  Oh, and we
might as well add your latest trick to the list.  You used your magic to try
and take advantage of me.  Yup, I think I do.”

“You don’t really mean that.”  He moved
around the couch, taking a stand in front of her.  He reached out a hand, and
looked as if he was about to tuck her hair behind her ear, and she jerked
away.  If she had, or even still did feel something for him, she was now one
hundred percent sure that it was nothing more than a sense of obligation, and
she was certainly not going to let him think anything different, at least not
anymore.  Right now she was thinking of sticking with the
I was scared and
alone
excuse
for even considering him, or maybe the
I kind of
made you so I thought I should see if it would work
explanation, but either
way she looked at it, neither of them sounded like a good reason for her weak
moment.

“Yeah, actually I do,” she said.  She stood
up and moved around him, careful not to touch him, and started out of the room
when her phone hummed, vibrating in her pocket.  She fished it out, tapping the
screen without even looking at it, and then she pulled it to her ear.  “Hello?”
she said absently, her brain desperately trying to work through the new
developments.

“Thank God,” breathed the voice on the
other end of the phone.  It was silent for a second, and then a frantic slew of
words blasted through the speaker.  “Amelia, what’s happening?  My mark’s
gone.  All of our marks are gone, and Greg hasn’t been home since last night. 
He freaked out and just took off, and I can’t feel him.  I’m scared he’s dead,
and my mark is gone and … and … and …”  A sob and hard, erratic breathing
pounded through the line.

“Zooey, sweetie, take a breath,” Amelia
said, trying to keep her voice even and strong, although she was pretty sure
she didn’t succeed.  Guilt was rushing in like a flash storm, pouring down on
her, and soaking her to the bone.  She should have told them—prepared them. 
But she hadn’t.  Hell, she hadn’t even personally stopped at their houses
yesterday.  McLean had.

“That’s the problem.  I can’t breathe. 
He’s gone, Amelia.  He’s just gone.  He won’t answer his phone.”  Her voice was
spiking to a high-pitched squeal, and the words were spewing out over the top
of each other in a dizzying rush.  “I can’t find him anywhere and McLean told
us not to leave the house and we’re all trapped inside and what if those
hunters killed him?  And Mitchell won’t answer the phone or Eric or Luke or any
of them.  And Erin took Lucy and she didn’t look right and she wouldn’t talk to
me and she was all cagey and freaky and not Erin.”

“Honey, listen, I’m coming over,” Amelia
said, jumping in while Zooey caught her breath.  “I’ll be there in a minute. 
You call everyone else and tell them to come to your house.  Tell them to
hurry, okay?”

There was a raspy breathing silence, and
then Zooey whispered, “Amelia, what’s happening?”

“Just call them, okay?” Amelia said in a
rush.  “I’m coming.”  And then she ended the call, jamming her phone back in
her pocket.

“You aren’t going anywhere,” Josh growled
from behind her, and Amelia rocketed up, startled.  She spun, caught her
breath, and fought against her racing heart.

“If you have in fact been watching me for
months like you said, then you would know that telling me what I can and cannot
do does not and will not work.”  What was it about men giving her orders that
got her back up?

Josh softened, and shoved his hands in his
pockets, bashfully.  “There are a lot of people here that need you.”  He
dropped his gaze to the ground, and then glanced up at her through hooded eyes.

Amelia wasn’t falling for it.  “And there
are people out there that need me.”  She said it firmly, with an air that said
her going was not up for discussion.

Josh shrugged.  “They are not my problem.”

“Good thing I’m not asking you to come with
me then.”  She sighed, and then looked at Tyler and Megan and said, “Guys,
Zooey is freaking, actually, a lot of the soulmates are, and I’m going to talk
to them.  They need to know what’s going on.  Can you handle things here?”

“Yeah, sure,” Megan replied, looking
between her and Josh with a big question mark on her face.

Amelia ignored it.  “Thanks, I’ll try not
to be long.”  And then before anyone could stop her, she ran from the room.

Amelia was right.  Josh couldn’t deny it. 
He had had a fairly good idea as to what would happen when the bond was
broken.  The truth was, he had known all along that without the bond, linking
the vamps to their souls and to humanity, they would be …
unattached.
 
Soulless demons.  He guessed he could have dug deeper and reversed the original
curse, giving their souls back, but he had wanted Amelia to see them as
monsters.  Josh had figured that when she saw those bloodsuckers for what they
really were it would have changed her train of thought.  She’d realize that
they needed to die.

But of course, she didn’t.  He figured he
should have known.  Over the last few months of surveillance, he had gotten a
pretty clear idea of how stubborn she was and above that, how brave she had
become.

Amelia had fought against Mitchell about
everything, without even batting an eye.   That fact alone had Josh certain
that it was only the bond that kept her with him.  He had been so sure that
with the bond broken she would wake up and see what that vamp really was, but
right now, he was beginning to believe there was more between them than the
bond, and it made his stomach roll with disgust.

After she had stormed off, Josh had
barricaded himself in the study.  He needed to think.  Figure out his next step
and take it before she really started using her power on him.  So far, she
hadn’t given him many direct orders, but he knew the time would come when she
figured it all out.  And then, he would lose what little of an edge he had
left.

Josh swung his feet up onto the oak desk
and reclined back in the black, leather office-style chair.  He ran his hand
roughly over his face, and through his hair.  The whole seduction idea really
wasn’t working.  He had really thought he would have been able to get over the
idea of her being with a vamp, but right now that didn’t seem possible.  The
idea of touching her made him sick.  That’s why he lost focus, and dropped the
charm when Tyler barged in; he was sure of it.  The whole time he was looking
down at Amelia all he could see were Mitchell’s fangs sliding into her skin. 
He could hear her delighted moan, and see Mitchell’s dead hands roaming over
her body.

Josh gagged as the image flooded over him. 
Amelia had been so perfect—pure.  And now, all he could see was her sleeping
with the dead.

I should have killed Mitchell at the
fair,
he told himself.   He hadn’t even been able
to shoot.  It should have been him that had saved her, not Cole.  Him.  But the
way that that monster pushed her away from the flames.  Like he was trying to
protect her.  Like he actually cared.  Josh had been too focused on not
throwing up that he had missed his chance to let the arrow fly.  He knew that
it wasn’t possible for Mitchell to actually care.  Mitchell had no soul, no
humanity.  He couldn’t care.

But then why did he tell me to take
Amelia and run?
  Mitchell could have killed her,
but he didn’t.  He could have sent the vamps after them, but he told them to
stand down.  Was he playing with them?  Maybe it had been too easy, and he
liked the idea of the chase.  But the way he looked at Amelia with those
confused and haunted eyes …

Josh shook off the memory.  He had to.  If
he kept seeing the way they looked at each other, with rampant passion, even
after Mitchell had tried to drain her, he would lose his nerve.  And he knew he
couldn’t slip up again.  Failure was not an option.  He was going to kill that
beast no matter what it took, and she was going to help him create more
hybrids.

 “Josh,” Cole said, creeping into the study
and shutting the door.  He stopped for a minute, glancing around and taking in
all the research, photos, maps, everything that they had collected on the vamps
before the first attack was displayed around the room.  “It’s time to take her
out.”

Josh groaned.  “What the hell are you
talking about?” he asked.  His patience was wearing thin, and if Cole was
saying what he thought he was, he was certain that what little bit of it he had
left, which was right now hanging on by a thread, would indeed snap.

If Cole noticed, he didn’t care.  “Amelia,
if she dies, then we’ll at least have a fighting chance.”  There was a
nonchalant vibe in his tone.   Even his posture was slack and uncaring.  He ran
a finger over Amelia’s picture, and then he traced the bold letters of
recruit
below.

“We can hold them off,” Josh said with more
certainty than he felt.

Cole wandered over to another house plan,
looking it over as if it was some priceless piece of art.  “Josh, I’m really
not asking you,” he said matter-of-factly.  “We’re taking her out.”

“I think you’re forgetting,” he retorted,
shocked at how brutal his own voice sounded.  “You were never really in
control, Cole.  It was an act, and it’s over.” A frustrated huff slipped out
before he could stop it.  “Besides, neither of us is in a position to make that
call anymore,” Josh lied.  He got up and padded over to the window.  The sun
was already making its descent, streaking the sky with reds and oranges.

“She hasn’t given that order and you know
it,” Cole retorted.  “We have to act now before she does.  You knew from the
start that it might come to this.”

“We aren’t at that point yet,” he said through
gritted teeth.  He wasn’t really sure why Cole’s words were getting under his
skin so much.  But they were.  His jaw clenched, he could feel the muscles
twitching along his neck, and for a minute, he wondered why he even cared.  It
wasn’t as if he actually wanted to touch her now, and for a second, he wondered
if she died and came back new, would he be able to get over it. 
Maybe.

“You know, we could always use Megan,” Cole
said.  “She’s not as strong as Amelia, and I’m sure I could get her to forget
about the bloodsucker.”  He walked over to the window, and leaned against the
sill and folded his arms over his chest.  He winked at Josh, a sly smile on his
face, and then he said, “Or maybe you should step back and I could give Amelia
a try.”