The Soul's Mark: Broken (28 page)

“Change me,” she demanded, taking a shaky
step towards him.  “It’s the only way to stop all of this.  I need to pick a
side.”

Luke chuckled and rolled his eyes.  “I
can’t do that, kiddo.”  He over enunciated every syllable and punched out the
words clearly, as if he thought she wouldn’t understand so he needed to spell
it out.

“Luke, you have to.”  Her voice pitched,
and she forced herself to take a breath. “It’s the only way to make all of this
stop.”

“It’s over, Amelia,” Lola said.  “The bond
is back in place.  It’s over.”

“No, it’s not,” Amelia said.  Her legs
wobbled, and Lola took hold of her arm, steadying her.   “Josh will keep
hunting you guys.  He doesn’t have a choice.  It’s in his blood.  And until I
pick a side, he’ll keep going.”

Any bit of humor that was in Luke’s eyes
faded fast.  He flushed, and the vein at his temple throbbed.  “Amelia, I’m not
changing you,” he said slowly, and firmly.  “Mitchell would never forgive me.”

Why won’t he listen?
a voice in her head shouted.  Obviously keeping calm wasn’t
working.  “You have to!” she yelled.  “You don’t understand.”

“I can’t, kiddo.” He turned away from her
and started for the door.  “I’ll go find him.  I’m sure he’d want to know that
you’re awake.”

Amelia watched him walk towards the door
and racked her brain searching for something, anything that would make him take
her seriously.  Why wasn’t he listening to her?  She watched the door open, and
then close, and suddenly she wanted to scream.

“You sure about this?”  Lola whispered in
her ear as soon as Luke was gone.

“Lola, please.  It’s the only way to stop
this.  Please!”

Lola held her index finger to her lips and
glanced at the door.  “There’s no going back,” she whispered, although to
Amelia, it sounded like a hiss.

“Yes, Lola, please just do it,” she begged.

Lola narrowed her eyes.  “And if you
change, you think it will stop the hunters?”

“I know it will,” Amelia said with
certainty.

Lola smirked and then gave her a dirty
look.  “I swear if you get all worshipy sidekick on me, I’ll stake you,” she
hissed, but her eyes danced in amusement.  She slid one of her manicured nails
across her wrist and instantly, blood seeped from the small slice.  Amelia
looked at her, confused.  “We need to drink from each other at the same time,”
she whispered.

Amelia’s stomach rolled in a bunch of back
flips.  She hadn’t really considered what changing might entail, and right now,
the thought of drinking blood made her want to spew.  Lola must have noticed
because she said, “Get used to it.  In a few minutes it’s the only thing you’ll
want.”  And then she grabbed a handful of Amelia’s hair, shoved her wrists to
Amelia’s lips, and sank her fangs into Amelia’s neck.

Amelia gasped as Lola latched onto her neck
like a bulldog.  She wasn’t gentle, not like Mitchell.  Amelia could feel
Lola’s fangs extending under her skin, and then she felt the pull as Lola
sucked mouthfuls of her blood.  Amelia struggled, trying to break away, but
then she tasted it.  Lola’s blood.   It was ... sweet, and thick, almost like
maple syrup.

If Amelia had expected it to hurt, she was
wrong.  After the first second, she hardly felt Lola’s fangs.  Her skin warmed,
her stomach fluttered wildly, her throat burned, and before she knew it, she
was swallowing huge mouthfuls of the syrupy goodness.  And then she was biting
down, and there was a pinching sensation, and her gums throbbed, and her body
tingled, and …

Lola released her, and when Amelia kept
drinking, she jammed a finger into the side of Amelia’s mouth, prying her off. 
“That’s enough,” Lola murmured.  Her voice filled Amelia with a cozy warmth,
and she opened her mouth, letting go.

Something snapped in her mouth, her gums
pulsed, and everything around her had an odd reddish tint as if she was looking
through stained glass.  She rubbed at her eyes trying to clear them, and it
hurt—really hurt.  It felt as if someone was peeling the skin from her face,
and a snarl erupted from her lips.

“Not so hard, Amelia,” Lola said, taking
her hands and leading her to the full length mirror that hung on the bathroom
door.

“Holy crap,” Amelia breathed, taking in her
reflection.  Her eyes blazed like fire, and the skin around them was stained
with blood, healing.  But that wasn’t all she noticed.  The little bit of flab
under her arms was gone, defined into lean muscles.  Her complexion was even,
soft porcelain.  Her hair looked smooth, with a healthy sheen.

“How do you feel?” Lola asked, her eyes
running over Amelia, with a new appreciation.

“Um, hot?” Amelia answered, pitching the
word into a question.   Lola giggled, rolling her eyes, and Amelia rushed on,
trying to explain.  “Hot as in, like my throat is burning, and my skin, and
well, my whole body, like … like, I just went for a run, and it
feels…awesome.”  She felt her lips pull into what she was sure was a goofy
grin, and as it widened, her gums ripped, and she felt the tip of fangs jutting
into her bottom lip.

Lola gave her an encouraging smile.  “It’s
your muscles changing, strengthening.  It’ll pass in a few hours.”

Amelia glanced back in the mirror.  “You
know, if I had have known that changing would take away the frizz from my curls
and make them look so silky, I would have done this months ago.”  She spun
around looking at her new body from all angles, and as she did, a carousel of
scents: sweat, blood, sweet fear, salty tears bombarded her, spinning around
her in a whirlwind.  She felt her eyes blaze for a second and then dim,
smoldering like embers in the smoking coals of a fire, and her fangs slowly
sharpened when the last smell hit her—tangy spice.

Mitchell.

Her nostrils flared, breathing in long deep
breaths, and her feet began to move, with slow predator precision.  The chain
around her heart urged her to run to him, find him, and most of all, she wanted
to taste him.  Lola snagged her arm, stopping her.

Suddenly, Mitchell’s brain snapped shut
like a hidden trap door.  The soft pull of the bond melted away, and Amelia’s
skin stopped tingling.  Her heart stopped beating.  “Mitchell!” she shrieked,
lunging for the door.

Lola was on her in seconds, tackling her,
and pinning her down.  “Amelia, stop,” she growled.

“No, let go.  I can’t feel him.  Josh… Let
me go.”  Amelia struggled, using all of her strength.  She kicked and punched. 
Lola’s nose snapped to the side, and Amelia felt one of her ribs snap when she
kicked out.  But she didn’t care.  All she could think about was ripping out
Josh’s throat.

The bedroom door flew open, and suddenly, Lola
was off of her.  Amelia vaulted up, easily, landing nimbly on the balls of her
feet.  Before she could move, Luke was there with firm hands on her biceps, as
if they were vice grips, holding her tightly.  “Hold still,” Luke snapped when
she tried to struggle.  “I’m stronger than you.  Struggling is pointless.”  His
voice was cold, hard, and so not like Luke, that Amelia stopped moving
completely.

“Amelia, what did you do?” her mother gasped,
scanning Amelia from head to toe.  Amelia looked up just as she walked through
the door, shaking her head in disappointment.

Amelia barely noticed her.  “Mitch?” she
breathed.  She tried to go to him, but Luke held tight.  He walked in, and he
looked … amazing.  Everything about him was sharper.  His muscles looked more
defined, the stubble on his jaw, darker; Amelia could even make out the
individual hairs.  His skin was flushed pink, and when she squinted her eyes
slightly, she was sure she could see the blood moving under his skin.  He was
the hottest person she had ever laid eyes on, and he smelled delicious.

“Oh, love,” he said, shaking his head.  He
stopped just inside the doorway, keeping his distance.  His voice held a note
of defeat mixed with heartbreak.

Amelia could hear his heart beating, his
blood pumping.  She tried to break free of Luke’s grip, but it was pointless. 
A frustrated growl bubbled up in her throat, and brushed through her lips.  She
looked at Mitchell again, taking in a long, deep breath of his scent, and she
noticed something.  Something different—something wrong.  Closing her eyes, she
took another deep breath.  She caught Luke’s scent, and immediately she noticed
the difference.  His blood smelled … stale.  But Mitchell’s, it was fresh and
new, and it was as if he was wearing a big
eat me
sign on his chest.

Amelia’s eyes snapped open.  “You’re … you’re
… ” her brain wouldn’t finish the thought.  It just couldn’t.  She blinked
furiously, and her jaw dropped.

“Human,” he whispered, dropping his eyes.

“Holy crap!”  Erin said, skidding into the room. 
Her jaw dropped, and the way she was looking at Amelia was as if she had never
seen her before.  “Who changed you?” She shook her head and shifted her gaze to
Mitchell.  Her jaw dropped further.  “Holy crap,” she breathed again, raising
her hand to her mouth and gasping.

“You’re kidding me, right?” Eric laughed
from the doorway, looking between Mitchell and Amelia.  “Don’t you guys ever
talk to each other?”  Megan was nestled under his arm.  His green eyes sparkled
with laughter, as they shifted between Amelia and Mitchell.  He didn’t seem
shocked at all, just amused.

“This is such awesomeness,” Angelle
squealed, clapping her hands, but then her eyes fell on Mitchell, and she
gasped.  Her brow creased, and she blinked a few times as if she was trying to
clear her vision, or blink away what she was seeing.  “Mitch, what did you do?”
she whispered, shaken.

Amelia ignored them all.  “The bond … I
can’t hear you.  I thought you were dead.”

Mitchell looked at her then, and he opened
his mouth to speak, but her mother cut in before he could get a word out.  “Oh,
child, that’s because it has been reset.” She looked past Amelia and said,
“Luke, you can let her go.”

Luke dropped his grip.  “What do you mean
reset?” he asked in an icy tone.

“Mitchell is now marked for Amelia,” Mrs.
Caldwell said.  Her airy voice should have been soothing, but it wasn’t.

Suddenly, Amelia moved, and then she was
standing in front of Mitchell.  It happened so quickly that it made her head
spin, and she stuck out her arms for balance.  Then she saw it, the mark.  It
looked like a tattoo—an inky figure eight with a solid line passing behind the
bottom circle.

“This … this can’t be happening!” she
yelled.  “How is this even possible?  Can’t just one thing go right!  How are
you even human?”  Anger bubbled up inside her, white-hot and blinding.  It was
consuming, irrational, and she felt a pinch as her fangs snapped down.  A
reddish film clouded her vision, and she balled her fists.  The anger built,
coursing through her and burning her veins.

Silky, warm hands cupped her cheeks.  “Calm
down, love,” Mitchell said firmly.  His voice wrapped around her, cocooning her
in warmth, and her anger washed away.  He tilted her chin up, and smiled. 
“Your mother, she changed me, love, so I could take you away from all this.” 
He dropped his hands from her face and waved his arms around, gesturing to
their family.

She searched his cerulean eyes.  “You’d
give up all this for me?”

“Amelia, I’d give up everything for you.” 
His voice was so full of emotion, so sincere; she knew he was telling the
truth.

“What have you done to her?” Josh yelled. 
He burst into the room and headed straight for Mitchell.

“Josh, stop!” Amelia yelled.  But he kept
coming at Mitchell, and the look in his eyes was like a rabid dog.

Everything happened in a blur.  Josh
grabbed Mitchell and slammed him against the wall.  He raised his arm, pulling
it back, and that’s when Amelia spotted the sharpened, wooden stake in his
hand.  Energy surged through Amelia, and a red glow surrounded her.  She pushed
on it, flinging it at Josh, just as he plunged the stake down at Mitchell, and
he froze.  Josh’s eyes widened and he screamed, and before Amelia could stop
herself, she ripped him off of Mitchell, her teeth were embedded in his neck,
and she tore out his throat, spitting a chunk of flesh onto the floor.   His
eyes flicked, rolling back, and he fell.

And just like that … it was over.

Victory felt empty.  She expected to feel a
sense of triumph or something—anything.  But she didn’t.  She didn’t really
feel anything.

Arms went around her then.  They were slow
and tentative, and they pulled her closer and closer, until her back was
pressed tightly against a solid chest.  Lips pressed against her ear, and warm
breath puffed against her neck.  “Love,” Mitchell whispered, “take a deep
breath.  It’s going to be okay.”

Lola stepped in front of Amelia and said,
“It’s over.”

Amelia nodded, unsure of what to say or do,
and Lola pulled off one of her layered tank tops and began wiping Amelia’s face
as if she was a child, but then she kind of was, Amelia realized.  Not just a
child, but she was Lola’s child.

Amelia sighed.  “Dammit.  I guess my plan
worked.”  Because if it hadn’t worked, Josh wouldn’t be dead.  She wasn’t sure
why that was a bad thing, but at that moment it felt like it was. 
We won,
she thought.  Why didn’t it feel any better?  “I still have magic,” Amelia
said, suddenly realizing how she had stopped Josh.