The Soul's Mark: FOUND (21 page)

“Mitch,” Amelia whispered.
 
“Don’t go.”
 
She wasn’t sure why, but the last thing she wanted was to feel the
distance between them.
 
She didn’t want
to feel the pull and she didn’t want to be alone.
 
He searched her face, and she could feel the
hum as he searched her mind.
 
Amelia sat
up and grabbed her shirt, pulling it back on and then locked her eyes on him.
 
“I don’t want to be alone.”

He smiled brilliantly at her and if her
heart could have wagged its tail, it would have.
 
He closed the distance between them in a few
short steps, touched his lips to hers with a light kiss and then
whispered.
 
“I need a shower.
 
I’ll come back soon.”
 
And then, with another quick kiss, he left.

Wide-awake now, the idea of a cold shower
sounded really, really good and Amelia jumped at the thought.
 
After a quick burst of cold water, she pulled
on shorts and a tank, ventured back out into her room and curled up in bed.
 
Not long after, Mitchell came back, freshly
showered and in jogging pants and a t-shirt.
 
Without a word, he cuddled in behind her, pulling her close to his chest
and before long, Amelia drifted to sleep.

Erin looked herself over in the mirror,
fiddling with her pigtails and straightening the straps of her overalls.
 
She sighed.
 
She already looked guilty and she hadn’t done anything yet.
 
If
He
saw her, he would know something was up, and then she wouldn’t be able to fix
what was already in motion.
 
And she had
to fix it.
 

She dabbed on more
cover-up
,
hoping to hide the raccoon eyes, and then took in a deep breath and bolted from
her room, praying she could get out before anyone noticed her panic.

“
Gotta
run,” Erin
chirped, glad her voice sounded steady, racing through the house.
 
She had managed to stay away from
Him
all night but she was really
starting to run out of excuses and she really hoped her goodbye would be enough
to keep his suspicions at bay.

“Hold on a minute,”
he
said, appearing from nowhere.
 
“Where are you running off to?”

Erin stretched her cheeks into a sweet
smile.
 
“School, I promised to pick up
Millie,” she said, not bothering to look at him.
 
She knew all too well that he would see she
was hiding something and if he saw it, he’d check and if he checked he wouldn’t
let her leave.
 
And if she didn’t leave,
then she wouldn’t be able to help Millie.

Erin held her breath when he reached out
and tipped up her chin.
 
He searched her
face and the soft buzzing started.
 
Shit,
she thought, trying to erase the
corrupting thoughts from her mind but it just kept popping up.
 
Desperation engulfed her; she couldn’t get
rid of it.
 
He would find out and then…

She kissed him.
 
Erin reached up on her tiptoes and took his
bottom lip between her teeth with a little nibble.
 
“You are such a
hottie
,”
she whispered against his lips, praying the distraction would work.

He pushed her away, his black eyes boring
into her, hard and cold.
 
Erin trembled
under his stare, had he already seen her plan?
 
She wasn’t sure, but the look he was giving her was deadly.
 

Her bottom lip quivered and his eyes
flashed to it.
 
He sighed and closed his
eyes tightly for a second, then pulled her closely into his arms.
 
“You’re being careful, right?” Erin couldn’t
answer, she didn’t want him to hear the tremors in her voice and she nodded
against his chest.
 
He kissed the top of
her head lightly.
 
“Good,” he said,
dropping his arms.
 
“I love you.”

“I love you, too.” Erin kissed his cheek
and then ran out the door before he changed his mind.

“Cover up that mark, Erin,” he called after
her.

“Yeah, I will,” she called over her
shoulder without slowing down.
 
“I have
cover-up in my purse.”

Erin had never been so happy to be in her
shiny red VW.
 
She jammed the key in the
ignition and the engine roared to life.
 
She let out the pent up breath, tossed the car into reverse and sped
off, leaving a spray of loose gravel and dust behind her.

She drove in fear, waiting for the
inevitable.
 
He knew something was
up.
 
She was sure of it.
 
So why hadn’t he come after her yet?
 
Because
he doesn’t know,
she tried to reassure herself.

Once out of sight from the house, Erin
pulled over.
 
She was shaking so badly
she could barely keep the car on the road and she knew she needed to calm down.

After a few deep breaths and
a double-check
of the bond to be sure he wasn’t listening
in, Erin riffled through her bag for her phone.
 
She hated to make the call, hated that she was betraying him and it made
her feel sick.
 

But
Amelia is innocent,
Erin told herself firmly.
 
She’s nice, caring and a friend.
 
The thoughts reaffirmed what needed to be
done.
 
She didn’t have to be like
him.
 
She wouldn’t let the hunger for
revenge ruin her like it had him.
 
Not
this time around.
 

Erin tapped in the number and hit call. The
shrill ring of the phone was torture and she waited for Madame Crystal to
answer.
 
“Hello, Erin.
 
I’ve been expecting your call.”

An involuntary shiver passed through
Erin.
 
She hated the idea of psychics and
witches.
 
Wasn’t a vampire
soulmate
enough?
 
At
least she knew how to deal with vampires.
 
She took a deep breath, remembering Amelia’s friendly smile and said, “I
need you to help my friend, Amelia.
 
She's in trouble and she doesn’t know she’s a witch yet.
 
She needs to be able to protect herself.
 
It’s all happening too fast and…”

“I know, dear,” Madame Crystal said,
cutting off her panicked rambling.
 
“
His
plan has changed.”

“Can you help her?” Erin asked, holding her
breath.
 
If Madame Crystal couldn’t help,
she’d have to figure out how to get Amelia out of town.
 
She’d have to figure out how to hide her.

“Maybe, bring her to me as soon as you
can,” the psychic said and then she hung up before Erin could get another word
in.

Erin let out her breath in a gush of
wind.
  
Maybe.
 
That wasn’t exactly what she had been hoping
for, especially after bumping into the psychic last week in the
supermarket.
 
She replayed the words
Madame Crystal had said, “
You will meet a
new friend and you can save her by bringing her to me.”
 
And now all she was getting was a
“maybe”?
 

She bit her bottom lip nervously.
 
Had the prophecy changed?
 
She tried to call back.
 
She needed answers but the line just rang and
rang and rang.
 
After the eighth try, she
tossed her phone back into her bag and swore under her breath.
 

The sky opened up and rain pelted down,
pinging against her car.
  
Erin scrubbed
at her face, took a deep breath and then put the car in drive.
 
At
least “maybe” is better than “no”
she told herself, trying to see the
positive in a bleak situation.
 
Now all
she had to do was figure out how in the world she would get Millie to Madame
Crystal.

Morning dawned, gloomy with rain. Amelia
rolled over dreamily and took a deep breath.
 
Mitchell’s sweet, clean scent lingered in the air.
 
Amelia opened her eyes to sneak a peek at
him, and she was disappointed to find that he wasn’t there.
 
Work.
 
He must have gone to work
she thought
with a yawn, and closed her eyes, listening to the tapping rhythm of the rain.

Suddenly, the rumbling thunder shook the
windows and, stunned, Amelia bolted out of bed.
 
Wide awake now, she noticed her alarm clock was blinking; the power must
have gone out.
 
She snagged her phone off
the nightstand: 8:46.
 
Crap.
 
She had slept in and Erin would be there to
pick her up in fourteen minutes.

Amelia took the quickest shower on record,
cursing under her breath.
 
Mornings
sucked, life sucked, and it was pouring rain.

She got dressed in record time, pulling on
a pair of low-rise jeans and a gray hoodie.
 
She could almost picture the look on Angelle’s face at her choice in
clothes, and it made her grin.
 
No time
for make-up or to dry her hair—not that it mattered—it was raining.
 
Amelia piled the curls high on her head and
secured them with a jumbo butterfly clip.

Amelia had just stuffed her books and the
paper that she had written with Mitchell into her backpack when her bedroom
door swung open, cracking against the wall.
 
She spun around, dropping her bag with a clunk, to find Mitchell barging
in and he was not happy.
 
If looks could
kill, Amelia was certain she would be dead.

“It’s called knocking,” she snapped.
 
“I know it’s probably a foreign concept to
you but it’s when you rap your fist on the door and then you wait for someone
to answer it.”

He glowered at her, unimpressed.
 
“Where do you think you’re going?”

“To school,” she answered, returning his
glare.
 
Two could play at this game, and
Amelia knew she had a killer,
screw-off
look
.
 
“I told you I’ve got a paper
due today.”

“You’re not going, Amelia.
 
We need to talk.”

Amelia grabbed her bag, puzzled at the
sudden mood swing.
 
She wasn’t in the
mood for his crap, not in the morning, so she slung her bag over her shoulder
and shuffled towards the door.
 
“We can
talk later.
 
Right now, I’m going to
class.
 
Erin’s waiting for me.”

“Who the hell is Erin?” Mitchell growled,
staying on her heels.

A wave of jealousy rushed over her and for
a second Amelia thought it was her own.
 
Their emotions jumbled together, like a tossed salad, it was getting
harder and harder to figure out whose feelings belonged to whom.
 
She gritted her teeth, certain it was him,
and kept right on moving.
 
“Seriously, Mitch.
 
Get a hold of yourself.
 
Erin is a
girl.
 
She’s a friend and she’s driving
me to school.”

 
“You’re not going,” he yelled, and Amelia
winced at the sharp stab of pain in her chest.
 
It took everything she had but she managed to keep moving, head down,
concentrating on making her legs work.
 
It felt as if she was attached to a bungee cord and every step she took
away from him, the cable tried to snap her back.
 
She made it to the foyer with Mitchell right
behind her.

“Dammit, Mitch,” Angelle cursed, appearing
from nowhere.
 
“You need to stop
this.
 
She’s not ready.”

“This is none of your business,” he
snarled.
 
Amelia got a flash of a
dangerous thought, he wanted to hurt Angelle and she stepped in between
them.
 
She wasn’t going to let him hurt
one of her friends, not again, not like Eric.
 
The uneasiness in her gut faded. “Amelia, stop it!
 
You are acting like a spoiled brat,” he
yelled in her face.

“Why?
 
Because I’m trying to go to school?” she retorted, bitterly.
 
“It was your idea in the first place.
 
You’re the one paying for it.”

“Don’t push me.”
 
His eye flickered, streaking red.

Amelia sucked in a steadying breath and
pushed on.
 
“Or what?
 
What more can you do to me?”

“Whoa, let’s take a breather here,” Eric
said.
 
Amelia hadn’t seen him come in but
he was now in between them.
 
Bad idea.
 
She knew
Mitchell wouldn’t hit her, but she wasn’t so sure about what he would do to the
rest of them.

“Back off, Eric,” Mitchell said with a
lethal undertone.
 
“This doesn’t concern
you.”

Eric didn’t seem bothered.
 
He gripped Mitchell’s shoulder.
 
“Dude.
 
You need to chill.
 
You can check in on her anytime you want.”

The blast of a horn sounded and Amelia
glanced at the door then back to Mitchell.
 
“I’m going, Mitch.
 
If you really
want to stop me then stop me, but I’ve made up my mind so you’ll have to hurt
me again.”
 
She went for the door,
twisted the knob then looked back, meeting his crimsoned stare.
 
“Go on, stop me.
 
I dare you,” she said so coldly that she felt
the chill rolling off her tongue.
 
Then
she left, slamming the door as loudly as she could.

Amelia made it to the car with little
discomfort.
 
She could feel how mad he
was but that he was trying to keep it under control, and she was grateful.
 
It was pouring down in sheets and the last
thing she wanted was to collapse on the soggy grass writhing in pain.

“Morning,” Erin chimed when Amelia got into
the car.
 
“Who’s the hottie?”
 
She was wearing her usual, overalls and
fitted long sleeved t-shirt.
 
Amelia was
starting to doubt that Erin owned anything other than overalls.
 
Her hair was in its normal style—stubbly
pigtails.

“No one noteworthy.”

“I’m sensing a lover’s quarrel.”
 
Erin shifted the VW in reverse.
 
“But that can’t be right because I’m pretty
sure you were at my house making out with Ty last Friday.”

Why
did everyone have to be so chatty in the mornings?
Amelia wondered.
 
It was a phenomenon
that she would never grasp.
 
She
huffed.
 
“Look.
 
I’ve had a rough couple days,” Amelia said
sharply.
 
“You said it was important that
we talk alone, so what is it?”

Erin giggled, apparently enjoying her
crankiness.
 
“Chill out and trust me for
a minute.
 
He could be snooping.”

“What are you talking about?” Amelia asked,
but as soon as the question came out, she already knew what Erin was talking
about.
 
Mitchell.
 
Amelia wanted to scream.
 
Another one of her so-called friends knew the
truth and had hidden it from her.
 
“You
know about the mark.”
 
Her tone was caked
with animosity.

Erin snuck a quick look and focused back on
the stormy road.
 
The splattering rain on
the windshield was loud and Amelia almost missed what Erin said next.
 
“I’ll explain as much as I can but first, I
need you to see if he’s listening.
 
He
can’t know about me.”

Amelia closed her eyes and rummaged around
for any trace of Mitchell.
 
She could
feel him, but the sensation was murky and distracted so she was pretty sure he
wasn’t spying.
 
“I don’t think he’s
paying attention,” she said after a few moments.

Erin loosened her white-knuckled grip on
the steering wheel and a pent up breath gushed from her lips.
 
“So I’m guessing the hottie is Mitchell
Lang.
 
He must’ve been pissed about Ty.”

“That’s definitely an understatement,”
Amelia groaned.
 
“How’d you know about
me?”

“I was going to tell you.
 
I tried at the party but your entourage of
bodyguards ruined that plan.
 
I’m marked,
too.”
 
Amelia spun her head around and
examined Erin’s neck.
 
The mark was there
and for the life of her, she didn’t know how she had missed it.
 
Erin must have guessed her confusion and
explained, “I usually cover it.
 
I know
what you’re going through and I thought you could use a friend.
 
You know, one that’s not all…” she mimicked
fangs and then replaced her grip on the wheel.
 
She looked so relaxed about the whole vampire
thing it made Amelia realize how wrong it all was.
 
She had been so wrapped up with Mitchell
being real and that he bit her, that the vampire part seemed like the least of
her worries, but now, it was hitting her with staggering force.

“How can you be so calm about this?
 
Don’t you get how impossible it is?”

Erin shrugged, keeping her eyes on the
road.
 
“I grew up with them.
 
Tristan took me when I was just a baby.
 
I guess I just don’t know anything else.
 
It must be hard just coming into it.”

“How do I stop it?
 
How can I get rid of him?” Amelia’s voice
came out more scared than she had hoped for and she took a few soothing
breaths.

“You don’t,” Erin said
matter-of-factly.
 
“You can’t break the
bond between souls.
 
I’m actually a bit
surprised you made it out the door this morning.
 
He didn’t look impressed.”

Erin turned into the parking lot at the
University and found a spot.
 
“I didn’t
think he was going to let me leave,” Amelia admitted.
 
Erin handed her an umbrella.
 
“It was touch and go for a minute but I don’t
think he actually wants to hurt me.
 
Once
I stood my ground he backed down.”
 
She opened
the car door, popped the umbrella open and jogged to the shelter of the
school.
 
Erin trailed behind a moment later.

Erin shook her umbrella, flicking water
drops everywhere, closed it, and then did the same with Amelia’s umbrella.
 
“You’re lucky.
 
Tristan never backs down from our fights.”

Amelia rolled her eyes and held the door
for Erin.
 
“You call this lucky?”

“I know you’re pissed right now.”
 
Erin dropped her voice to a whisper as they
walked through the hallway.
 
“He was
probably a big controlling jackass.
 
They
usually are.
 
And in case you missed it,
Mitchell kinda rules the vamp population here so he’s used to getting his own
way.
 
But he’s your soulmate and whether
you like it or not you can’t help but love him.
 
You can’t get away from him.
 
Even
if you die, you’ll just keep coming back and he’ll keep finding you.
 
Reincarnation sucks.”

“Reincarnation?”
Amelia yelped, and then quickly checked herself as heads turned in
their direction.
 
Another reason to hate Mitchell
, Amelia thought; it was his fault
that anyone even noticed her.
 
“You can’t
be serious.”

Erin kept walking, keeping her voice
low.
 
“This isn’t my first life with
Tristan.
 
I was murdered fifty-three
years ago.
 
It took a bit to come back
but here I am.
 
It’s kinda strange.
 
I can remember everything from my past
life.
 
Tristan says that it’s because a
soul never forgets.”

“This is insane,” Amelia hissed.
 
“First vampires, and now you’re telling me
that you’ve died before and you’ve been reincarnated.”

Erin shrugged.
 
“Welcome to my life.”

“Why can’t Mitchell know about you?”
 
The suspicion was evident in her voice, but
Amelia didn’t care.
 
So far every friend
she thought she had made since she arrived had stabbed her in the back and Erin
wanting to hide just seemed strange, especially if Mitchell, in fact, ruled the
town.
 
Shouldn’t he already know about
her?