The Soul's Mark: FOUND (26 page)

“Why
do I have a blindfold on?” Amelia asked, leaning back against his muscled
chest. A warm, tingling sensation filled her body from the touch.
  

“Because I have a surprise for you.”
His voice, deep and
velvety, wrapped around her and her knees went weak.
 
His soft lips brushed against her cheek and
he chuckled softly.
 
“Do you want to see
the surprise?” he whispered against her cheek.

Amelia
couldn’t make her voice work so she nodded her head and the silky blindfold
vanished.
 
She gasped, not believing what
stood before her.
 
“The castle from the
story Mom used to read me,” she breathed, taking it all in.
 
The stone clad castle, with high turrets and
balconies from every window was exactly how she had imagined it would be.
 
“You remembered.”

“Of
course I remembered,” he said, taking her hand and lacing his fingers through
hers.

Amelia
shifted her gazed from the castle to his breathtaking, sky blue eyes.
 
His lips curved and her breath caught in her
throat.
 
“What are we doing here?” she
asked, not sure of what else to say.

His
smile grew wide, reaching his eyes.
 
“I
bought it for you.”

Bought
it?
 
For just a second, Amelia’s heart
completely stopped beating.
 
How had she
gotten so lucky?
 
She just couldn’t
understand.
 
She felt as if she was
floating but all too quickly, reality came crashing in and the hard, cold truth
filled her with despair; it’s just a dream.

Mitchell
cupped her face in his hands.
 
“Do you
love me?”

“With
all my heart and soul,” Amelia answered, and for the first time, she realized
that she really meant it.
 
She loved
him.
 
She loved the way he looked at her,
like no one else mattered and she was the only person in the world.
 
She loved the way his lips curved into a
smile and the little creases that always showed at his eyes.
 
She loved how he always seemed to know the
right thing to say.
 
She loved his deep,
English accent, the way it cocooned her every time he spoke.
  
And she loved the way he made her feel, the
way her heart beat when he was near, the electricity she felt at his touch, and
the nervous butterflies he always caused in her stomach.

Mitchell
leaned forward, brushing his soft lips against hers, sweet and warm.
 
He smiled down at her, eyes hungry.
 
“Do you believe in
soulmates
,
love?”

Amelia
knew there was no such thing as a
soulmate
.
 
She knew that this was just a dream and that
he wasn’t real but she couldn’t stop the words from falling from her lips.
 
“I wish you were my
soulmate
.”

****

The days passed by, and Amelia just let
them go.
 
She slipped into a
near-catatonic state.
 
Her friends called
to her, even Lola tried to get a response, but her dazed stupor remained.
 
Completely unresponsive.
 
Too much had happened.
 
Amelia had never imagined that her world
could end twice in one lifetime, but in fact, her world was ending again.
 
Overwhelmed, she let herself shut down.
 
It was all too much.
 
She was a witch.
 
The love of her life was a vampire.

It was Tyler who brought her back to
reality.
 
When she heard his voice at the
door, she thought she was imagining it.
 
He couldn’t be in the house.
 
Mitchell would never have allowed it.
 
“Millie, can I come in?” he asked, and Amelia watched in confusion as
the doorknob turned and cracked open.

Amelia opened her mouth, and then closed it
when no sound came out.
 
Was she
dreaming?
 
The look on Tyler’s face told
her he was trying not to scare her.
 
“Mitchell asked me to check on you.”
 
He inched his way into the room.
 
“We’ve all been worried about you.”

The bed sagged when Tyler sat down.
 
This
has to be a dream,
Amelia thought miserably, knowing she still hadn’t
figured out how to break the stupid lock on her room.
 
She gazed at Tyler wondering why she would
dream of him.
 
Why not Mitchell?
 
Because really, Mitchell was the only person
she wanted to see, but she knew that was her fault, too.
 
If she hadn’t broken his connection, he would
be here, not Tyler.

He looked tired, Amelia noticed, really
tired.
 
She reached out to touch his
cheek, still not believing that he was really there, but just before her
fingers touched him, a low growl rumbled through the air.
 
Amelia snapped her head towards the door,
looking for where the sound had come from.

Mitchell.

He stood in the doorway like a fallen
angel, glorious and deadly.
 
Before she
gave herself time to think, Amelia was off the bed running towards him, arms
open.
 
She threw herself at him and was
instantly flung back when she hit the invisible wall.
 
Mitchell put a hand up and said, “I can’t
come in, love, and it looks like you still can’t come out.”
 
He shook his head and looked at her with
gloomy eyes.
 
“What have you done?”

“I didn’t do anything,” Amelia shouted and
threw herself at the door again, frustrated.
 
The beginnings of tears settled in her throat and her voice cracked.
 
She glanced back at Tyler and then longingly
at Mitchell.
 
“How is he even here?”

Mitchell looked at her, torn and
broken.
 
They locked eyes and Amelia
desperately tried to tell him how much she loved him through the link.
 
But with each thought she sent, she felt it
bounce back, like an email undelivered.

“Millie,” Tyler said, drawing her
attention.
 
“What is all this?”
 
He held up a stack of paper and started to
read, “
There is danger in your
future.
 
Many wish you harm and will seek
to destroy you.
 
The one you love most
will be the cause of your death.
 
But be
warned he is also the only one who can save you.
 
Revenge is for the weak.
 
When the time comes, you will need to forget
the past and forgive those who have harmed you.
 
Only then will you be able to forgive yourself.
 
If you choose to be weak you will sacrifice those
you love.
”
 
Tyler looked up at her,
wide eyed, and then flipped through the pages.
 
“You wrote it over and over.”

“Give me that,” Mitchell barked from the
doorway, keeping his eyes fixed on Amelia.
 
“You should have told me you’d had a vision, Amelia.
 
I need to show it to Luke.”

Amelia took the page and carefully passed
it through the barrier, making sure she didn’t touch it.
 
She thought about telling him it wasn’t a
vision, but she couldn’t tell him about Madame Crystal, so instead she remarked,
“How could I tell you when you never bothered to come and see me?”
 
He took the page.
 
“Didn’t you miss me at all?”

For just a second she could see how much he
was hurting and his pain washed over her with such force that she staggered
back.
 
But the moment ended too soon and
the steel vault closed in around his heart.
 
With a fleeting glance, he took off in a blur of motion.

****

An hour later, Amelia and Tyler were on the
floor, journals and the warning spread out in front of them.
 
“How much do you know?” Amelia asked.
 
She closed another journal, finding nothing
that could be used to break the lock she had accidentally placed on the room.

“Too much,” he replied.
 
“Way too much.
 
Mitchell filled me in.”
 
He looked over at her, giving her a lopsided
grin.
 
“So, he’s your soulmate.”

Amelia laughed and man did it feel
good.
 
“Really?
 
You know about vampires, you know I’m a witch
and you picked out that I have a soulmate?”

Tyler shrugged.
 
“I was kinda hoping I had a chance with
you.
 
That piece of info seemed
important.”

Wow.
 
Amelia knew he liked her,
but really, that was important?
 
Tyler
was cute and sweet and for a quick second Amelia wondered what it would be like
to be with him, forget about Mitchell and run away with Tyler.
 
A blush crept into her cheeks and he
chuckled.
 
She began flipping through
another journal.
 
“I just don’t get it,”
Amelia said, frustrated, eager to change the subject.
 
“How were you able to come in?”

Tyler closed the journal he was looking
through and leaned back on his elbows.
 
“Maybe
we’re looking at this wrong.”
 
He took
the warning and started reading it again.
 
“I’m guessing Mitchell is the one who will cause your death and the one
who can save you.
 
Maybe this whole lock
down has something to do with self-preservation.
 
Maybe I could get in ‘
cause
I’m not a threat.”

“I think he’s right,” Mabel said, and both
Tyler and Amelia spun around.
 
“Obviously,
I’m not a threat either.”
 
She ventured
into the room balancing a tray of sandwiches and sodas.
 
“I thought you guys might be hungry.”
 
She set the tray down on the coffee table and
perched on the edge of one of the chairs in front of the fireplace.

“Mabel!” Amelia squealed.
 
She bolted up from the floor and smothered
the older woman in hugs.
 
“What are you
doing here?”

Mabel laughed and hugged her tightly.
 
“Mitchell called me.
 
He’s very worried about you, dear.”
 
She kissed Amelia’s forehead and then pried
her off giving her a motherly look.
 
“Both of you eat up.”
 
She
gestured to the tray of sandwiches.
 
“I
think it’s time that someone tells you about Derek.”

Amelia stood in front of her like a rock,
refusing to move or to eat.
 
She could
tell by Mabel’s expression that whatever she had to say it wasn’t something
that she was going to like.

Mabel must have seen the stubborn expression
because she smiled, a distant smile, and said, “Derek was marked for
Angelle.
 
Did you read the book Eric gave
you?”

“Um, yeah,” Amelia answered.
 
“But there was no ending.
 
It just stopped after the bite explanation.”

Mabel nodded.
 
“The book was written by Derek and Lola,” she
explained.
 
“After Derek died, Lola
couldn’t finish it.
 
It was a great loss
for our family.”

“How,” Amelia choked on the words.
 
She swallowed and tried again.
 
“How did he die?”

“Take a seat and eat your sandwich,
dear.
 
You too, Tyler, and I’ll start
from the beginning.”
 
Mabel crossed her
ankles and folded her hands in her lap, waiting for them to comply.
 
For a moment, Amelia thought about crossing
her arms, jutting out her lip and refusing to eat but then she looked at the
peanut butter and jam sandwiches, her belly rumbled, and she realized she
couldn’t remember the last time she ate.
 
She sat on the other chair, snagged a sandwich, and wolfed it down.
 
Tyler followed her lead and popped open a can
of soda.

Mabel waited until Amelia finished her
first sandwich and started into the second before she continued with her
story.
 
“Angelle found Derek by
accident.
  
In that life, you were a
barmaid.
 
Angelle was helping Mitchell
track you down.
 
They had tracked you to
a small pub just outside of Scotland, but when they arrived you had already
moved on.”