“I’m sorry,” he whispered, locking sad and conflicted eyes with hers. And then, he raised his arm, and a strand of blinding white energy hit Amelia square in the chest. As soon as it connected with her, she felt the pull on her power, and it began to seep from her, winding around his as it rushed towards him.

When the first strands hit Josh, he gasped, and a visible shudder of pleasure shook him. He closed his eyes and breathed in, his expression changing to one of pure and utter ecstasy. He threw his head back and yelled, “I call upon the spirits to hear my pleas,” with a power and authority that rose far above anything Amelia had ever heard before. “I wield the power that set the bond, and with that same power let it be broken.”

The pain was unbearable. Something ripped inside her, and Amelia screamed out in agony. It was as if she was being torn in half, split into two pieces. A whooshing sound rushed out of her, and for a second, hovering in front of her, was Mitchell. His eyes went from heavenly blue to fiery red. His fangs snapped down, and his face contorted with barely controlled madness. Then he was gone.

The light overhead flickered, and another surge of energy pulled from her chest. Amelia gasped for breath. It shook through her, burning her lungs. Mitchell! she called through the bond, but there was no answer, no hum of thoughts, no pull. Nothing. He’s dead, kind of, she told herself frantically, trying to justify the silence. This couldn’t have worked. It just couldn’t.

Josh wavered on his feet, and his shoulders trembled slightly. The paralyzing magic began to dwindle, and Amelia felt life breathe back into her limbs. The excruciating pain diminished to a dull coursing burn, and she struggled to her feet.

“Josh, stop!” Cole yelled. He was at the door, reefing it open with such force that the hinges broke. He tossed it aside and rushed through, calling over his shoulders, “Something’s not right.”

Josh dropped to the frigid concrete floor, and his body sucked up the last of the energy that floated in the room. He looked a bit pale, and he was breathing hard as he struggled to get back to his feet.

“Josh, I need some help!” Cole yelled from somewhere outside the room, and Josh glanced at the door. Even that small movement looked as if it had taken a lot out of him.

Amelia felt drained, cold, and utterly empty, but she managed to pull herself to her feet. She heard scuffling, and out of the corner of her eye, she caught sight of the television. Cole was locked, head to head with Luke, and he had a stake in his hand. Angelle, Lola, and Erin were stalking towards Megan with blood red eyes and sharp fangs fully extended, and Eric stood still, gripping at his chest.

She surveyed the scene for a second before her brain processed what her eyes were seeing. Angelle, Lola, and Erin looked as if they were planning to eat Megan.

Adrenaline hit Amelia hard and fast. She bolted through the doorway and skidded across an unfinished basement. She saw another door wide open, and she ran for it, following the sounds of a struggle.

“Stop!” she yelled, as she slid through the door. For a second all eyes turned to her. Angelle snarled, a purely animalistic sound, and then sprung at Megan, who was untied, but cornered, in the cage.

Amelia hit her hard and fast with a streak of hot magic, and she slammed into the side of the cage. “What’s wrong with you guys?” she shrieked, as Lola and Erin made a move for Megan.

The air sputtered around Amelia, and magic surged from behind her. “Amelia, order the hunter not to kill,” Madame Crystal’s voice rang out loudly. Amelia spun to find Madame Crystal and Tyler in the doorway with Josh behind them, looking a bit shaky. She blinked in confusion, and the psychic yelled, “Amelia, do it now!”

Amelia didn’t argue. “Cole, do not kill him!”

Cole looked at her with barely controlled hatred. He dropped his stake, grabbed onto Luke’s cheeks, and twisted. The sickening snap of bones echoed off the cement walls, and Luke landed with a thud.

Madame Crystal stepped into the room, and sent a tendril of energy at Eric. It circled around his body, from shoulders to toes, holding him still. Josh rushed over to the cage, adding his own power to Megan’s to construct a shield against the others.

Angelle, Lola, and Erin froze, blanched, and then, a burst of wind ruffled Amelia’s hair, and they were gone.

Crap! Crap! Crap! Crap! That’s pretty much the only thing that went through Amelia’s mind at that moment. Well, that and the image of Mitchell crumpling against Tristan, as he was dragged away to who knows where.

“You,” Madame Crystal said, pointing at Josh. “Go and get some rope to tie these two up.”

Josh glared at the psychic. “Who the hell are you?” he growled with contempt.

“Just do it, Josh,” Amelia said as she rushed over to Megan, who was leaning over, her hands on her knees and panting. She could feel his eyes on her back, and she was certain he was glaring at her. She glanced over her shoulder, seeing his clenched jaw and balled fists, and she snapped, “Do it!” Josh’s jaw dropped, and he shot her a look of disbelief and then left without a word.

“Megan,” Eric whispered, as soon as Josh left. He stood still with the blue energy snaking around him, holding him tight. His eyes washed red, and his fangs slid down. “Megan,” he called again, drawing out her name as if it was a song.

“Eric,” Megan breathed, looking past Amelia and locking eyes with him.

He smiled, his trademark half grin, but there was something wrong with it. Something cold and creepy and dark. “Remember last night?” he asked. “You begged me to bite you, and I did. You liked it.” He chuckled. “Actually, you more than liked it.” His grin widened, and he winked at her promiscuously. “Why don’t you come over here, and I’ll do it again for you.”

“Eric!” Megan shrieked, and turned ten different shades of red.

“Don’t be shy,” he purred. The sound of his voice filled the room, and the air grew sparse, but he didn’t seem to notice. His grin widened, and he licked his lips. “I know how much you want me, too. I can smell the desire rolling off of you.”

Megan looked at Amelia; her eyes sparkled with unshed tears. “What’s wrong with him?” She bit her bottom lip, and Amelia was pretty sure she did it to stop it from quivering.

Amelia opened her mouth and then promptly closed it, because really, she didn’t want to believe that breaking the bond could cause her family to go all crazy blood hungry, and saying it out loud would only make what was happening real.

Tyler went straight for Megan and wrapped her protectively in his arms. His expression was a mask of indifference, but Amelia couldn’t miss the worry she knew he was feeling. She could see it in his shoulders, the way the muscles twitched, and in his stance, as if he was ready for the worst.

Madame Crystal said, “The bond is broken. It was not Amelia’s magic that created the bond.” Right then, Josh walked back into the room, his hands filled with thick rope, and she glared at him. “By tampering with the spell that was meant to fix Amelia’s mistake, it caused the magic to revert back to her original curse.” She sighed long and loud and said to Amelia, “These hunters have essentially created the soulless monsters that you had envisioned almost fifteen hundred years ago.”

CHAPTER 11

Luke’s fingers began to twitch, just small little movements, but it was more than enough for Amelia to push all her frenzied questions aside. At least for the time being. She was floored that something as simple as rope could restrain a vampire, but when she thought about it, it made sense. They had wrapped the ropes like a noose from shoulders to ankles around Eric and Luke, pinning their arms and legs tightly together, taking away their momentum and rendering their strength useless.

It had been Megan’s idea to return to their house. Amelia had been reluctant at first. She hadn’t thought it would be smart to just waltz into a gated complex that housed a bunch of vampires who no longer had any link to humanity, but Madame Crystal assured them that the vampires wouldn’t be there. She was certain they would hide, and soon, they would begin to hunt.

The psychic seemed so sure, claiming she had already seen it, that Amelia finally caved. She hated the idea, but she knew that if they could make it into the dungeon, they would be able to lock up Eric and Luke. Mitchell had explained to her once that the dungeon had been made to keep vampires in, so she figured it could also keep them out.

“Let me see if I’ve got this all straight,” Amelia said, once they were piled in the Hummer with Eric and Luke in the trunk. “At some point, like fifteen hundred years ago, I was in love with Mitchell. He was killed by a vampire, and I decided to cast some stupid spell to take away the souls of all vampires out of revenge.”

Madame Crystal laughed. “Your mother told me that you were always a bit dramatic.”

Tyler laughed. It was shaky and forced, but it was still a laugh, and Amelia cut him a look. The others were looking at him as if he was crazy, but he just shrugged it off, put the SUV in reverse, and said, “A bit dramatic is a bit of an understatement.” He was trying hard to keep everyone’s spirits up, but it was hard. Especially with the addition of Cole and Josh.

“I still don’t understand how you could talk to her mother,” Megan said. She was fidgeting, clipping and unclipping her seatbelt, straightening her top, and dabbing at the dried blood on her wrists. Amelia figured it was her way of keeping herself busy and distracted from Eric’s constant calling to her.

“Magic,” the psychic replied with a twinkle in her eye.

Tyler pulled onto the street, and put the car in drive, moving at a crawl. His eyes scanned the shadows along the side of the road. He flicked on the interior lights, and kept glancing in the rearview mirror, watching everyone closely as if he was certain something was about to happen.

“Whatever,” Amelia said with a dramatic, drawn out sigh, which she hoped told Madame Crystal exactly what she thought about her mother contacting her. “So, after I created a bunch of monsters, Mother Nature fixed the spell and created the soulmate bond, right?” Madame Crystal nodded at her summary, and Amelia pushed on. “What I don’t get is why, when these morons decided to break the bond, it reverted back to the curse.”