Angelle squealed in delight and clapped her hands, drawing Mitchell’s attention away from the cars and back to the child.

“What’s your name?” he asked sharply, stepping in front of the girl. She squealed and scurried behind Erin.

“She’s mine,” Erin said, kicking at the ground and avoiding his eyes. “It’s Lucy.”

“Hum.” Mitchell rubbed his chin as he tried to place the child, and when he did, he smiled. She was one of Amelia’s rescuees. He quickly wiped the smile away and grabbed Erin’s chin, forcing her to look at him. “And you changed her without consulting me because …?”

“I had a weak moment, sir,” she replied meekly. “I didn’t want her to die.”

Mitchell sighed and shook his head in disappointment. “You kill people, child. You are a vampire. That is what we do.” His hand jumped out, snagging Lucy’s wrist and pulling her out from behind Erin. “You cannot save them all, and you are too young for the responsibilities of a maker.”

Lucy whimpered and tried to cower away, but Mitchell held her tightly, and when he looked at her, all he could see was Amelia. Her smile. Her lips. He could hear her laughter and her heartbeat. He could see the hunter’s hands running along her body. And he couldn’t understand why that image threatened to rip out his heart.

“Mitch, please,” Erin begged. She grabbed his arm and tried to pry his fingers from the child’s wrist. “I’ll take care of her. I promise. You won’t even know she is here.”

Mitchell considered it for a moment. If he left the child in Erin’s care, most likely she would become his responsibility. He knew Erin wasn’t ready to teach, and really, what kind of teacher would she be if her first victim ended up as one of them. Clearly, he had a lot to show Erin as it was. But the idea of adding to his numbers won in the end, or was it that the kid reminded him of Amelia? He took a deep, calming breath, released the child, and turned to his people. “Did any of you notice something different about the humans?”

His question was answered with a bunch of blank faces. He was about to enlighten the crowd, but then to his surprise, Lucy squeaked, “Only that I don’t know any of them.”

“Yes, Lucy,” he said and smiled at her. Maybe she wouldn’t be as much trouble as he had thought. “And do you know what that means?” he asked.

“That they are not pets?” she answered hesitantly, as if it was a question, and he chuckled.

“That’s right.” Mitchell ruffled her hair, and she grinned like a child who had just won a prize. “And those cross-breeds have trapped them, and us, within the town limits.”

“But they are with the hunters,” Erin pointed out.

Exactly! Mitchell wanted to yell it out. He may not want to hurt Amelia, but he had no issue with attacking her creations. He filed a mental note to thank the psychic for showing him the truth, even if he didn’t entirely understand why she had. He looked at Erin, and gave her a rolling hand gesture as he said, “And the hunters are not …”

“Pets,” Tristan answered. He shoved Angelle over as he joined the front line of the group that had gathered around Mitchell.

“Why aren’t you dead yet?” Angelle snarled like a jealous sibling, shoving Tristan back. She hadn’t liked him from day one, and at times Mitchell swore she forgot that he hadn’t actually changed her, only taken her under his wing, but anyone that watched the way they bickered would mistake them as brother and sister.

“I was in a charitable mood,” Mitchell answered, before Tristan could say something that would most likely result in a fight.

“Mitch, Amelia took Luke and Eric,” Lola said, stopping Angelle before she could disagree with his decision.

“Did she now?” Mitchell glanced back at the road. Why would she take two vampires when she had all those hunters? Life had been so much easier when he could hear the witch’s thoughts—less confusion that was for sure.

“Why can’t I feel him anymore? Is he dead?” Her voice quivered, and she looked completely lost without her sidekick glued to her hip.

“You can’t feel him because the witch has finally released us. She has broken the bond. We are free.” He said it with conviction, but it felt wrong. There was something pulling at his conscious; his heart sank a little bit, and right then, Mitchell wasn’t entirely sure that he wanted to be free … At least not free from her.

CHAPTER 16

“Let go, Josh,” Amelia screamed. “Put me down!” She kicked and clawed, digging her nails into his flesh, but he wouldn’t put her down. Amelia summoned her power and let it surge through her, sending out wild blasts of energy. Suddenly Josh’s skin was gone, and she was being carried by bones. He ran to the Jeep, pulled open the door, and tossed her in.

“Cole, hold her still!” he yelled, as he held her firmly in place; his skeletal hands were hard and cold, pressing against her thighs. Cole jumped into the Jeep, pulled Amelia onto his lap, and pinned her arms to her side. She swiveled and bent forwards within his grasp and bit one of his restraining arms hard. Hard enough that she tasted blood, and he yelped. His skin shuddered, melting within her teeth, and then, it was gone. She could feel his sharp ribs digging into her back as he held her tightly.

“Let me go. He’s burning. I have to help him,” Amelia screamed, tossing and turning her body as she fought to get out of Cole’s grip. The door slammed, and within a second, Josh was in the driver’s seat, turning the key, and then peeling out of the parking lot.

“Is it still bleeding?” Josh yelled over Amelia’s awful, grief-stricken screams. Even to her own ears, they sounded raw, full of angst and sorrow, but she couldn’t stop. They just kept falling from her lips, in an incomprehensible slew of demands, and no matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t get the image of Mitchell, with flames racing along his skin, out of her mind.

Cole wrapped an arm around her waist, securing her arms and keeping them pinned to her sides. He tucked her frizzy hair behind her ear, and he began poking at her tender neck. “No,” he finally grunted after examining the bite.

“Amelia, listen to me. He was going to kill you!” Josh shouted. He slid around a corner, squealing the tires as he headed back into town.

“No, he wasn’t,” she yelled hysterically. “He let me go. He didn’t want to hurt me!” Okay, technically, she knew that wasn’t entirely true. Mitchell had hurt her. He had bitten her, and he was probably hunting her right now, but still, he had given her a chance to run.

Amelia looked up and caught a glimpse of the plethora of vehicles that popped up like mushrooms in the rearview mirror. She let out a shaky sigh of relief. The hunters were following. She hadn’t realized how terrified she had been that they might have stayed behind, mindlessly killing her family, until that very second. Was it completely horrible that the hunters’ safety had been the furthest thing from her mind? Amelia didn’t know, and she seriously didn’t want to explore that thought, even for another second.

“You’re delusional,” Josh seethed. “You’re just a piece of property to him. He doesn’t give a crap about you.” He clenched the steering wheel tighter. “He never did.”

Amelia sucked in a breath and began to tremble against Cole. That was the last thing she wanted to hear. She wanted to deny it, tell him that he was wrong, but he wasn’t. Mitchell had just tried to kill her. But didn’t they realize he had stopped? He had pushed her away. How could Josh say he never cared? Obviously, he did. And he still does.

Cole loosened his grip and began rubbing her arms with his skeleton hands, as if he was trying to warm her up. After a moment, his boney legs thickened underneath her as his skin pieced back together. “Jeez, shut up, Josh,” he said. And then he whispered softly in Amelia’s ear, just as a parent would when their child had had a bad dream. “Millie, they put out the fire. He’ll be okay,” he murmured soothingly, “Mitchell is going to be fine.”

“Who shot him?” Amelia demanded, or least that’s what she tried for, but in reality, the demand came out as gurgled hiccup.

Cole tensed against her back and squirmed underneath her weight. “Um, it was me,” he mumbled, barely audible. “It was just his arm. I was trying to get him to let go of you.”

The better part of Amelia wanted to unleash her wrath within the vehicle. She imagined commanding them not to change, letting her magic loose, wrapping them in paralyzing whip-like strands of electricity, and letting Cole feel exactly what it was like to burn alive. But then the vision from the past flickered before her eyes. She could see herself crying over Mitchell’s dead body. A rolling chill rushed over her shoulders and then down her back as the image shifted, and all she could see was the slithering blackness that had surrounded her after he had died. Her fury vanished instantly, sinking into a hole of emptiness that was quickly growing around her heart.

“Amelia,” Josh said. “I know how you feel. I get it, but sacrificing yourself to him isn’t going fix this.” There was something in his voice. It held a gloomy air to it that made her stomach twist into tender knots. The feeling distressed her, and she desperately wanted to comfort him. She wanted to reach out and caress his dark hair, and run her fingers through it. And she wanted to tell him everything was going to work out. And she was about to, until she caught the soft scent of gumdrops and cotton candy, and the compassion she had felt for him moments ago vanished.

“You have no clue how I feel,” Amelia said with an icy edge. But then again, maybe he did.

The silence was deafening as they drove the rest of the way back to the house. Amelia figured that she should be happy—kind of. They had completed the mission that they had set out to do. They had rounded up the humans without any casualties, and as a bonus, she had found Mitchell, even if she had lost him again shortly afterwards. At least she knew he was still alive. But to her dismay, happy was not how she felt. As they drove, she only felt empty and completely alone.