The Soul's Mark: Broken by Ashley Stoyanoff Page A

shifts every twelve hours, and
Josh—against Amelia’s better judgment—had loaded them up with charmed bullets
that would ignite on contact with a vampire’s flesh.  She hated it, but she
also knew she couldn’t let them run around with no means to protect themselves.
    Now, Amelia was sitting on a hard, and
extremely uncomfortable, wooden bench in the cold dungeon, listening to Tyler
and Megan argue about how to fix the spell, but all Amelia could think about
was Erin.  Something just wasn’t right.  If Erin had no soul, no humanity, then
why had she changed Lucy?  It would have made more sense if Erin had killed her
or just bitten her.  That thought led Amelia to her next question, why was she
helping Lucy hunt?  And why had Erin looked at her with recognition?  It was as
if she remembered, or at least wanted to remember, their friendship.
    Madame Crystal, although full of
information, hadn’t been able to shed any light on Erin’s strange actions, and
she also had no idea how to fix the bond.  “It’s not that easy, Megan,” she
said.  “It takes a lot of power to link souls, and I do not wield that kind of
magic.” She sighed, and a yawn escaped.  “We need the help of Mother Nature and
the spirits.  We have to ask for their help.”
    “Well, ask them then,” Tyler snapped.  He
looked exhausted.  They all were, and Amelia knew that they were running on
fumes now.
    “Amelia,” Josh said, his eyes searching
hers and filled with concern.  “You need to sleep.”
    Amelia opened her mouth to object, but a
loud yawn fell out instead.  Josh reached for one of the sleeping bags and
pillows they had grabbed before locking the doors and spread it out on the cold,
hard floor for her.  The gesture caused Megan and Madame Crystal to do the same,
and moments later, they were curled up and sound asleep.  Tyler took a sleeping
bag and lay it down in front of the entrance to the hallway that led to Eric
and Luke.  He gave Cole a hard glare, clearly still holding onto a lot of pent
up anger, before he slid into the sleeping bag.
    “I’m going to get more blankets,” Amelia
said, annoyed at herself and at everyone else.  Before anyone could stop her,
she headed off down one of the passageways trying to remember which room Mabel
had said she stored the extra supplies.
    Amelia hadn’t noticed the footfalls behind
her, and she shrieked when Josh grabbed her arm. “Millie,” he said.  She
stopped but didn’t turn around, and he sighed in frustration.  “You’re not tied
to him anymore.”  He let go, and his warm finger ran along her neck.  “The
mark’s gone.  He’s not your problem.”
    Amelia bit back a sob, and her shoulders
sagged.  She hadn’t wanted to look and see if the mark was still there.  She
wanted to pretend that this wasn’t happening, but his words stirred emptiness
in her, and a cavernous hole grew within her chest.  “I love him,” she said in
a small voice.
    She felt the puff of his breath against her
neck, and his chest pressed firmly against her back.  “And I love you,” he
whispered.  “It’s our time now.  Forget about him.”
    Something stirred in her chest.  It was not
butterflies.  Not like the ones that she felt when Mitchell said I love you ;
it was more like a caterpillar trying to break free from its cocoon. But that
little flutter of something scared the crap out of her.
    Amelia bristled, not wanting to explore the
tepid warmth that stirred in her stomach.  She spun around to face him, shoving
him away.  “You tried to kill me!” she yelled.
    Red streaked up his neck and blazed in his
cheeks.  His eyes glowed yellow-green, and his skin rippled like disturbed
water.  And to Amelia’s surprise, this version of Josh was easier to deal
with.  It felt real, more real than the love struck boy he had tried to portray
just moments ago.  “I was following your orders!” he shouted in her face.
    “My orders?” Amelia shouted back,