Once it was jam-packed, she rushed to the bathroom to grab some toiletries. She grabbed a scrunchy, pulling her hair up into a messy bun and winced at the pain in her head. Then she caught a glimpse of herself in the mirror and gasped. Her mark. It had changed. How had she missed that when she first woke up? Amelia ran a shaky finger along her mark and she suddenly knew what Angelle had been looking for, what the cop had been looking for. “Who do you belong to?” he had asked her that first morning and he had stared so hard at her neck she had felt sick. But it all made sense now. Mitchell Lang, in script, had appeared, branded right below the soul mark.

The pieces were coming together; suddenly, the picture was crystal clear. This was what that horrid little kid, Kandi, had been talking about. “He hasn’t claimed her,” she had said last night. A wave of nausea overcame her. What did this mean? How did it happen? Flashes of last night came back to her. The burning. She had thought her neck was on fire and it dawned on her that must have been when his name had appeared.

Amelia scanned her neck thoroughly in search of any sign of a bite mark. Maybe this was just a vast, horrible nightmare, she thought in desperate hope. She located the small pinprick mark where Mitchell had bitten her on the other side of her neck, almost completely healed.

The sound of her phone chirping the arrival of an incoming message brought her back from the painful memories. In haste, Amelia forced her eyes away from the mirror and searched for her phone. Forty-one missed messages, a mixture of voicemails and texts. Eleven of the texts were from Erin and she read through them quickly. They were all the same, just wanting to make sure she was okay. Some were from random people she didn’t even know, or maybe she did know but she couldn’t place them, and the last one caught her eye. It was from Tyler.

Worried about u. Can’t get u out of my mind. Plz call me back. Need 2 know u r ok. Ty.

Amelia read it over and over, debating on what to do. Should she call him? Would Mitchell know if she did? Could he always read her mind? She needed to get away from the house; would Tyler pick her up? Before she knew it, her fingers were flying across the keypad, replying to his message.

Need to get out of here. Pick me up? I’ll explain later.

Amelia waited for what seemed like an interminable period before her phone chirped again.

Be there in 5.

Amelia dropped the phone on her bed and rushed around in a flurry of motion, grabbing the last of the things she would need. She didn’t give herself time to think of what she was doing, because she knew, just knew, if she stopped to think, she would realize how stupid this was, bringing Tyler here, to a house full of vampires. She wasn’t even sure she would be able to leave but she knew she had to try.

Amelia knew the exact moment Tyler arrived and she also knew who answered the door.

Mitchell.

A surge of ugly, green jealously ran through her, so hard and so vivid, it was almost as if it was her own feelings. The jealously quickly turned to white-hot rage and Amelia snagged her bag and ran out of her room.

It wasn’t hard to figure out they were in the foyer; all she had to do was follow the pull. She wondered if it would always be like this. Would she always be able to find him?

Amelia bolted into the foyer as if she had been shot from a cannon. When she let her eyes focus on the room, she froze just as fast. Tyler was up against the wall, Mitchell standing over him. Tyler was a big guy, and strong, but this close to Mitchell he looked small and he almost looked scared.

She rushed over, dropping her bag. She needed to get in between them. Mitchell wasn’t touching Tyler but his aura was black as pitch and the muscles in his neck were bulging with tension.

Amelia had only made it a few steps before someone grabbed her around the waist and she shrieked. Forcefully, a hand was placed over her mouth to silence her and then she heard Luke’s voice whispering frantically in her ear. “Amelia, stop. You can’t get in between them. You shouldn’t have called him.”

Amelia struggled against him, kicking, biting, but nothing worked. Luke didn’t move, didn’t even stagger while she thrashed about. Sweat dripped down her neck, soaking into the collar of her sweater and tears streamed down her cheeks but she still fought. It was a mistake. She shouldn’t have called Tyler. She needed to stop Mitchell before something happened. He hadn’t moved, hadn’t said anything but his pale white skin was now flushed pink and he was furiously glaring at his adversary.

“Let her go, Luke,” Mitchell said, so low that Amelia barely heard him. Instantly she was free. She tried to move but her knees gave way and she tripped. Luke caught her and steadied her and held onto her shoulders until he was sure she wouldn’t fall again. “Amelia, this boy said you asked him to pick you up,” Mitchell said, still not taking his eyes from Tyler, who was looking paler by the minute.

Amelia couldn’t speak. Her mouth was dry, her throat prickled. A secure arm wrapped around her and she shifted her gaze to see Angelle, big brown eyes looking sad but somehow comforting. “It’s okay, sweetie. You don’t need to be scared.”

Amelia cleared her throat, and with Angelle’s support, she walked over to Mitchell and squeezed in between him and Tyler. Angelle stood close by, not interfering, but her closeness was comforting, nonetheless.

Tyler had been holding his breath, she realized, when a gust of wind hit the back of her neck and he sucked in air. Amelia tried to ignore him and focus on Mitchell. “Yes, I did,” she said, looking him squarely in the eyes and was glad how strong her voice sounded. “I want to leave. I don’t want this.”

Mitchell reacted as if he had been punched in the gut. The hurt on his face was almost too painful to look at and Amelia couldn’t stop the tears from pouring, like shiny little streams down her face.

“Millie, what’s going on?” Tyler asked from behind her and she ignored him, not wanting to make the situation worse. She could feel Mitchell’s thoughts and knew the littlest thing could push him over the edge. He was struggling, fighting the overwhelming urge to lash out and hurt Tyler, maybe even kill him. The terrifying, nightmarish image of snapping his neck and ripping out his throat kept flashing into his mind. She felt Tyler’s hand on her shoulder and she stiffened. “Millie, seriously, let’s get out of here.”

“Keep your hand off her,” Mitchell growled. He took a step forward, in a blur and before Amelia could stop him, she was behind him. “She’s not leaving and you are not welcome here. There’s the door.” He pointed to the open door. “You better go before I do something she’ll regret.”

“Millie?” Tyler asked hesitantly, she could hear the tone of determination and she knew she would have to say something to get him to leave. The flashes of what Mitchell wanted to do to him were coming faster and faster and she knew he wouldn’t hesitate to kill him if she tried to leave. It wasn’t just her anymore. Now Tyler was in danger and it was her fault and she had to do something.

Amelia put a light hand on Mitchell’s arm and wiggled her way around him. He didn’t try to stop her, but she knew he would if she got too close to Tyler. His aura was flecked with red and green, coloring the black fog and the spots were jumping around, agitated. She let her hand drop from his arm and with a glance over her shoulder, she took another shaky step towards Tyler, trying not to move too quickly. “That’s far enough,” Mitchell snarled.

Amelia closed her eyes tightly trying to stop the tears and then focused on Tyler. “I’m sorry, Ty. I shouldn’t have asked you to come. You need to go.”

“Not without you.” Tyler gave her a look, with beseeching eyes. “I don’t know what’s going on here but you don’t need to stay. Please come with me. Just get in the car.”

You are not leaving, Amelia. If you try, I will hunt him down and kill him. Do you want his blood on your hands? Mitchell projected the thoughts loud and clear and complete with images that Amelia wished she hadn’t had to have seen. She shuddered visibly and took a gasping breath.

“I can’t go with you,” Amelia choked out. “Please just leave.” Tyler didn’t move. He looked as if he wasn’t going to leave and she needed to get him out. She looked back at Mitchell. “I’m just going to walk him to the car.”

After a long minute, Mitchell gave her a quick nod, signaling it was okay. “Luke, go with her.” He turned away and left the room. He must have given some kind of signal that Amelia had missed because Angelle and Eric turned and followed him. From the looks she got from them, they clearly did not want to leave her.

As soon as Mitchell was gone, the color started coming back to Tyler’s cheeks. Amelia grabbed him by the hand, pretending not to notice the flash of red in Luke’s eyes and dragged him out of the house towards the car. How had she missed those eyes before? She didn’t know, but she wished— truly wished—she could have stayed in that ignorant bliss. She could feel Luke following them, closely watching.

“Millie, you need to come with me,” Tyler whispered, obviously aware that they were being followed. “You can’t stay here. I don’t care who he is to this stupid town, he can’t force you to stay here.”

Amelia didn’t answer him until they got to the car. She opened the driver’s side door and then looked at him. “I can’t. I can’t explain but you need to go Ty. I’ll call you soon and I’m so sorry I put you in the middle of this.” Tyler wasn’t moving. He looked sad and scared and she wasn’t sure what to do.

Hurry up, Amelia, Mitchell’s voice blasted into her head.

“Ty, please, just go. He’s not going to let me leave. I don’t want them to hurt you.” She put a hand on his back and pushed him towards the car. “Please,” she begged. “I was wrong to call you. I’ll be fine but you have to go.”

Amelia saw the resistance flee from Tyler’s face and his shoulders sagged. Confused, she glanced over to see Luke standing in front of him, eyes foggy like milky glasses focused on Tyler’s now expressionless face. “Thank you for stopping by to check on Amelia,” Luke said, in a soothing and strong voice. “She took quite a spill last night but she is just fine now.”