“Can’t wait,” Amelia breathed, swallowing the bile that rushed up her throat.

Luckily, Josh let go of her then, and seconds later, she was being dragged across the uneven ground. “Josh, take these bloody cuffs off,” Megan growled as they were towed up a few steps. Josh didn’t acknowledge her, and he shoved open the cottage door.

“Cole,” Megan shouted as she was pushed across the threshold. “Get this crap off of us.”

“Relax, Megs,” a deep voice resonated down the hallway. Amelia jumped; unfortunately, right back into Josh’s groping hands which lingered far too long along the side of her chest before he unlocked her hands.

Cole rounded the corner and strutted towards them. He stopped in front of Megan smiling as if it was just any other day, and he gave Megan a friendly hug before taking off the handcuffs.

“Relax!” Red streaked up Megan’s neck. “You had us handcuffed. How the hell am I supposed to relax?”

Cole smirked and shrugged before turning away from them and walking down a long, bright hallway. “It was a needed precaution.”

Josh’s hand nudged at the small of Amelia’s back, and without much of a choice, she started forwards, following Cole. She noticed Megan furiously glaring at his back and grabbed hold of her hand, towing her along.

The end of the hallway opened up into a cozy looking living room. Cole was already sitting on a blue and green-checkered couch; a small girl with mousy brown hair was curled up beside him.

Beside them sat a boy with saggy looking blonde hair, and he wore a goofy smile—not in the Eric kind of way—more of a fifteen year old boy discovering that girls don’t really have cooties kind of way. And by the looks of him, Amelia was sure he wasn’t a day older than fifteen.

Amelia didn’t waste time on him and looked around, surveying the situation and all the while wondering what the likelihood was of Mitchell seeing her surroundings.

There really wasn’t much to the cabin, and it reminded Amelia of the hunting cabin her dad used to take her to as a child. The walls were made of logs, and the furniture was all mismatched. Off to the right was a narrow staircase that Amelia guessed led to the bedrooms, and to her left was a small kitchenette. Through a window, she noticed the silhouette of trees, but with the storm, she couldn’t even make out what kind they were.

Leaning against the fireplace were two boys—twins. The boys—or maybe men was a better classification, she couldn’t really tell their age—were tall and lanky with sharp facial features and buzzed-cut black hair. They looked bored, with their arms folded over their chests and eyes half closed.

“Why is she hanging off of you?” Megan asked through clenched teeth, pulling Amelia back to the situation.

“Things change, Megs,” Cole replied with a smug grin, and he draped his arm around the girl. With the way he was eyeing Megan, Amelia was certain that the action was only to try to get a rise out of her. And by the way Megan’s hands were beginning to glow and spark, he was definitely succeeding.

Josh laughed and pulled Amelia closer to him, and she gritted her teeth, trying to hold in the urge to slap him away. For once, she was determined to feel out the situation before causing more of a mess, but if he didn’t screw off with all the touchy feely crap, she was sure she’d lose it.

“Boss, the marks are gone,” Josh said. “Looks like they got rid of the fangers for us.”

Megan spun around, and before Amelia could stop her, she slapped him. “Josh, keep your hands off her already!”

Josh’s hand shot out in a speed that Amelia would have sworn was reserved for vampires, grabbed Megan’s wrist, and the sound of her bone snapping filled Amelia’s ear.

“No,” Amelia screamed, but her voice was like a whisper compared to the cries of pain that erupted from Megan.

Amelia frantically tried to loosen Josh’s grip, but his fist was like a vice grip. He squeezed tighter, and Megan’s wrist snapped again. “Let go,” Josh growled at Amelia. His eyes began to glow, and his body started to shutter, muscles jumping around under his skin and bulging out as if they were growing before her eyes.

“Please stop hurting her,” Amelia begged, refusing to let go. “Please.”

Someone grabbed the hood of her sweatshirt and yanked her out of the way. Amelia crashed to the floor in a heap. The meaty crack of a fist hitting flesh reverberated, bouncing off the log walls.

CHAPTER 28

Out of the corner of her eye, Amelia saw that the twins had grabbed Megan by her shoulders and pulled her out of the way of the fight. An ear-piercing scream ripped through her, and Amelia slapped her hands to her ears. When it did nothing to silence the sound, she realized it was coming from her own body.

This can’t be happening, a voice shrieked in the back of her mind, and cold seeped into her veins. She wanted to run, and she tried to force herself to get to her feet, but her legs refused to listen.

Josh and Cole were head to head, snarling and growling at each other. Their skin shuddered in ripples like disturbed water, and it looked as if it was melting away, becoming transparent, until all that was left of them were skeletons locked in combat.

Vampires, fine. Witches, believable. Amelia would even have been okay with finding out that werewolves existed. But this, this was not okay. Another scream ripped from inside her, and two sets of glowing yellow eyes, which seemed to be floating in mid-air with no skin or muscle to hold them in place, snapped towards her.

Josh’s husky voice came from the bones on the left, “I’m sorry.” He stepped towards her, and with each step, his skin reformed over his bones, and by the time he was crouched in front of her, he was whole again. “I didn’t mean to scare you.”

Amelia scampered back until she was lodged in a corner with nowhere else to go, and Josh pressed on with caution, inching closer, as if he was trying to trap a scared puppy and didn’t want to move too fast in case it bolted.

“Josh, you broke her arm,” Cole snapped, and for just a second, Amelia looked over at her cousin’s tear-stained face and limp wrist which Cole held loosely in his hand.

“So fix it,” Josh said calmly and continued to move slowly in Amelia’s direction.

Amelia frantically pulled on the energy that had begun to build in an anxiety-filled knot in her stomach, gnawing away at her as if she had swallowed a rat that was trying to break free. She put up her hands, and the gleaming power balled in her palms. “Stay away from me,” she said, although her voice was so small and scared that she hardly recognized it as her own.

Millie, don’t, Megan’s voice penetrated her jumbled brain, and for a second she hesitated.

Josh noticed her moment’s hesitation and suddenly his hands were on her cheeks and waves of sweet honey suckle filled her lungs. He leaned in so close that she could taste his sweet breath as he spoke, “No one’s going to hurt you, sweetheart.”

“Wha…wha…what are you?” Amelia stuttered. The balls of burning energy dissipated, and her muscles relaxed against her will. She knew in her gut that she shouldn’t relax. Something was wrong. But that scent. It flowed over her, washing away the panic and erasing her fears.

Josh smiled and brushed a loose curl from her forehead. “Immortal,” he whispered. “I’m what you get when witches and hunters hook up.” And then he rose, pulling her up with him. He pointed to a lime green loveseat and said, “Sit.”

Amelia instantly plopped down, her body responding to his command immediately, even though her brain was urging her not to listen. He’s using magic on us, her brain registered. Things suddenly started to make sense. Hunters and witches together. “Cole promised her to me.” Josh’s words rang loud and clear. Had he been insinuating that she was to be his breeding mule?

Amelia thought she was going to be sick. Her gut was telling her to play along, but her skin crawled. And Josh’s massaging hand on her thigh was seriously not helping. “Why us?” she blurted before she could stop it from coming out.

Cole laughed. “It’s all in the writings. You two are the key to ending the curse.”

“What curse?” Amelia asked, trying to stall. Her head was swimming as she struggled to make sense of what she had seen.

Cole scowled and then focused on Megan. He started running his finger around her wrist, and a hushed murmur that Amelia could not make out slipped from his lips. As he spoke, Megan’s wrist straightened, the swelling vanished, and she sighed. “What did you do to your mark, Megs,” Cole asked, continuing to rub her wrist in a gentle massage.

Megan’s eyelids drooped. “Amelia did something to the bond,” she replied in a monotone voice.

“Are they dead?” he questioned.

“No,” she said faintly, and her body sagged deeper into the cushions.

The air in the room became sparse and cold and Amelia struggled to breathe as she watched in horror as her cousin mindlessly spewed out the answers.

What have I done? Amelia had made many stupid decisions in the past, but this one was definitely the worst. Mitchell had warned her not to go. He had tried to make her see reason. He had known all along that they were stronger together. But would she listen? Of course not. Instead, she had gone ahead with her plan, putting on the best act in history with her family and forcing him to play along.

This was supposed to be simple. Leave Mitchell. Find the hunters. Get rid of them and protect her family. It had seemed like the only way to get on the inside. But now that she was on the inside, it wasn’t looking so simple.

Amelia needed to come up with a plan, but she realized she didn’t have much time. If Megan didn’t shut up soon, any bit of advantage they had would be lost.

“Here’s the thing,” Amelia said, before Megan could say something they would most likely regret. “We tried to kill them, but we just couldn’t do it. I want to hate him but…” She dropped her gaze to the ground and pinched the inside of her leg as hard as she could until the tears started to bead up in her eyes.