Angelle landed on her feet and winked at Amelia, “You didn’t really think I’d let you guys have all the fun, did you?”

Right then, Stephanie rushed at Amelia and kicked out, but Amelia grabbed her leg, tossing her off balance and she went down hard. Amelia could hear the fighting around her, and Mitchell grunted from somewhere. She spun around, searching for him. It was a mistake. Stephanie vaulted back up, grabbed Amelia’s hair, and yanked.

Amelia screamed, and tried to pull her hair free. She managed to spin around, and with the motion, Stephanie let go and shot back a step. Erin was closing in on Stephanie’s back, and Amelia let loose a bolt of power, sending Stephanie right into Erin.

Erin wrapped one arm around Stephanie’s waist; the other hand gripped her chin, and with a quick twist, Erin snapped her neck. Stephanie’s eyes rolled to the back of her head, and she hit the ground.

Amelia’s panting breaths masked the silence that had fallen around her. She sucked in breath after breath in hungry gasps. It was only after she started to breathe normally that she noticed she could no longer hear the fighting. There were no cracks from flesh hitting flesh. No grunts. No shuffling footsteps.

Amelia looked up sharply to find Josh, bow cocked and aimed at her head. Suddenly, she couldn’t breathe. The luminescent energy that had surrounded her sizzled away, extinguishing like a candle that had been snuffed out.

“Amelia,” Josh growled. “It’s over.” His eyes began to glow, and his skin rippled and faded until all that was left of his face were his daunting florescent eyes floating in the eye sockets of his skull. Amelia was suddenly glad for the cloak that covered his body, because the skull was unnerving enough. “Come with us now or you both die,” he said.

Amelia, go with them, Mitchell commanded. The sound of his voice pulled her gaze. Mitchell stared at her, his eyes burning, and she knew that he couldn’t see a way out of the situation where both of them could live. He stood still below Cole who was still in the tree with an arrow pointed at him. If he moved, she’d die.

Luke and Lola stood by him, watching Cole and posed as if they were ready to throw themselves in front of Mitchell if Cole sent the arrow flying. Erin and Angelle were slowly inching towards Josh, closing in on his sides. Eric was the only one who didn’t seem tense. He was leaning against one of the willows as if he didn’t have a care in the world. The other twin and the kid were lying lifeless at his feet.

Eric wasn’t watching either of the remaining hunters, but instead, his laughing eyes were glued to the base of the tree where Cole was perched above.

Out of the corner of her eye, Amelia caught a glimpse of Megan at the trunk of the tree. With a small leap, she gripped the bark and started to shimmy her way up seemingly effortlessly, as if she was a cat climbing the curtains.

Amelia, please go with them, Mitchell pleaded, but this time she ignored him.

Amelia arched a brow at Josh and said, “I thought you said I was your destiny.”

His skin snapped back in place, and he pulled the bowstring tighter. “And I also said that you’d come back.”

Think, Amelia! a nagging voice in the back of her mind said. She knew she just needed to stall a little longer. If she could just keep them distracted long enough for Megan to get to Cole undetected.

“You get that I’m the only reason they haven’t killed you yet, right?” Amelia asked, and she hated the quiver she heard in her voice.

Josh laughed, and a sly smile stretched across his face. “I’m immortal. I can’t die.”

“Everything can die,” Amelia countered, reiterating his exact words.

A startled high-pitched scream reinforced Amelia’s words, and Josh shot up, dropping his weapon. Amelia didn’t waste a second. She launched forwards, kicking the bow out of reach.

Cole hit the ground and bounced. Another scream erupted from him, but it was a sound that came from deep within his gut, the kind of sound that comes from excruciating pain.

Josh bolted over to him with mind-blowing speed and heaved him up. Cole’s cloak fell away, and Amelia caught sight of the arrow that stuck out of his leg. His body morphed into bones, and the arrow dropped to the ground.

Amelia felt the magic brewing in the pit of her stomach, and she saw the strands of light seeping from her side in Mitchell’s direction just before the first bolt of lightning flew towards Josh. She glanced at Mitchell, just a quick look, and saw him toss ball after ball.

Megan started her own assault from above. When the first bolts hit, Josh shed his skin, and the flaming orb passed right through him.

What was left of Josh growled fiercely and started to retreat with Cole in tow. Luke and Lola lunged at them. It was in that moment that Amelia put what seemed to be the obvious together.

“Stop,” Amelia screeched. “They can’t be hurt this way.”

Amelia was floored that Luke and Lola stopped in mid step, and all the orbs of magic ceased instantaneously. All eyes narrowed at her, and she blurted, “It’s their skin that makes them vulnerable. We can’t hurt them this way.” But what she didn’t say was that she was certain that Cole and Josh could still hurt them.

“This isn’t over,” Josh growled. They had retreated far enough away that the only thing that even indicated where the voice was coming from was the two sets of eerie yellow-green eyes. “More of us are coming, and the next time we meet, you two will join us.”

“Don’t hold your breath,” Amelia spat venomously. A second later, the metallic sound of a car door slamming clanked, and the roar of a diesel engine rumbled. Amelia’s lungs burned, and she sucked in air as she realized that she had been holding her breath.

They all stood staring into the tree with a hushed stillness. At some point during the fight, the rain had stopped and the sky had cleared enough for the crescent moon to break through the clouds, coating the grassy puddles with silver.

“Well, that’s new,” Angelle said when the truck engine could no longer be heard.

“What the hell are they?” Lola asked.

“Hybrids,” Megan yelled. She leapt from the tree, landing in Eric’s arms. “Half witch, half hunter.”

Erin looked at Amelia with wide eyes. Her forehead creased, and her voice squeaked with the question, “Did his skin just disappear?”

Amelia didn’t answer. She wanted to. She thought about it, but the words just wouldn’t come. “Amelia?” Mitchell said her name like a question, and he was suddenly in front of her. “Amelia, are you okay?”

Amelia shook her head. “Not really.” And then she launched herself into his arms, wrapping her legs around his waist. “I love you,” she said and began littering his face with a slew of frenzied kisses. “I thought I was going to lose you. I love you.”

Mitchell hugged her tightly. Love and relief swelled from his heart, and the sensation pushed against her from all sides. She soaked it up, basking in the feverish bliss that came with feeling his emotions.

As the emotions deepened, her neck began to tingle, and Amelia instinctively knew what was happening. She could feel her mark, circle by circle, letter by letter, reappearing on her neck. Megan squealed in delight, confirming that hers had come back as well.

Amelia couldn’t say how long she stayed like that, kissing him and declaring her love, but at some point she finally got over the shock of seeing Mitchell alive, and now she was furious. “I told you to leave,” she said, leaning back in his arms to meet him square on.

Mitchell chuckled and kissed her cheek. “And I told you that I wasn’t going to leave you.”

CHAPTER 31

Luke called the police, and it didn’t take long for a swarm of police cruisers and ambulances to descend upon them. Officer McLean made an attempt to collect statements, which Amelia thought was a complete joke. What was he going to do? File a police report about vampires killing vampire hunters? Yeah, right!

McLean quickly gave up, not that he had much of a choice in the matter. Mitchell used persuasion to send him off and help clear out the bodies. After that, they left in a hurry, dodging the paramedics’ attempts to take Amelia and Megan in for an examination.

The air had turned sticky and thick from the rain, and Amelia and her friends trudged through the muddy puddles it had left behind. Her jeans were soaked through, sticking to her skin and making the journey uncomfortable. Amelia loved the spring, enjoyed the rain, but this year it had quickly become old. The storms seemed more ferocious and had been almost a daily occurrence during the last few weeks. She wondered if her bitterness towards the rain had something to do with the pandemonium that had come with it, but even so, she was over it, and was seriously craving a hot and dry summer.

On the walk towards their house, Amelia and Megan filled their family in on the little they knew of the new breed of hunters. They explained how it was supposedly their destiny to help the hunters build a new race of hybrids.

“So, they want you to be a breeding mule,” Lola said with a smirk. She giggled a little at the thought, and Luke joined in with a booming laugh.

“Now that’s kind of creepy,” Amelia said, narrowing her eyes at Lola.

“What?” Lola asked through her giggles, befuddled.

Mitchell laughed a side-splitting roar. “That’s the exact same thing Amelia thought when they told her.” He winked and nudged Amelia’s side playfully. “And you two act like you hate each other.”

What in the world happened to my Mitchell? Amelia wondered and shot him a sideways glance. Not that she was about to complain; she liked the playful look on him and she was sure she could get used to it, but it just seemed wrong to be laughing after what they had just been through. But then again, Amelia guessed that laughing was better than the alternative, and she pushed her nagging conscious aside, letting her own giggles spill out. And man, she had to admit it, it felt good to have just a moment where she was not stressing about saving her family or dealing with freaky skeleton vampire hunters.

“How did you get everyone out so quickly?” Megan asked.