“Mold a twin and link the bond,” they chanted, their voices strengthening with each intonation.

The jingling of the chains and Erin’s snarls were deafening but they continued to chant in repetition. Amelia focused all her energy and forced herself to speak clearly, enunciating every syllable. Mitchell squeezed her hands tighter. Erin screamed out, cursing and snarling, the sound echoing around the cold stone walls. A metallic sound of chains snapping rang out and another bloodcurdling scream penetrated Amelia’s ears. She broke the hold on Mitchell and rushed forward just as Erin crumpled to the ground, whimpering.

CHAPTER 30

“I can’t believe that worked,” Lola said, in a slightly smug and disbelieving tone. Mitchell gave her a disapproving glare and she snuggled in closer to Luke, as if she was trying to hide in his arms. Her face was marked with a mix of amazement and fear and she kept a close eye on Amelia.

The whole gang—new members, Tyler and Erin included—had gathered in the kitchen, which seemed to be the unspoken meeting place to hear about the spell Amelia had used on Erin.

“I don’t get it,” Eric said, scratching at his head. “Are you saying there’s another Erin running around somewhere?”

Angelle groaned and shot him a look that clearly said you’re such a moron. “She created the illusion of another Erin.”

“So there aren’t two of them?” Eric asked, perplexed and glanced around the table, as if he was hoping to find someone else who shared his confusion.

Amelia laughed a pleasant, good-feeling laugh. It seemed as if every time she had laughed lately it was out of nervousness, but this laugh was genuine. “Okay, let me try this again,” Amelia said. She had told Eric five times now and he still wasn’t getting it. “I’ll try to keep it simple. I used Mitchell’s mind control, um, talents and mixed it with my witchiness. Using both our strengths, I was able to make an imaginary Erin. I planted fake thoughts in the imaginary Erin. Then, so Tristan will still think he has a bond with the real one, I cut the cord,” Amelia gestured using scissors to snip the cable, “that connected them and attached it to the imaginary Erin. I left the mind-reading part intact for Erin so she can still hear his thoughts, but now, Tristan will only hear and feel the fake ones.”

Eric smacked his hands onto the table. “I knew it. There are two Erin’s!” Then he hopped up from his chair and went over to examine the mouth-watering concoction Mabel was whipping up.

After everyone had a good chuckle at Eric, Mitchell said, beaming, “You guys should have seen her. She was amazing.”

Erin huffed. “Amazing? Really not that amazing. It was torture. I feel like she cut me in half.”

“I kinda did.” Amelia blushed and then cursed under her breath. Really, after all the near death experiences she had had since moving to Willowberg, she was still blushing? She glanced at Mitchell. He was looking at her with so much love that it made the blush turn beet red.

“Dude. What the hell happened to you?” Eric interrupted her moment. “Weren’t you all death to Mitch two days ago?”

“Did you just call me ‘dude’?” Amelia laughed. She couldn’t help but marvel at how much everything had changed. Eric was leaning against the counter in the exact same place, giving her the exact same breathtaking smile he had on the first day she had arrived and it was barely fazing her now. He was still hot—Amelia had to admit it—but next to Mitchell, well, Eric just did not compare.

“Eric.” Mabel smacked him on the head with a wooden spoon. The room erupted in laughter and she had to shout to be heard. “Get off my counter and sit down.” She then waited for the laughter to die down before asking, “Who wants food?” Amelia, Angelle, Eric and Tyler promptly raised their hands.

“Bacon and eggs,” Angelle chirped her request.

“I make killer scrambled eggs,” Eric said. Unimpressed, Mabel gave him another whack with the spoon. “What?” he asked, attempting to look innocent.

“You’re not helping, so get over there and plant your butt on a chair,” Mabel raised the spoon as if she was going to smack him again. Eric chuckled, put up his hands in surrender, and slid into a chair.

Mitchell draped his arm around Amelia’s shoulder and she settled back in her chair. Blissful warmth spread through her as she looked around at all her friends chatting easily and she let herself enjoy the feeling for a moment.

Yesterday she wouldn’t have believed it, but it looked like everything was working out. Even Tyler looked happy—maybe a bit too happy—Amelia noticed. She watched as Tyler and Angelle stole fleeting glances at each other.

Amelia wanted to probe at them, see if a new romance was in the air—she was pretty sure there was—but in the end, she bit her tongue on the questions and asked, “How did Tristan get away?”

“That was my fault,” Tyler said bashfully. “I tried to stake him when he was choking you and I kinda missed his heart.” He grinned. “Seriously, not as easy as the movies make it look. He dropped you and took off.”

Even Amelia couldn’t help but laugh with the rest of them. Tyler looked so bewildered. It was as if he hadn’t imagined that his heroic attempt to save her wouldn’t work. She laughed until her sides hurt and tears came to her eyes. When she finally caught her breath she asked, “What about Adam?”

Her question silenced the laughter, and Luke’s thoughtful hazel eyes focused on her. “We really don’t know, kiddo. He snuck out when we were trying to keep Tristan from Tyler after the little…” he picked up a fork and mimicked a staking motion over his heart, “incident.” Then he gave Erin a hard stare. “I don’t think you should go anywhere by yourself for now, given the whole Kandi thing.”

The room went eerily silent and Amelia couldn’t help but think they were giving Kandi a moment of silence. She hadn’t been a fan of Kandi’s but she let herself wonder if maybe, just maybe, it was Tristan’s company that made her such a monster. With that, she said a silent prayer for her soul to find Adam.

“Hey, Millie,” Tyler said, breaking the silence. “Can you use your witch skills to zap me a passing grade? ‘Cause with all this crap I missed a few papers and a test.”

Amelia groaned. The last thing she wanted to think about was school. Never in her life had she missed so many classes. “I don’t even want to think about how behind I am.”

The frying bacon smelled wonderful. Usually Amelia hated the greasy smell, but today it made her mouth water in anticipation. The conversation spiraled on, chatting easily as if nothing had happened and Amelia was ecstatic at how easily Erin and Tyler blended with her family. Mabel served breakfast and, to Amelia’s surprise, she joined them.

Mabel was just about to work on the mess when she stopped, plates balancing in her hands. She looked Amelia over, head to toe and raised a questioning eyebrow. “You seem different. What happened to you?”

Different, Amelia thought. Wow, that is an understatement. She busied herself, sweeping crumbs off the table and dusting them onto her plate while she tried to think of how to answer that. Of course, she seemed different. Who wouldn’t after all this? A bunch of excuses popped to her mind but in the end, she settled on telling the truth. “I saw my Mom and my past.”

Amelia locked eyes with Mitchell and she was sure she heard a few gasps from around the table, but she ignored them. A replay of her burning flashed through both their minds. Tears prickled her eyes and she felt his shame. Again, she wished she could fix the link, reassure him somehow, but for the life of her, she just didn’t know how.

“What past?” Tyler asked and Amelia forced her eyes away from Mitchell.

She was about to explain when Angelle came to her rescue. “I’ll fill you in some other time,” she said, and Amelia assumed Mitchell must have confided in her.

Amelia mouthed a thank you and then she got up from the table. She didn’t want them all to see her cry again and she knew the tears weren’t far off. “I need a shower,” she said and pushed in her chair. Everyone, even Lola, looked taken aback at her abrupt departure but she didn’t really care. She smiled—what she hoped was a convincing happy smile—at Mitchell. “I won’t be long.” He smiled back, sad and distant but nodded so she turned and headed for her room.

“Amelia,” Lola said, just before she left the kitchen, glancing back over her shoulder. “It doesn’t completely suck that you’re not dead.”

Unsure of what to say, Amelia just nodded, and left the room.

****

Amelia let the steamy water cascade over her as she cried. She cried for her parents, she cried for Erin, she cried over her mistakes with Mitchell, she even cried for Kandi’s death. She cried for what felt like hours before the tears stopped falling.

Had she made the right choice? She really wasn’t sure and she wished—truly wished—that she could have had both, her parents and Mitchell.

Amelia pushed that idea out of her head, swallowed hard and turned off the shower. She dried off, wrapped the fluffy bath towel around her and wiped down the steam-covered mirror. She took a good hard look at herself, noticing for the first time the shimmering glow that surrounded her. For a second she didn’t know what it was but then it hit her: it was her—her magic—and she smiled.

She splashed some cold water on her face, brushed her hair and tied it up, and brushed her teeth. After spending way too much time on her make-up, she ventured out into her room to get dressed.

As she was digging through her closet to find the perfect outfit, she couldn’t help but wonder why she still felt so miserable. Everything had worked out. Her friends were fine, she was alive. So why did she still want to curl up in a little ball and hide from the world? Amelia gave up on finding something to wear, threw on a housecoat and padded her way out onto the terrace for fresh air, hoping it would help clear her mind.

The night was crisp and refreshing, and she inhaled two deep, invigorating breaths. Looking up at the velvety night sky, the stars sparkling like jewels, she searched for Cassiopeia, her favorite constellation. If only she could be like the great queen of the past, Amelia was sure Cassiopeia would have known what to do.