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pressed a soft kiss on her cheek before he said, “Honey, you have to let her make mistakes.  Sooner or later, it’s going to happen.  You can’t protect them from each other forever.”
    Lola snuggled deeper into his arms, and gazed blankly out the window.  She knew that Mitchell and Amelia would take the bond back at some point; she had just hoped it wouldn’t happen until Mitchell was well enough to become a vampire again.  That was it.  She had only wanted to prolong the inevitable until they were both equals, and Amelia couldn’t accidentally inflect the pain that could come with the bond.  Lola knew Amelia would never forgive herself for that.  If nothing else, Amelia had a kind and extremely fragile heart, and hurting Mitchell would throw her over the already slippery edge.
    “Mitchell can handle it,” Luke said, plucking the thoughts out of her mind.  “This is not a decision you can make for them, Lola.  She needs him.”
    “I think he’s dying,” she whispered.  “He can’t die, Luke.”  Because I can’t live without him. She sent the last thought silently, unable to voice it out loud.  In their long time together, Mitchell had been a father, a brother, a friend.  He’d been her rock, her teacher, and at times, he was even her tormentor.  He’d filled every role that was needed at any given point in her life when Luke couldn’t.  Yes, he could be a jackass, and headstrong, but he could also be kind, and giving.  Aside from Luke, Mitchell was her best friend, and she just knew she wouldn’t survive losing him.  But it wasn’t just her, their family wouldn’t survive it either; she was certain of it.
    “Maybe you should stay away from them for a bit,” Luke said.  She knew it wasn’t a suggestion; she could hear it in his voice and feel it through the bond.  He might as well have just said, You will stay away from them, because that’s exactly what he meant.
    She stiffened in his arms.  “Amelia’s my child.”
    He sighed, and pulled her closer.  “And she’s his soulmate.  That trumps child and you know it.”
    “What if she …” Even to her own ears, her voice sounded panicked, and she let the words drift off, despising how weak she felt.
    “She won’t,” Luke said, sternly, but not unkindly.  “Amelia would kill herself before him. ”  He leaned into her, brushing his lips against her ear and whispered, “Lola, you know I’m not asking.  Don’t fight me on this.”
    Right then, Lola decided that it absolutely sucked that Luke was not only her soulmate but her maker as well. It wasn’t often that he pulled out the authority card on her, but when he did, everything in her wanted to do exactly what he asked.  She was tied to him in every way a vampire could be tied to another, and ninety-nine percent of the time, she wouldn’t trade that for anything.  This wasn’t one of those times.
    Lola didn’t know if she believed him, but she really wanted to.  God, caring sucked.

CHAPTER 6
     
     
    Eric was giving her a look.  It was narrowed eyed, with absolutely no humor in it, and it looked completely foreign on his chiseled face.  His leafy-green hair was in its usual perfect mess, and his vibrant green eyes were hard and serious.  He sat on the edge of Amelia’s bed, knees spread, elbows resting on his thighs, and hands clasped together.  His jaw twitched as he gritted his teeth.  Amelia knew he was annoyed at her, but really, she didn’t know what he wanted her to say.
    Megan stood beside him giving Amelia the same kind of look.  Her fiery curls were pulled back in a severe ponytail, and she drummed her fingers against her hips as she glared.  There were a few dots of dried blood staining Megan’s baby-blue T-shirt, and her jeans had a small rip on the right knee.
    Mitchell started to cough again, and Amelia rushed over to him, propping another pillow behind his head.  He was sitting in one of the large brown leather chairs in front of the