Page 21 of Stalked

I screamed for Lily again.

Caleb lifted his left hand and pointed to the walls I now noticed radiated a subtle blue glow. My jaw dropped open.

“It won’t hurt you if you place your hand on it,” he said, pointing to the walls. “If you’d like to test it out.”

Yeah, okay.

I blinked at him and then looked back at the blue light. Touching it would be a stupid thing to do. But if this was all a dream, then maybe it would wake me up from this nightmare.

Hesitantly, I placed my fingers on the light and felt a surge of energy push my hand back, but ever so lightly. It wasn’t as powerful as it looked. I could continue touching the light without it forcing my hand back, but it sent a heavy vibration against my skin. The energy beamed brighter the longer my fingers were on it. My eyes grew wide at what I was seeing and experiencing because the inexplicable sight in front of me defied all laws of physics. It was both terrifying and beautiful.

“That shield prevents you from leaving, too.” A wry little smirk quirked his mouth.

God, why did I find him so sexy and utterly terrifying at the same time?

“So, I guess we’re going to have to learn to get along,” he added, “until you allow me to explain myself to you.”

My heartbeat picked up, creating a dreadful feeling in the pit of my stomach. This was not a nightmare, this was happening, and I was trapped.

“What are you?” I asked shakily. “How are you doing this?” I looked around the room at the luminous blue light.

He reached behind the bathroom door and grabbed my robe, tossing it toward me. “Put this on. We have a lot to discuss.” He turned toward my bed, and I watched him take a seat at the foot of my mattress, making himself at home in my bedroom.

After about a minute of slow and steady breathing to calm my nerves, I wrapped and secured the robe around my body and wiggled the towel down, letting it fall to my feet. If that guy wanted to kill or rape me, I believed he would have done it by now.

I think.

A small part of me decided to trust him. I didn’t know why. Maybe it was the magical beam of light around my room. Perhaps it was because he would be able to tell me what was happening to my body. I convinced myself that it didn’t matter why I suddenly trusted him, because I could get some answers. Answers to questions I had been asking myself for the last few months.

I took another minute in the bathroom, trying to bring my heart rate to a slower pace. My breaths eventually evened out, and I stepped into my room. I slowly and cautiously moved toward my bed, but stopped before I reached him. I eyed the bench connected to my bay window and decided I’d feel safer clear over there. Caleb chuckled as I moved as far away from him as I could. I took a seat, never taking my eyes off the stranger in my room as I watched how closely he watchedme.

I looked around the room and saw more blue light surrounding the walls.

“Who are you, really?” I asked nervously, as if I didn’t truly want to know. “And tell me everything because this—” I pointed to my walls, “Isn’t normal, or—”

“?Real?” he finished. “It’s real, Mercy. Very, very real.”

I pressed my lips together. “What do you want from me?”

“Just to protect you,” he said. “And I’m sorry I scared you in the process. I didn’t know how else to just come out and tell you everything, and—”

“You left me to die on the side of the road and then chased me through a goddamn forest.”

Caleb winced. “And I’ll regret that, believe me.” He averted his eyes from mine as if he were trying to suppress guilt and shame from showing. I wasn’t blind to what shame looked like; he wore that face beautifully.

I looked around my room one last time from the seat at my bay window, sorting through the millions of questions I wanted to ask. I’d allow him to explain himself and let my mind be open to the possibility that whatever he was about to tell me might have some truth.

“Why did you leave me injured after my accident?” I asked, raising my brow.

“I was tracking you in my car when I saw you swerve into the forest. I know about your healing powers, so I knew you’d be okay, but you weren’t healing fast enough, not how you used to. The last thing we needed was for the police to become involved and ask questions about who I am. I heard someone open their door across the street, so I took off before they could see me with you. I’m so sorry, Mercy. It’s not like I wanted to leave you alone out there.”

Memories flashed in my mind about what had happened after the crash. Caleb didn’t just leave me there, bleeding on the grass by a puddle of mud, but he had ripped the door from my car and tossed it clear across the ditch.

“What did you mean by me not healing? What does that even mean? I have healing powers or something?” I asked. Then I thought about every injury that had occurred in the past week that had unnaturally disappeared within hours, including the catastrophic ones from the crash.

“You were born with magic that allows your body to heal within minutes, sometimes seconds,” he explained. “It depends on the severity of the injury. A lot of times, you have to will it to happen.”

My eyes felt as if they had grown three sizes as I stared at him, unblinking.

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