Page 24 of Stalked

That word sent shivers down my spine. “What’s an ‘Awakening?’”

He let out a quiet laugh. “I’m getting there,” he said. “An Awakening is when witches turn the age of twenty-one, and during the ritual, they will gain all their powers. Having that kind of power is dangerous for children, so witches aren’t given all their magic at birth.”

I thought about my twenty-first birthday coming up in less than two weeks; the idea of going through any magical ritual made my skin crawl.

“Our coven,” he continued, “decided that once we gained all our powers, we would do another ritual immediately after, making ourselves immortal. That way, we could live forever, protecting other witches and humans without risking our magic disappearing from Earth.”

While Caleb spoke, I could feel the walls emitting a low vibration, almost like a cat purring. It was soothing, and I watched as his fingers stretched out to touch my face. Watching his hand, I waited for the sense of fear and dread to come, but it never did. My eyes widened as his calloused hand caressed my cheek. The touch felt warm against my skin. His touch helped me relax, and I looked into his amber eyes. “Why don’t I remember any of this? There are clear memories embedded in my mind as a child here in East Greenwich. But they aren’t from the sixteen hundreds in Salem. They’re of modern day. Am I really a centuries-old witch?”

Caleb shook his head, dropping his hand into his lap. “No, that’s not what I’m telling you.” His eyes were somber, and I felt his hand drop from my cheek. “Mercy, you—” His voice wavered, and he took a deep breath. His face contorted in pain, and a tear rolled down his cheek. “You were hanged from the gallows before your Awakening.”

CHAPTER 8

MY LIPS PARTEDas I stared at Caleb with unblinking eyes.

“It took me centuries to find a spell to bring you back. I finally had everything I needed to reincarnate you intothislife.”

My mangled thoughts couldn’t find the words to speak. I tried to wrap my mind around what Caleb had just told me. If that was true, there was an entire life I had experienced that I knew nothing about.

Who am I?

I sat there, processing all the information, while my heart pounded so hard against my chest that it was almost painful.

“My father created a binding spell on the grounds of his farm,” Caleb continued, drawing my attention back to him. “The ritual had to be done there to link our powers. I met you at your home that night, while the rest of the coven waited in the barn. You were supposed to meet us after you packed your bag, but you never showed up. When we finally found you, the people in our village had already hanged you from a tree for being a witch. It was 1692, and the Salem witch trials had begun.” His expression grew somber. “I was too late. We still had a mission, and even though we were all devastated over losing you, we had to return to the farm and complete the ritual.”

The vivid images from my nightmare that were burned into my mind, even after I awoke in the hospital, weren’t dreams?—they were memories of my past life.

Those were real.

I curled forward, my breath uneven and shallow. I remembered the moment that I had seen the woman with my face die. My hand shook. I tightly gripped my arms, trying to remind myself that I wasn’t there, that my feet were on the floor, not swaying in the wind as I took my last breath.

I closed my eyes, willing the images of that death away, and searched for the man who would visit me in my dreams. The one who made me feel safe and warm. The one who took all that pain away that I had been dealing with in this cruel world.

Is he real, too?

I looked up into Caleb’s eyes. They weren’t the same; it wasn’thim. It was someone else.

“You’re immortal, then?” I asked.

He nodded.

“After we went through our Awakening, we immediately followed it by performing an immortal spell. The villagers then found us and hanged us, too. We closed our eyes and waited until everyone left the execution, removed the nooses from our necks, and jumped down.”

I ran my hand through my hair, letting my fingers dig into my scalp. I was still half-convinced this was all just a twisted dream. But I had no logical explanation for the things I saw or felt in my life. I didn’t want to accept it because then I would have to live that reality, and I wasn’t sure I was ready for it.

“Our coven was incomplete without you?—I was incomplete without you.”

He reached out, but I drew back from his outstretched hand. Guilt gnawed at my stomach. There was an intense pull inside me that wanted him to touch me. I yearned for that same electrifying feeling at the cove that moved between us. But how could I be so careless?

Caleb clearly had feelings for me, but I had to remind myself he was a stranger I had just met. A stranger that, until now, I feared?—or that Ishouldstill fear.

He pulled his hand away, dropping it back in his lap. “It took me years to find the spell to reincarnate someone.” He sighed, running his hand over his face. “This wasn’t the first time I tried to bring you back. I knew I would need to use someone from your bloodline, and each time a witch got pregnant, I used a spell to bring your soul into the body of the growing child. I tried every spell within my power to bring you back, but no magic held. I had almost given up until your grandfather had two daughters. I then searched for another enchantment with the help of a powerful witch who practices magic linked to the dead. Only then was I able to link the magic to your mother.”

Caleb closed his eyes as if remembering the moment. “The spell immediately took hold. I visited your parents months later and told them about the witch growing inside your mom. Nine months after the spell, she had you.”

I leaned back; my mind struggled to process his words. My entire life, my mom had known I was a witch.

My dad, though, I never knew him. All my mother shared was that he had left her and me when I was a toddler. That’s it. Gone and never looked back.

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