Page 41 of Stalked

“What kind of person was I back then?” I asked. “I must have really pissed someone off for them to want me dead in this lifetime.”

Caleb looked down and fiddled with his ring, which he had told me bore his family crest. After a long pause, he looked up and brushed my hair behind my ear, a look of hesitation crossing his face. Caleb wanted to tell me something but couldn’t?—or wouldn’t.

What is he hiding now?

“What happened to Cami could have happened to you,” he said. “This is why I fight so hard to help you with your powers. Mercy, if you don’t know how to defend yourself against the supernatural, something worse is going to happen.”

“I didn’t ask for any of this, Caleb,” I said sharply.

“Neither did I.” He looked over at my window and sighed. “I have a few leads I’m going to follow up on.” He tilted my chin with the tip of his finger, forcing me to look at him. “I know these words don’t mean anything to you, but I love you, Mercy.” He leaned in and kissed my forehead before standing up. “I’ll call you once I know more. Don’t do anything reckless and stay close to Lily. She can protect you until I return.”

He loves me?

My mind froze after I heard him say those three words. Did he really love me? No. He may have loved seventeenth-century Mercy, but I’m not her anymore. He didn’t even know the real me. Did he?

“There are enemies out there that fear you and will use everything they can to take you out. They know you have your powers again and are about to go through an Awakening.” He took two steps back to me and looked down, his eyes boring into mine. “Please let me train you.”

“I know now that I need to learn how to harness these powers. After seeing Cami like that, I realized I could use my abilities to save the ones I love, but I haven’t a clue what the hell I’m doing,” I confessed, feeling completely inadequate next to Caleb, who had been using his magic for centuries. “Whoever this witch is, he has the power to take my friends out. And he’s out there waiting for another chance to strike at me …” I shivered at the thought and inhaled slowly. “Give me a few days, and I’ll be ready.”

Caleb shut his eyes tightly, clenching his fists until they were white. “Sorry I’ve been such an asshole. The other day, I went too far, trying to get you to use your powers the way you used to. I’ve kept things from you to protect you, but it’s not my right.”

The wall that I’d been fighting to keep between us suddenly crumbled. Despite the universe-shifting complications, I always wanted to be closer to him, and I was sick of denying myself. I moved toward him with a shocking amount of confidence. I got out of bed, closing the distance between us and reaching out for his cheek, and I held his gaze with total conviction.

“Being vague and keeping secrets isn’t going to protect me, Caleb,” I said, looking into his amber eyes. “I can’t trust you completely if you keep hiding things from me.”

“Do you hate me?” Caleb asked. He was always so confident, so slick, but right now, he looked anguished. I wondered if this was the first time I was seeing the real him.

I shook my head as my hand fell away. “No, I don’t hate you.” I gave him a slight smile and took one step closer, closing the gap between us. “I don’t know you enough to hate you.” Caleb matched my smile and snickered under his breath before tucking a strand of hair behind my ear. The feeling of him, the smell of him, it was all intoxicating. A curl of warmth moved through me and settled low in my belly as I leaned into his touch.

It was the damn connection again. I hated and loved the thing in equal measure.

Talk about something else, I told myself. Anything else.

If I was going to trust Caleb and journey into the unknown with him, and even trust him with my body, he had to be honest with me. I needed to know everything about him, the real him. Even the scary parts.

“What is it?” He searched my face. “You want to ask me something, don’t you?”

I bit my bottom lip. “Um … I want to know more about our coven and what kind of magic we possess. Like, what all can you do, aside from creating soundproof auras around a room?”

That brought a playful, sideways smirk to his face. “I can control the element of fire.”

He opened his palm, and flames ignited from his hand. I looked at his face, and his eyes appeared even more amber, glowing with vibrant light. The flame disappeared, and he grabbed my hand. He turned my palm over, facing up. Caleb then placed his open palm next to mine. After a moment of focusing on our hands, my eyes widened. The lines on our palms were identical. My heart pounded in my chest.

How is this possible?

“The Chosen Ones may be from different families?—but we’re all connected. We have our own unique powers, but our most prominent one is the element we represent. My element is fire, so I can control it.” He closed his hand.

“Ah, yes. Your flame tattoo,” I said. “And Leah?” I saw his expression change. “I felt a connection with her at Raven’s. She’s part of the coven, isn’t she?”

He smiled and nodded. “Leah can control water.” He leaned back against the door. “As I mentioned, we each come from a separate bloodline, but formed our own coven centuries ago. Each of us represents an element?—from which other witches harness their magic. Tatyana, the angel who created us, believed putting those elements into human form was the best way to restore balance on the earth—witches now having a direct connection to our powers.”

It was a surreal feeling to learn I was one of those elements. We were like conduits for limitless witches to tap and use their magic.

“Lily told me a tiny bit about the pentagram and what it meant in terms of the coven. But that’s as far as my knowledge of the stuff goes,” I admitted.

Caleb held up his hand. “You’re different from the rest of us.” He pointed to his thumb. “I represent fire. Leah is water.” He skipped over the middle finger, “Ezra is earth beneath our feet, and Simon is the air we breathe.” He dropped his hand.

“I’m the middle finger?” I barked a laugh at my lame joke. “How am I so different?”

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