Page 40 of Stalked

“Cami, wake up!” I shook her shoulders. “Wake up!”

I pressed my fingers on her wrist and felt a pulse.

There’s still a pulse!

My hand stayed connected to Cami’s until the paramedics arrived, squeezing her hand once more, then stepping back to give them space. When I did, I accidentally backed up into Caleb’s chest, turned around, and shoved him back before I knew what I was doing. I was practically choking on my sudden anger, but I controlled myself enough to not cause a scene. As usual, Caleb seemed to know exactly what I was thinking before I could say anything.

“I had nothing to do with this,” he said calmly, also doing his best not to draw attention.

If he thought that would satisfy me, he was mistaken. Just because I was weirdly drawn to him didn’t mean I believed a word that came out of his mouth.

“No? No? Every bad thing that’s happened in the last week has been because of you. What do you expect me to think?”

“I expect you to trust me, dammit.” He gritted his teeth, looking me in the eye and holding it. Trying to show me how much he meant it.

“Yeah, well, you make it really fucking hard.” The fight drained out of me, and I took a deep breath before wiping the tears from my eyes with the sleeve of my shirt. I looked back toward Cami and saw the paramedics taking her away, with Shannon pressing her back against the brick wall, trying to hold herself together. Caleb wrapped his arms around me from behind, pulling me back into his chest. I froze but didn’t pull away.

He lowered his head toward my ear. “She’s under a spell, Mercy. There’s a darkness possessing her mind. I felt it before I even left the bar. There’s nothing we can do but find the witch who did this to her.”

I turned around, facing him as he released his hold. “Another witch did this?”

I stilled when I realized what that meant. There really was another stalker, and they weren’t just targeting me. Whoever was responsible for Cami?—intended to hurt the ones I loved just to get to me.

My friend nearly lost her life, and she was still in danger. Everyone I loved was in danger. I didn’t need to think too long before the next words left my lips. “We have to find the person who did this to her, Caleb … and then we have to kill them.”

I stumbled back, a hand clasped over my mouth. Had I really said that? I was stunned by my own words, and the way they came out unnerved me more. There was no hesitation, as if killing someone was the most natural thing in the world to me.

“There. Now that is the Mercy I used to know,” he smiled fondly. “Find her again because it’s that strength we need to win this battle.” He stepped closer to me and placed his hand on my cheek, “… becausedarknessis coming.”

CHAPTER12

RILEY HAD TAKENShannon home while we waited to hear from Cami’s mom, Laurie. She stumbled into the hospital shortly after the paramedics brought Cami in. For the next few hours, Laurie erratically paced the halls, waiting for the doctor to give her an update on her daughter’s condition.

But there was no medical condition they could find. Not one that made sense, anyway.

Cami would have to remain in a hospital bed for as long as the unknown witch’s spell was in place.

For all everyone else knew, Cami was in a coma, and the doctors were unsure of when she’d wake. The wound on her scalp was severe, but the MRI showed no sign of brain damage. Cami was just unconscious.

Caleb insisted on staying in my room until I fell asleep later that night. While I may not have wanted to repeat what we had done in my bedroom against the wall the other night, I knew I’d be an idiot not to accept his protection.

He sat on my bed while I quickly showered, keeping the bathroom door locked. I had wanted Caleb to stay in the living room, but there would be no way he would get along with Lily, so what was the point? After I pulled on my silk nightgown, I returned to my bedroom, unable to miss how Caleb’s eyes followed me as I moved.

I joined him on the mattress and leaned against the headboard while sitting on the covers. I felt the urge to make myself smaller, tucking my legs under myself and staring at the wall as we both tried to make sense of what had happened.

We spoke for over an hour. Caleb was convinced Cami had been possessed for several days. According to Caleb, the energy around Cami was faint, almost undetectable, but because he had spent ages in the supernatural world, he picked it up immediately. This attack was a step in whatever plan the mystery witch had created.

Caleb suggested that whoever hurt Cami was doing it to get to me. To use her to hurt and destroy everything that I loved and valued. But who and why? Aside from my mom, who would want to kill me this badly?

“Was it really someone else watching me?” I asked.

I knew Caleb wasn’t the shadow I had seen in the forest, but I had to be sure. The time I’ve spent around him felt nowhere near like the malice I’d felt when I was being watched from afar.

“You haven’t followed me other than that day in the park? Right?” I pressed.

Caleb nodded. “I always knew where you lived, even if your mom tried everything she could to keep you hidden from me. But I didn’t lurk around your home. Whoever is doing this, they’re doing it to scare you.”

The unsettling feeling of being stalked again twisted in my stomach. It felt sticky and cold inside my chest. I looked out the window into the darkness and wondered.

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