Page 49 of Stalked

“You should have learned the last time we did this, Caleb. I don’t dance,” I said shyly.

“You used to be a fantastic dancer.” He bowed while gesturing toward me.

“Yeah, but in this life, I have no rhythm,” I joked. “No, seriously. I’ll step on your toes if you attempt to waltz with me.”

“Oh, come on, Mercy, you used to dance with me all the time.” He tenderly grabbed my hand and pulled me in closer to him. I tensed as our chests touched, and his arm slid around my waist. As charming as he was at that moment, I knew what he was doing, and I didn’t have the time or the inclination to deal with his flirtatious little game.

“I came here for answers, Caleb. And all you’re doing is stalling.”

“I told you I plan to tell you everything, Mercy.” He leaned in until he was so close that his lips grazed my ear when he spoke, his warm breath ghosting over the back of my neck in a way that made me shiver. “I just really need you to relax before I do.” He used his hand on my waist to pull me in, holding me tight to his chest. I wanted to pull back, but the way my pulse raced, and a warm flush climbed up my neck told me my body was enjoying the contact, if not my mind. Pressed against him, I could smell his woodsy, masculine scent, and it was distracting me, even as he continued talking. “Just one dance. Becausethis. Right here. This is what I miss. The two of us together when we’re not saving the world and just living in it. Relaxing with each other.”

“This isn’t relaxing, Caleb,” I retorted. “This is making me uneasy.”

“Liar,” he said with a teasing smirk.

None of this was about dancing. It was about what we used to have over three hundred years ago.

Caleb kept his smile as he readjusted us, putting a little distance between our bodies. I ignored how my skin felt ice cold wherever he wasn’t touching it. He kept his right hand on my waist while the other came up to grab my hand and hold it out. Before I could realize what was happening, he positioned us to waltz.

Great.

“I’m going to step on your toes,” I said. “Also, I know what you’re doing.”

“Do you?”

I hated how smug he looked, but I couldn’t wait any longer. I needed answers, and there was one way that guaranteed I’d get them without having to navigate any more of Caleb’s oh-so-witty repartee.

I forcefully pulled him by the collar toward me, taking hungry possession of his mouth. It was painfully difficult to avoid not feeling aroused as his lips touched mine.

Like the last time we kissed, it caused my entire body to melt and ache for his touch. The moment was short-lived, as my mind drew me into another vision, just as I suspected.

Caleb and I were standing over a woman lying on the ground. She was begging us to let her go. To let her live. He reached down and dragged her by the hair as she kicked and screamed for him to release her.

What is he doing?

“Caleb, let go of her, now! I need to speak with her first!” I screamed at him in the vision. “Please!”

He threw her onto a pile of bodies and lifted his hands, and yellow flames appeared at his fingertips. As he leaned down to touch one of the woman’s legs, the fire took hold of the flesh and cloth, erupting around her and the corpses. The screams were unlike anything I had ever heard. I shut my eyes to block out the scene. It was clear I hadn’t wanted any of that to happen. I didn’t want anyone to die at Caleb’s hand.

I broke off the kiss and backed up, causing the memory to disappear.

“Fuck,” he cursed. He must have seen the fear on my face. It was clear I had seen something terrible?—something he didn’t want me to know about—something more sinister than the previous vision.

“Back the fuck away.” I held up my hands, my magic thrumming under my skin.

Just then, Abigail barged into the ballroom. “Mercy, you need to leave now. Caleb, don’t you try to stop her.”

Caleb didn’t say another word, but he heaved a heavy sigh, watching me back away from him. I said nothing, either, as I turned and ran out of the ballroom, grabbed my purse hanging from my chair, and exited the castle. I opened the Lyft app to request a ride home and stood at the end of the driveway waiting for them, shaking from the cold and, more intensely, from the nerves.

I’m such a fool to have trusted him.

Were Abigail and Desiree safe from that monster? I turned around and contemplated heading back into the castle, but she must have known what I was thinking. She was so quick to enter the room, as if she knew I had discovered Caleb’s darkest secret and was trying to protect me from a murderer. At first, I thought maybe I was the killer in these visions, but this time, I had begged him to stop as he ruthlessly burnt that screaming woman to death. I didn’t want the woman to die; I wanted to speak with her, and Caleb ignored my plea. He was trying to control me, just as he had done in the seventeenth century—hislittle soldier.

What didn’t make sense was that he had told me I was the coven leader. But wouldn’t he have listened to me when I told him to stop if I was? There were so many bodies burning because of his hands. What did that woman do to deserve to be killed with such brutality?

My driver arrived, and we headed toward my home. I texted Lily that I was on my way back and put my head in my hands. As the tears flowed down, I switched my constantly ringing phone to silent. It was slightly after ten before I arrived home and quietly snuck back into my room.

Aside from that horrible vision in the ballroom, I was nowhere near having the answers I needed. The night had not gone as I had planned. I had to think of another way to get my memories back, because I wasn’t going anywhere near Caleb again.

---