Page 59 of Stalked

“Do you honestly believe I could have just dropped this on you before you had a full grasp of your purpose here?” Caleb asked while I studied his face, watching his eyes leave mine for a moment.

There’s more.Always fucking more.

He shifted uncomfortably in his seat, and I immediately understood why. “That’s the reason you kidnapped me, isn’t it? You knew Lily and Joel would stop you because the next step in your plan is to make me immortal.”

“You being a mortal is a problem, Mercy,” he explained. “You’re being hunted by vampires, and they won’t stop.” I looked away from him, staring blankly at the floor. “Look at me, Mercy. They know I brought you back.”

I shook my head. Being immortal was a big fucking deal, and he wasn’t giving me a choice. I felt his hand on my back, but I shifted my shoulder to the right, brushing it away.

“Some vampire clans know what will happen tonight after you turn twenty-one. If you get caught, some will not be able to stop when they drink your blood. They will kill you, Mercy, whether they want to or not.” Caleb bowed his head. “I won’t lose you again.”

He looked at me with a tortured gaze. I saw how much it hurt him to see me protesting something he had probably been thinking about for centuries. The desire to bring me back and finally complete that last step to making me immortal. Just like the rest of the coven.

“I don’t know if I can watch the people that I love grow old and die while I continue to live.”

I collected my thoughts and asked myself if there was any other way. If I died, the element that was crucial for the survival of the witches would be gone again. But, if I became immortal, I would watch Lily, Joel, and my friends die, and I would be fighting monsters for eternity.

Caleb pulled me out of my thoughts and placed his hand on my cheek again. “I’ve loved you since the moment the stars aligned and brought us together for the first time. You won’t lose everyone, Mercy. You have a coven that will walk with you in this life. A coven who loves you.”

This isn’t love.

“We don’t allow the stars or the universe to decide our fate!” I pounded on my chest once with my fist. “We decide, Caleb. We do.”

His face scrunched up at my words. “Then decide … now.”

Caleb’s words sent my heart racing, but I was confused about what that meant.

He wanted me to decide to change my life completely and become an immortal warrior—vampires against witches, for the rest of my existence.

Then there was Caleb. It didn’t matter that I was attracted to him. He lied, kidnapped, and held things from me?—something no one would do to the person they loved. I didn’t know if the feelings I had before for him were lust or love, but I felt something at moments … and I hated myself for it.

CHAPTER 17

I SAT INCaleb’s car, staring at the Danvers City Library entrance for a solid ten minutes before I decided to break the silence.

“Why this library?” I asked.

Caleb kept his eyes on the building but snuck a quick glance my way. “There used to be a farmhouse here, which my family owned. The cellar underneath the library was our meeting groundwhen our coven joined together. Our village was a few minutes from here. We would meet at a cabin that was built right here to perform spells and train to fight. We couldn’t train in the village, as people started becoming suspicious about witches’ existence. The very first day we trained was right here.”

My vision. This is where I saw my memories stop during the reading I did with Patricia. “You mentioned you’d have to draw blood to bind us?”

He nodded, turning to me. “Just a little to link the elements.”

“I mean, is it going to hurt?”

“Not much. You’ll be fine, Mercy. You heal faster than a werewolf, and they heal pretty damn fast.”

I blinked rapidly.

“Yes, werewolves exist,” he said casually. “But they aren’t a threat to witches. They despise vampires just as much as we do. Werewolves have felt a bond with witches throughout the centuries. They protect us, as we always have with them. It’s an alliance against evil.”

Holy shit.

“Alright,” Caleb said, halting me from asking more questions about werewolves. “We need to go inside.”

When we reached the door, he placed his hand on the handle, then stopped. “My heart broke when you died, Mercy. It nearly destroyed me.” He grabbed my hand gently. “If you die again, we all die, and I need you to stay alive. We need your strength and your power, but most importantly, I need to be able to look into the eyes of the woman I love for the rest of time. Whether or not you choose to be mine.”

At that moment, I knew that his words were meant for someone else. It wasn’t about what he and I had years ago. It wasn’t about how he felt about me romantically; I couldn’t give him my heart when I wasn’t even sure who I truly was.

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