Page 71 of Stalked

“This child was about to become another victim of something dark and evil. I had asked a vampire to turn me into a monster so that I could live forever. I was so selfish that I didn’t think twice about the lives I would have to sacrifice for my needs. I also knew I couldn’t kill Emily; she represented a part of who I truly was and still am inside. I may have lost my powers as a witch when I was turned, but it will always be who I am deep down. I told Lucas I couldn’t kill my kind. This, of course, angered him because I chose a witch over the vampires. The bastard then ripped the necklace from her neck and sunk his teeth into her throat himself.”

CHAPTER 21

“LUCAS MADE MEwatch the girl slip away as punishment.”

Poor Abigail. I can’t imagine watching a child being killed in front of me.

Abigail placed her hand over her heart as if she was experiencing chest pain, and tears slowly fell down her cheeks. “Everything happened so fast after that; I was overcome with rage. I broke the leg off a dining chair and lunged toward him. No one there even saw what had happened as I staked Lucas in the heart and turned him to ashes. I went to help Emily, and I could tell she was losing too much blood. I had to save her, so I turned her into a vampire. After her transition was complete, we fled the clan. Several decades later, we met Sherwood. He gave us a place to sleep, and he fed us.”

“You mean, he let you feed on him,” I guessed.

“Not at first. Sherwood didn’t know we were vampires. We did our best to stomach the human food he served us, but we had to find blood to survive. We would take walks at night and find animals near the forest by his house. It just wasn’t the same.” Abigail cringed and shook her head. “It’s just not natural. Over time, Sherwood noticed we weren’t getting older, so it forced us to share our secrets if we were to stay with him. Sherwood loved us and accepted us, no matter what. The animal blood was weakening us, so he let us feed off him from then on, so we’d have our strength. But I knew when to stop?—I didn’t hurt him. Ever.

Emily was afraid her old coven would try to find her and destroy her if they discovered she was a vampire. So, we changed her name to Desiree.”

I gasped, staring at her with wide eyes. “Your housekeeper?”

“She’s my daughter, Mercy,” she corrected, seemingly annoyed that I would assume anything else.

“Of course,” I said, shame painting my cheeks pink. “I’m sorry.”

To kill the child in order to save her and turn her into one of the undead must have been awful for Abigail. I couldn’t imagine what those two had gone through, and listening to Abigail share the most vulnerable parts of herself proved that she was one of the bravest women I knew.

Lily and Joel had been gathering snacks and water for everyone in the food storage closet. When they re-entered the room, Abigail shifted in her seat; her story was done.

I stood up. “I need to keep my friends safe, Caleb. We need to bring them here.”

“You’re not leaving this lair, Mercy,” he ordered.

I scowled at his abrasive response.

“No. I’m not saying I have to leave.” I turned to my uncle. “Joel, can you teleport them here?” I asked.

“Sure,” Joel said. “I’ll need their name and where they are, though. I need to be able to hone in on their exact location.”

“I can’t reach Riley, so it will just have to be Shannon until I can reach him. I’ll call her now.”

Caleb threw his hands up, exasperated. “Oh, yeah, that sounds like a responsible plan, Mercy. Let’s bring all your friends down here. You need to keep them away from their families and hide them here, where the vampires are heading,” Caleb snapped.

“You can tone down the sarcasm, Caleb. You don’t need to be an ass. If I can protect the people I love, I’m going to do everything I can to keep them safe, and if that means keeping them inside a safe house for as long as I can, I’m going to do it.” I pointed toward the ceiling. “I can’t keep them safe when they’re up there, defenseless.” He turned away from me and folded his arms.

I didn’t understand why he was being such a prick.

I stood and put my hand on Abigail’s shoulder, trying to not let Caleb’s obnoxious attitude bother me. “Thank you for telling me your story.”

Abigail didn’t look up or acknowledge me anymore, and I accepted that. It probably took a lot for her to open up about that part of her life to me.

Caleb cursed in the distance.

“What the fuck is your problem, Caleb?” I asked as I approached him.

“I don’t like this,” he seethed. “I can’t protectyouwhile worrying about the safety of your friends.”

“I can’t fight when I am worried abouttheirsafety,” I snapped back.

He walked up to me, slid his hand around my neck as if he had a right to touch me, and pulled me in. “Stop being so stubborn.” With his other hand, he gently ran his finger under my jaw. “And stop pretending like you still hate me. I know I haven’t been honest. I know I’ve lost your trust, but we’ve done this a million times before in your past life, and we always worked this shit out.”He dropped his hand and stepped back, swallowing down the nerves I knew were running wild in his body.

My heart raced, but I couldn’t allow myself to feel anything right now. Yes, I remembered my friendship with Caleb and the coven when those visions returned to me. But I don’t remember the parts where we dated. The visions stopped when I was thirteen. What I felt was only what our bond gave me. I felt love, but I felt hatred, too. After all these centuries, Caleb never changed who he was; he was still as stubborn as he was as a kid. But Ihadchanged. I wasn’t the same person he knew. I couldn’t have been. We fought in the past just as we have fought in this life, and every time, I forgave him because our bond was too strong.But I knew better now, and I knew what this bond truly was.

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