Page 99 of Stalked

As I gathered up the courage to face my past, a bright light appeared. I turned around, and my mouth gaped open, shielding my eyes from the blinding glow. The light rapidly dimmed, and a beautiful woman in a long, white dress stood in front of me. I recognized the angel from the painting hung in the lair.

Tatyana.

Caleb moved in front of me to stand between us.

“I think that’s close enough,” he growled.

Her voice was soft and tender. “I’m not going to hurt her, Caleb,” she said.

“No? I find that hard to believe after she killed your son.” I looked at Caleb and then at the woman. She didn’t appear to be a threat, but what did I know? This was the first angel I had ever met, and it was true, I did turn her son to ash.

Tatyana gave me a friendly smile. “The world has one less monster, Caleb. I only came back to thank her for what she’s done. As a mother, we accept our children’s flaws, no matter how evil those flaws may be. But the Chosen Ones were also created by my hands, regardless of not sharing the same blood. You’re my child, too, Mercy. The tragedy of losing you all those years ago and being unable to bring you back—” She looked down to the ground and back up to meet my eyes. “Mercy, I hold no malice against any action you had to make to save the ones you love. You came back to this world to makemywrongs right.”

I bowed in solidarity and moved around Caleb, meeting her halfway. He tensed as I walked toward her. I turned slightly, shooting him a glare to not follow me. I didn’t need his protection any longer.

She held out her hand, and I hesitantly took it. When our fingers met, I was engulfed with warmth and power as it filled my body. I looked over my shoulder. “Caleb, please leave us.”

He clenched his hands together at my order and shook his head. He made a move in my direction. “Not a chance,” he said.

Caleb froze at the glower I shot at him, freezing him in his tracks. I snapped, “I’m not asking for your permission. I’m giving you a direct order as Spirit.”

Caleb glared at me for a hard moment and threw up his hands in defeat. He walked to the side of the porch and plopped down on the rocking chair by the front door. He looked upset, but he knew it wasn’t an argument he was going to win. After I saw he wasn’t going to protest any longer, I followed Tatyana toward the driveway, so we had some privacy to speak.

Tatyana turned toward me and smiled. “Thank you, Mercy,” she said. “You did what I could not. Kylan would have destroyed this world if he had killed you. The five of you are my greatest creations.”

It was such a weird thought that an angelic being had created us to kill the very thing she had made in the first place. I knew, though, that I couldn’t do this without her guidance.

“I don’t know if I’m strong enough to do this, Tatyana,” I admitted. “I need help. I needyourhelp.”

“Of course, you can. All of you can.” Her voice was so calm, very much expected from an angel.

I clasped her hand again, thinking back to the man I had to leave behind. I couldn’t be in two places at once, and as much as I wanted to chase after Dorian, I knew it wasn’t possible at that moment.

My voice was soft as I pleaded with the angel. “Will you save Dorian from Maurice’s clan? Please? Save as many as you can from that place. They took him for saving me. That is, if they haven’t already killed him.”

She nodded once. “I will try to save Dorian and take down that house. I will rescue those who want to be saved from behind those walls, but it’s your mission to be the one who fights against them, Mercy, not mine anymore. I failed once, and now it’s your turn to restore the balance lost because of my mistake.”

I glanced back at Caleb and sighed. “How do I do it? I’m struggling with a million emotions all at once. It’s not a simple task trying to balance what my mission is and what my heart wants. I’m fighting the undead, while constantly worrying about the safety of those I care about. I wasn’t born in this life to be a warrior, Tatyana. How do I become the hunter you created me to be?”

She smiled warmly. “You love them both, don’t you?” she asked. Understanding what I had meant.

I nodded, looking over at Caleb again. “Caleb is complicated and frustrating,” I said, knowing he’d see my lips move but not hear my words. I looked back to Tatyana. “I feel something for him in this life, whether it be love or lust. That aching feeling when we’re close; that it’s more about what we used to have versus what we do or what I want ... now.” I breathed in slowly. “And Dorian—” I paused, and tears filled my eyes. “—Dorian was, and is still, the love of my life.”

She leaned forward to whisper in my ear. Her hair tickled my neck, and tears burned in my eyes as I listened to her advice.

When she pulled away, her smile was gone, and I knew I had one more sacrifice to make in this battle. Tatyana bowed her head and took off into the sky; a soft “Thank you” left my lips as I watched her fade from view.

Caleb hopped down from the porch. “Roland’s almost here.”

I wiped the tears from my face. “You can’t trust him, Caleb. He purposely led me out of the safe house at the cemetery, so I’d get caught.”

“I know.”

He what?

My fingers sparked as I turned to look at his face. “You knew I was being led to those monsters?”

“I didn’t know then, of course,” he explained. “But after Roland became human, he came back here to help us. He needed your blood to become a witch again. He’s powerful, Mercy, and he needed to be human again to use the kind of magic we need in this fight. Maurice wasn’t going to let him leave if he didn’t give you up.”

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