Page 100 of Stalked

“And what about Dorian?” I asked. “Was he all part of that plan, too?” Caleb was silent and dared to look guilty. “You knew he was alive, Caleb. You lied to me.”

He hesitantly placed his hand on my cheek. “Mercy, please don’t.”

I pushed his hand away. “Stop, Caleb! You purposely kept me from him. Why?”

“Because I love you, and I’m a selfish asshole. You and I had something special, and it was ripped apart by parents who didn’t understand our love for each other. Then you met Dorian the day they forced us to stop having a relationship. You gave your heart tohim.”

He stepped closer to me, causing me to take a step back, so we weren’t touching.

“I also thought keeping that secret would protect you from being in the arms of someone I never trusted. We have a chance to start over again. You and Dorian could never have what we had.” He put his hand under my chin and lifted it gently. “He’s a vampire, Mercy.”

“That isn’t your decision to make, Caleb!” I hissed, grabbing his hand and removing it from my chin. “Your father and Abigail are vampires, and you still love them.”

“They’re my family.”

“And Dorian is mine!”

He flinched. “I’ll fight for you.”

I gingerly touched his hand, centering myself on calming my frustration. I was about to hurt him significantly, and I didn’t want our last moments to be out of hostility and anger. “I do love you, Caleb. But I also love Dorian.” I lowered my head but kept my hand gently in his, afraid of the words that I had to say next. They were words he had to hear and something I had to do to fulfill our given mission.

“Tatyana is going back to rescue Dorian from that clan. As well as anyone who wants to leave. Yet, the fight isn’t going to stop there. There are more clans to destroy and humans and witches to be saved.” I choked back the sobs caught in my throat.

Caleb stood there in silence, tears streaming down his face. I let go of his hand. “I can’t let my feelings for you and Dorian distract me from what we were sent here to do. Your father was right all those years ago. We were never sent here to fall in love.”

He reached for me, but I backed away. “Please don’t, Mercy.”

I closed my eyes as a ray of white light poured from my fingertips. When I opened them back up, I formed a bright white ball with the light. The ball grew larger and more radiant. My hands swarmed around it, keeping it stable and bright. I whispered to myself the words to the spell Tatyana had spoken in my ear. I pulled the ball firmly to my chest, almost falling over by the force of energy entering my body.

He reached out to me—his eyes wide with worry. “What are you doing, Mercy?” he asked. “What the fuck did you just do?”

I looked up at the man that I once cared for. All the feelings I’d had for him in the past and my current life ... were gone. I thought about Dorian and everything we used to feel for each other. I reached my memories and pondered those feelings and felt ... nothing.

They were two beautiful men I knew cared for me, but the only things left in my heart were the memories.

Panic rose in his voice, like it was threatening to choke him. “Mercy!” He stepped closer to me. “Mercy, what did you do?”

“The angel showed me how to take it away, Caleb. I had to take it all away.”

He stumbled back, falling to his knees. That was the moment he realized what I had done, what I had to sacrifice to become the hunter Tatyana created me for.

“I’m sorry, Caleb,” I said. “All I want now is to purify the Earth as the elemental power Tatyana created and bring an end to the evil that soaks the world in blood.

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