Page 98 of Stalked

“They lied,” Caleb said. “I’ll explain everything on the way.”

He grabbed my hands and led me off the stage.

“Wait! We need to save Dorian. They’re going to kill him,” I said. “I can’t leave him.”

“We can’t save him right now, Mercy. We can come back for—” He stopped. The look on his face showed me he knew I was aware he had lied to me.

I frowned at him. “Yes, the same Dorian you claimed Simon had killed. You lied to me, Caleb. Yet again.”

His face grew grim. “I was protecting you from a world of pain. He joined this clan on his own. I wanted you to have positive memories of him.”

“That’s a lie!” I said sharply.

His face turned pale, like I had never seen him before. “?This isn’t the best place to have this conversation. We need to go. Now!”

We heard Maurice barking orders to his men, and I knew Caleb was right. We needed to leave, but I would come back for Dorian. I would be back for everyone behind those walls that didn’t want to be there.

It took us over ten minutes to find the door that led out to the vast garden on the side of the property. It was so dark out that we couldn’t see where we were walking anymore. Caleb held up his hand, and a flame lit on each fingertip.

“What are you doing?” I asked.

“We can’t exactly see without light,” he explained, holding the fire as we continued down the driveway.

The air around us felt invigorating as it entered my lungs. I took several deep breaths as we tiptoed through the rose bushes. I was free. Well, almost free.

“How did Shannon escape?” I asked. “They said they got into the safe house.”

“Some of their men disconnected the power lines to the vault, and the door we had her locked behind was no longer secured. Abigail got her out in time through another passageway through the sewers. She took her to Lily’s house,” he explained as he quietly opened the gate that led out of the garden. “They were right behind them, but Abigail was faster. She was able to make it into Joel’s portal before it closed.”

I sighed with relief, but it was cut short as the flood lights turned on as we approached the front gates. We turned our attention toward Maurice as he cleared his throat. Standing on each side of him were Noah and Kyoko.

“Going somewhere, Mercy?” Maurice asked.

“It’s over, Maurice. The only reason you wanted me was for my blood, and well, I don’t think you’ll be drinking from me anytime soon, will you?” It wasn’t wise to provoke him with his people around him, but having Caleb beside me made me feel a little braver.

Caleb pulled his hand out of his pockets, and a ball of flames hovered over his palm. He only held it there?—as a threat to our enemies.

“You can’t stop us,” I warned.

“Maybe not now. But I know about that dagger,’ Maurice said. “And I won’t stop until I find it.”

“I guess I’ll be waiting for you then,” I said.

Maurice turned around and moved to the side, letting us pass. It puzzled me why he would just let us go until I saw Riley and Amber approaching the tall black gates in their wolf forms. Caleb closed his hand, extinguishing his flame. Maurice and Kyoko looked terrified at the sight of two massive wolves circling their driveway.

“As I said, you can’t stop us,” I repeated as we crossed each other, slightly bumping my shoulder against his arm. I looked up into Maurice’s eyes as we passed. “Goodbye, Maurice.”

Caleb and I picked up our speed and ran toward the pack. Caleb led me to an open portal about a mile from the house. We were then teleported to the front porch of Lily’s home. Once I saw the house, I just stood there. Relief and sorrow hit me all at once.

We were safe, but Dorian was not.

CHAPTER 30

“EVERYONE’S INSIDE,” CALEBsaid. “Leah, Ezra, and Simon?—they’re all waiting for you.” He gestured toward my house, and I could almost hear the secret words revolving inside his brain.

We’re a coven again.

At that moment, I wanted to be happy. I hadn’t seen my friends since before I died. I met Leah briefly, but now I was getting a second chance to make it right. They were a part of me, and I was a part of them. But I wondered if they’d like the new version of me. Back then, I made a choice to save myself from an eternity of torture by choosing death instead of the coven. Would they forgive me for that?

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