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On the other hand, we believed by now that every vampire alive knew I was reborn. If that was common knowledge among them, why wouldn’t he come looking for me? It would be a strange way to get my attention, but I couldn’t rule it out completely.

I had a sinking feeling that another body would turn up again if I didn’t go to Alexander in my own flesh. He was my father; maybe he would just tell me if it was him or if he knew who was doing it. This felt like a familiar pattern from last year after I escaped from Maurice. Back then, when bodies turned up in East Greenwich, it was always to draw me out. The vampires feared I was on a rampage to slaughter them all, so they tried to outsmart me. They thought they could capture and bury me alive if they saw me coming. It rarely worked, and I’d still end up killing the vampires. Once the coven and wolf pack agreed to a treaty with them, the body count dropped to zero. Whoever did this didn’t get the memo, or something else was at play.

“Fine. I won’t be a part of this case,” I lied, hoping to hide my deception.

This is bullshit.

Caleb grabbed his boxers and flannel pants, pulled them from under the towel, then dropped the towel once he was fully dressed. That time, he watched me … watch him. A smile pulled on the side of his mouth, so I looked away.

Stop it, Mercy. He’s enjoying this.

“You’ll still be informed of what’s going on, but I can’t have you going back to that club,” Caleb explained.

“Yeah, I get it,” I said too quickly.

“You’re going to go there anyway, aren’t you?” he asked, calling me out.

Arguing with him was pointless. “We’ll talk about this later,” I said.

I stood and stepped to walk past him, but he moved into my path, blocking me from the door. As he looked down at me, my heart pounded against my chest. He wasn’t only looking down at me; he was staring and examining every detail of my face.

“Move, Caleb,” I demanded. “I don’t want to use my magic on you, but I will.”

He laughed out loud. “Oh, Mercy. I have the rest of the coven backing me on this. We can use our magic to keep you here if we want.” Caleb leaned in until his lips touched my ear. “I’ll tie you to the fucking bed if I have to.”

I gulped and put my hands up. A warning. My powers slowly slinked up my arms and to my fingertips, lighting up the tips above my nails. “Alexander is my father, Caleb. He won’t hurt me.”

Caleb straightened his back, and his eyes drew to my hands. Then he slowly stepped forward, ignoring my warning.

Such a fool.

“No, Mercy. That’s where you’re wrong. Alexanderwasyour father. Not only is henota part of your life in this century, but him turning into a blood-sucking monster most likely changed how he feels about his little girl.”

“It never changed with Roland or Abigail when it came to their love for you, did it?”

“They never ran a murderous vampire clan,” he said, raising his hand to touch me.

I moved back and warned, “Don’t.” The light still lingered on my fingers. Now Caleb was pissing me off. While clenching my jaw, I felt the energy build up inside as my anger escalated. “You need to step away from me, Caleb. Now.”

He didn’t move or listen. In fact, he stepped closer.

The feeling going through my body was just as it had been in the autopsy suite. I’d always been able to control my powers and turn them off if I wanted, even before my Awakening, but I couldn’t anymore.

What is happening?

My frustration only built as I lifted my hands to shove him away. Instead, the energy left my fingertips and flung Caleb across the room and out of my path. The energy still lingered above my fingers as I realized what had just happened. Now on the floor, he looked up at me in disbelief. His mouth fell open, and he shook his head at me.

What the fuck did I just do?

I didn’t speak. I didn’t apologize. I only ran.

CHAPTER 11

Caleb

“PICK UP, DAMMIT,” I cursed. “Why is Mercy ignoring me?”

“She’s ignoring all of us, Caleb. What the hell happened yesterday with you two?” Leah moved to my right and sat beside me, placing her hand on my shoulder. I brushed it away and stood up. “Okay, tough guy. You don’t need to be an asshole. We’re all trying to help figure this out. I’m not saying it’s your fault she ran away, but somethingdidhappen.”

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