Page 70 of Taken

Caleb

DORIAN’S CAR WAS on the side of the road at the corner of Chestnut Drive and Parker Road. Someone had broken the front windows, and Mercy’s purse was still on the floor of the passenger’s side. There was blood splashed down the side of the car and on the road. I turned to Lily and saw Bradley holding her tightly. She cried in his arms, her face buried in his shoulder. Turning to my right, Riley was barely holding himself together. His hands were in tight fists, and if it weren’t for Amber caressing his arms to calm him, he’d transform into his werewolf form and go on a rampage. Something he was trying desperately not to do.

I understood this type of rage. Despite the familiarity of the scene, Mercy wasn’t off sacrificing herself again. Someone had abducted her, along with Dorian. It must have been an ambush Dorian couldn’t stop because he was a skilled fighter and would have fought for her until his last breath. He was likely dead, but not her. I could feel her. I also knew who was responsible.

Fucking Maurice.

This also meant that we were right about it not being him and his cronies who took the dagger. If he had it, she’d be dead, and we would all have felt it.

“That’s it. I’m calling the cops,” Bradley said, throwing his hands up and reaching into his pocket.

“Lily,” I said, hoping she’d stop this nonsense before it got out of control.

She grabbed Bradley’s hand to stop him, but when he resisted, she sprawled her fingers out and chanted. Bradley dropped the phone, not able to use his hand.

“Are you kidding me, Lily? You said you’d never use your powers on me!” he scolded. He looked more afraid than upset.

“And you promised to keep my secret after I told you.” Lily’s face softened. “What do you think the cops will do to us once they find out what’s happening here? Huh? What do you think Maurice will do to the cops you plan to call when, and if, they catch up with him?”

Bradley relaxed his shoulders, and Lily released the magic that had kept him from using his hand.

I turned back to Riley. “Go ahead. Shift and see what you can pick up.”

Amber, still trying to relax Riley, lifted her hand from his arm, and they both crouched down. After they transitioned into their wolf forms, they sniffed the area around the street. They sniffed the car, her purse, and the glass on the ground and turned to each other. Amber and Riley tapped their noses together as if they were communicating.

Riley quickly turned back to his human form and stood before me, naked as the day he was born. It was a bit awkward, but he seemed to not care, as if it were completely normal to be standing in the buff. “Okay, we have the scent. I smelled both a vampire and a witch. The vampire scent was female.”

“So, not Maurice?” I asked.

He nodded. “I didn’t recognize the scent of either of them.”

“Dammit,” I cursed. I then looked at Lily. “It doesn’t mean it’s not him. He had people who worked for him before. He most likely has a following now.”

We got back into our cars, and I called Joel to update him on what we had found out.

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ONCE BACK ATAbigail’s, I entered the kitchen and poured myself a glass of whiskey. It had been a while since I drank hard liquor, but fuck, I felt numb at this point. The extent of Maurice’s fury left him willing to do anything to her to seek revenge. The perfect punishment. If he was willing to kill an angel with a sword, with no remorse, what was he willing to do to Mercy?

I sipped my drink as I paced the floor.

“We’ll find her,” Roland assured me. He’d been standing in the doorway that led into the kitchen. I stopped dead in my tracks when he stepped in front of me. “Look, this is Mercy we’re talking about. You know she’s going to get herself out of this. She’s alive. That you know.”

He was right. Mercy was alive, but what had Maurice done to her already? What was he planning? Was she even here in Rhode Island? Had he taken her somewhere else?

I lowered my head and looked at the whiskey, then back up at my father. “I’ve got to go,” I said while handing him my glass. “Here. Knock yourself out.”

And with that, I left to find Melissa.

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I POUNDED MYfist against the door to her apartment until she opened it. She wore a thin green spaghetti-strap nightgown that came down to her knees. Her tattoos were on display, and her curly hair was pulled back into a low braid. She looked absolutely gorgeous.

“Hey, Caleb,” she said. “What’s going on?”

I stepped in without an invitation and placed my hands on the sides of her neck, staring at her. “Hey, beautiful,” I said in a gravelly tone. “Can I stay here tonight?”

There was so much desperation in my voice that I must have come off as truly pathetic.

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