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I looked over by the post office, then scanned the street, and there was Cami, standing in the middle of the road with her arms outstretched.

Oh, my God.

The post office was the first building on Main Street, near the front entrance to all the shops on that side. The street peaked, then declined until it hit the post office. If someone were tearing down the road, they wouldn’t see her until it was too late.

“Cami, get out of the road!” I shouted, waving my hands, but she wouldn’t move or look my way.

I hurried as fast as I could, but not fast enough. A black pickup truck appeared at the top of the street, speeding down in Cami’s direction. They couldn’t see her. It would be impossible to slow down and avoid hitting Cami head-on.

“Cami, get the fuck out of the road!” I yelled again.

I didn’t have time. I wouldn’t make it. I stopped running and pulled my hands out to the side, thrusting them forward while releasing my powers at the truck. The green light hit the vehicle like a head-on collision, causing it to fly up into the air. The truck missed Cami by only a few feet. I used my other hand to throw it to the right and into a light pole, slowing it down before it collided, easing up on impact.

Cami stood still, not even a flinch. She just looked over at the damaged truck and then at me.

Once the truck was no longer moving, I ran toward her as fast as I could and pulled her out of the road. I led her over to the post office, near some tall hedges, out of sight.

Cami had tears in her eyes, but her face stayed emotionless. “I just want this nightmare to end, Mercy. Please make it stop.”

My heart shattered at the absolute desperation in her voice. She was so broken, so lost in the shadow that swallowed her. Several people were coming out of the stores to see what had happened. An older man exited the truck and didn’t appear to have any visible injuries. He was just a little disoriented, probably wondering what the hell had just happened.

I pulled Cami into my arms, gripping her shoulders tightly. She felt like a rag doll in my arms, as if she weren’t really there. Her mind was somewhere else. Somewhere dark and haunting. I wished I could see what was happening to her. I wished my healing powers could heal her mind, but they couldn’t. I tried. Even when I repeatedly failed to heal her, I kept trying.

What is happening?

I couldn’t keep Cami in that house without someone watching her twenty-four-seven. Not now. She was way worse than when we first brought her home. Laurie was too far into her own issues to take up the task.

What did Kylan’s sick and twisted mind do to her? Caleb had been possessed for only fifteen minutes, and he was an immortal witch. Even he mentioned he felt off for several weeks after that happened. But Cami was a fragile human that had been corrupted by darkness for days. I didn’t know how to fix her.

“Cami, let’s go home,” I told her. I grabbed her hand and pulled her down the sidewalk back to the car, getting her away from the growing crowd.

I have to admit her to Raven’s Mental Institution. We don’t have a choice.

CHAPTER 10

I WAITED ON Caleb’s bed with my hands clasped together while he showered. My mind couldn’t stop thinking about what had happened with Cami. I kept replaying the moment in the road over and over.

Leah and I had called Raven’s to have her admitted. She wasn’t a supernatural being, but her mental state had been caused by one. If any place could help her, it would be there. With Leah’s connections, they were able to make an exception and had a room ready for Cami.

I let Laurie know I would still visit her house and help take care of it, so she was okay with her daughter leaving. Laurie may have been intoxicated most of the time, but she was coherent enough to understand that her daughter needed help. After I told her what had happened on Main Street, she cried in my arms and begged me to get Cami help.

Since I was the reason this had happened to her, Leah and her family were going to be covering the cost, and we’d be sending her there tomorrow morning.

I turned my attention toward Caleb’s bathroom door as it opened. When Caleb emerged, steam from the shower into the bedroom. There was only a towel around his waist as he moved to the dresser to pick out his pajama bottoms.

As I watched the water bead on his perfect body, I swallowed, averting my eyes for a moment, then looked up again at him. I hated it when these feelings of lust took over when I needed to think of him as only part of my coven to avoid distractions.

My body was weak; there was no doubt about that. I may not be in love with Caleb, but I wouldn’t hesitate to think about him when I touched myself.

“Sorry about what happened this morning,” I said, breaking away from this uncomfortable feeling, or truthfully, the lust-filled arousal.

Caleb wouldn’t look at me as he sifted through his top dresser for a shirt.

“I don’t know what happened,” I continued, though I didn’t deserve an apology. The truth was, I really should have been begging for Melissa’s forgiveness. My actions could have gotten her fired, and she had been helping us for a year at significant risk to her livelihood.

After he pulled a white t-shirt over his head, he said, “I get it, Mercy. You’re used to running things within the coven. Butasa coven, we’re also supposed to look after each other. Your dad is the leader of that clan, which complicates things. You can’t be involved in this anymore.”

Caleb was right, but I couldn’t care less. Someone from my father’s clan was killing peoplebecauseof me. At least, that’s what we assumed. I refused to believe my own father was a murderer. He and Roland trained us to protect people, not harm them. Vampire or not, he knew right from wrong. Hell, every one of those bloodsuckers did.

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