Page 29 of Taken

THE DOOR SHUT behind him as they left me standing there with my father’s gaze on my back.

I touched my lips and turned to him, who waited for me to say something, but I had no words.

The only feeling I felt was relief. There was no heartbreak or loss. Sure, I felt slightly guilty that Caleb would be hurting much more now. I didn’t find pleasure in being the source of someone’s pain, but what did he expect me to do? I’m not in love with him, and I hated that it hurt him as much as it did.

This was good. Caleb could finally move on and be happy. Maybe find love with someone else.

“Are you okay?” my father asked.

“I felt nothing when he told me that,” I explained. “What the hell does that say about me?”

“It says you’re fulfilling the mission for which you were created,” he said. “You don’t owe Caleb a damn thing.”

I shook my head. “Why did Tatyana create me this way? Why did I ever have to do that stupid spell if all I am is an element? Why not just make me be this way from the start, with no feelings, remorse, or humanity,” a small tear formed at the corner of my eye, “if I’mjustan element?”

My father reached out and placed his hand on my shoulder. “Oh, Mercy,” he said. “You’re more thanjustan element.”

I looked down at my feet as a tear trickled down my cheek.

“What do you remember from your life before you died?” he asked as I wiped my cheek.

“I don’t remember everything. Just flashes and visions,” I said. “Memories of my time training with the coven before the age of thirteen, and when we tracked down the clan that had killed Caleb’s mother, turned Roland and had taken you. My last memory seemed to take place a year before I died.” I let out a sigh. “There’s still a large part of my memory that’s blank.”

He slid closer to me, touching the top of my hand and gripping his fingers around mine. “Mercy, our families were close. We always had been. Your mother, Mary, and I were blessed to represent centuries of witches who had the power to heal others by using the element of Spirit. We couldn’t heal ourselves as you could, but if we used spells to pull that universal element, the essence of Spirit was our strength.

“When Tatyana came to Earth, she shared with us about the growing vampire race. We wouldn’t be able to defeat them without taking the elements in themselves, putting them directly here on Earth. The angel would need to take those elements and put them into a human body—not just inside a witch who could use them, but to transform that element into a life force—the five families tied to those elements would be able to fight together and destroy the vampires she had created by mistake.

“She told me that the element of Spirit thatourbloodlinewould bring into the world would be the key element in reuniting a vampire with their soul.”

My eyes widened. “You knew all along what my blood could do?”

He nodded. “Roland and I were the only ones Tatyana told. We kept it a secret to protect you, but then a vampire attacked you in a clearing outside the village one night. He turned human after biting you, but you didn’t realize what was happening to him. His clan showed up right as the sun’s light shone into the clearing. The vampires hid to protect themselves from the light, but the affected vampire never moved from where he stood. You thought your blood gave vampires the ability to walk in the day when the vampire stayed there, soaking in the sun, shocked at what was happening to him. He took off before you could question him.

“It wasn’t just you that believed it, but also his clan who witnessed it. I’m sure the vampire who turned human was too afraid to face them if they knew, so he ran, and their clan told everyone what they had witnessed. The rumor had begun that the element of Spirit would allow a vampire to walk in the daylight without bursting into flames. It became a prophecy among the clans.”

I shook my head. “I wondered how that rumor started.”

“The element of Spirit was everything perfect in this world, Mercy. When you died, you took that element with you. It was as if your death had drained the world of that power.”

I frowned, clenching my father’s hand. It was my fault. I had given myself up to the mob and allowed them to kill me all those years ago. I made the sacrifice for love over duty to my family … my coven.

My father must have seen the pain on my face because he gripped my hand tighter, and a warm smile pulled at his lips.

“Tatyana also told us you would fall in love in your past life, Mercy. How could you not? You represented the soul.Youhave a soul, my sweet daughter. What is a soul without the power to love? You are notjustan element.”

More tears formed in my eyes. I couldn’t hold it back anymore but allowed myself to cry and feel the growing pain tugging at my chest.

“Did she see who I’d be with?” I asked. “Did she see Caleb and me fall in love?

He nodded.

“And Dorian? Was he part of that plan?”

He nodded again and released my hand.

“Just because she foresaw it doesn’t mean ithadto happen,” he explained. “You choose your own path, Mercy.”

This feeling I had with my father, whom I barely remembered, was familiar and comforting. I had only vague memories of him from my past life and none of my birth father in this life. Alexander was the closest I had to a father, and I felt safe and close to him at that moment, as if my memories of him never went away. A quick glance at the clock told me it was five in the evening.

---