The Chosen Coven Series Box Set

by D L Blade

  He walked out, but had his hands out in front of him, moving his fingers around. It was just like we had witnessed several times since Mercy’s Awakening. It was a newly-turned human from vampire, shocked at the sudden change in their body, and feeling the blood rushing through their veins again. It was a surreal moment, and no matter how much I hated seeing them touch her and bite down into her flesh, it was a beautiful moment for everyone, witnessing what she could do.

  Mercy smiled with pride and turned to her father. “Roland is human, too, Father. With the two of you having your powers back, we can all be a family again and work together.” She turned away from him and walked up to me. “I’m sorry for using my magic on you yesterday. I lost control . . . again. I’m also sorry I left without letting anyone know where I was going.” She wrapped her fingers around mine and squeezed. “I haven’t abandoned the coven, Caleb. But I knew you wouldn’t let me come here alone. I had to be alone for him to hear me out. I am safe with him, and I plan to stay with him for a little while.”

  “Out of the question.”

  “This isn’t up to you, Caleb!” she snapped.

  “Why would you stay with him?”

  “He’s going to teach me how to control my powers. I don’t know what is going on with me, but every time I get upset, I lose control. My father knows more about my powers than everyone here combined. I need his help. And I need you to be safe.”

  I knew she was losing control, but if anyone could help her, we could. I felt helpless. “I won’t be able to focus, knowing you’re here. With him being human now, shouldn’t you be leaving this lair as soon as you can?”

  “He doesn’t live here. He has a home in Newport where we’ll be crashing from now on. It’s close to Abigail’s mansion, and I’ll gladly give you the address. We’re heading there after my father gathers what personal possessions he has here at the club.” She placed her hand on my arm gently. “See what you can find out about the body of the homeless man. Once I have more control of what is happening with me, I’ll come back.”

  Joel had his arms folded and slowly walked up to Alexander. “And who will be running this place after you leave? Won’t they wonder what happened to you and go on a killing spree? I’ve heard the stories of what your clan does to their victims.”

  “Don’t believe everything you hear. No, this clan hasn’t always been on their best behavior, but I’ve seen worse. I’ll help you find out who from the clan is responsible for the deaths in your hometown, but I’m not going to worry about who’s taking it over. I’ll keep Mercy safe. I promise.”

  His promise meant nothing to me. I didn’t trust him. I didn’t like any of this, but I had no control of her. I never had, as much as I’d tried.

  The hardest part about all this was that she didn’t need me. I needed her, but she would never need me other than balancing our coven. She could take care of herself. Her powers were stronger than mine. Of course they were.

  I walked up to Mercy and placed the tip of my fingers under her chin. She looked directly into my eyes. My heart was aching, but I had to let her go. Centuries of love and heartache came crashing down on me all at once. There was only one way this was going to go, and it wasn’t with her in my arms again.

  “I’m letting you go,” I said.

  “Thank you. Like I said, I’ll be safe.”

  I shook my head. “No, I mean, I’m letting you go.”

  Her face went still as I slowly inched forward, and when I saw she wasn’t resisting, I closed my lips to hers. The kiss was tender and short, then I released her. “You were right about taking your feelings away. I wish I could do that for myself with you. But I don’t have the power to do it.”

  Her face was still unmoved as I walked away from her, Joel and Lily following behind me. I didn’t know if anyone really knew what to say in that moment. All I knew was that, for the first time since she and I were fourteen years old, I was letting my heart move on.

  Mercy

  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 my father. He was waiting for me to say something, but I had no words.

  I stood there, thinking about the only emotion I felt—relief. I didn’t experience heartache or loss. Sure, there was a slight guilt that he would be hurting right now. I hated 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. He could finally move on and be happy. Maybe find love with someone else.

  “Are you okay?” my father asked me.

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

  “It says you’re fulfilling the mission for which you were created. You don’t owe Caleb anything.”

  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, no remorse or humanity,” a small tear formed at the corner of my eye, “if I’m just an Element?”

  He smiled. “Oh, Mercy. You’re more than just an 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.

  “Only a few visions. Caleb asked if I wanted all my memories back, but I told him my life before this needed to stay in the past. I didn’t want to know.”

  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 like you could, but as long as we used spells to pull that universal element, the element of Spirit was our strength.

  “When Tatyana came to us, she told us about the vampire race that was growing and how we wouldn’t be able to defeat them without taking the elements in themselves and putting them directly here on the earth. In human form. By taking those elements and putting them into a human body—not just inside a witch that could use them, but actually transform that element into a life force—the five families tied to those elements would be able to fight together and destroy what she had created.

  “She told me that the element of Spirit that our bloodline would bring into the world would be the key element to reunite a vampire with their soul.”

  My eyes widened. “You knew?”

  He nodded. “Roland and I were the only ones who knew what your blood would actually do. We kept it a secret to protect you, but one night, a vampire attacked you in a clearing outside the village. He turned human after biting you, but you didn’t realize what was happening to him. His clan showed up right as the light from the sun shined down 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 light 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 was turned human was too afraid to face them if they knew, so he ran, and their clan told everyone what they had seen. The rumor had begun that the element of Spirit would allow a vampire to walk in the daylight without bursting into flames.

  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 you had drained the world of that power.”

  I frowned, grabbed my father’s hand, and held it firmly. I had given myself up to my mob and allowed them to kill me all those years ago. It was my fault.

  He 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 that you would fall in love in this life, Mercy. How could you not? You represented the soul. You have a soul, my sweet daughter. What is a soul without the power to love? You are not just an Element.”

  More tears formed in my eyes. I couldn’t hold back anymore. I allowed myself to cry and to feel this pain.

  “Did she see who I’d be with? Did she see Caleb and I 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 it had to happen. You choose your own path, Mercy.”

  This feeling I had with my father, whom I barely remembered, was familiar and comforting. I had only small memories of him, and none of my birth father in this life. Alexander was the closest I now had to a father, and I felt safe and close to him in this moment, as if my memories of him never went away. I looked up at the clock, and it was almost five in the evening. “We should get going. We probably don’t want to be here when the rest of your clan shows up after dark,” I suggested. As we were about to walk out the door, I turned to him and asked. “Have you ever killed anyone?”

  I wasn’t sure if this was a stupid question. He promised he wasn’t the one killing those in East Greenwich, but was he like Dorian, who did everything he could to keep himself from drinking from victims? It was like it was their nature to do it, and to them, it wasn’t wrong.

  “Yes,” he admitted.

  My heart sank. “Oh,” was all I could say.

  “Look, when your soul is taken from you, you lose a lot of your humanity. Some more than others. I met a girl and we thought we were in love,” he said.

  My jaw dropped. He killed someone he cared about?

  “She told me that I could drink from her, so I did, but I couldn’t stop for some reason. I’ve always been able to stop, but not with her. By the time I was able to will myself to let go, she was on the brink of death. What I didn’t know was that she also was married. Her husband came home right at that moment, so I laid her down and ran out of the house but watched her slip away in his arms.”

  “Oh, my God, Dad. I’m so sorry.”

  He shook his head. “She was able to speak with him right before she passed. I hoped whatever they said to each other brought him comfort and her peace before she died.”

  I grabbed his hand and squeezed. “You have your soul back now. You’re a different person. Live the life you should have always had before it was taken from you.”

  He smiled back, and those were our last words before we left the club and drove to his place in Newport. I planned to hide out there until I was ready to face Caleb and the rest of the coven again. My father and I had a lot to catch up on, too, and I needed to get a grip on my powers. I wasn’t sure what was happening to me, but it scared me, and I didn’t want to lose control anymore, especially with those I cared for.

  Caleb

  Melissa crashed at the mansion last night. We didn’t sleep together. We hadn’t done that yet, but it was nice to hold her and feel her warmth against my bare chest.

  We started the morning early, as she had to stop in the office to work for a few hours, and I needed to train with the coven.

  When she entered the kitchen, she eyed the coffee I had brewed and poured herself a mug.

  She carried a notebook and reading glasses. She put her glasses on and looked at the notes in front of her. “The homeless man, Ned, had been dead for over twenty-four hours before his body was found, which means Ned was killed before Alexander became human again. Alexander could have done it. We haven’t had a body bitten by a vampire come in since.”

  The timing was too perfect, and now she was alone with him at his place. I tried to shake the thought and hoped we were wrong. But then again, he did live here in Newport. I could swing by in the morning and secretly check on them.

  I placed my hand under her arm and rubbed the top of her skin ever so gently while she placed the notebook down, removed her glasses, and smiled back at me.

  Melissa and I have talked off and on for the last few months, and though I knew Mercy wouldn’t give her heart to me, a part of me felt like I was cheating on her. I held back with Melissa, never fully giving her everything I should have. I knew it probably frustrated her, but I didn’t want to hurt her until I knew for sure there wasn’t a chance with Mercy again.

  Melissa was stunning. Her hair was long, like Mercy’s, but had perfect curls that fell down to the center of her back and was a lighter shade of brown. She had beautiful rose and dragon tattoos that started at the tip of her shoulder and reached down to her wrist in a perfect sleeve. She also had a set of angel wings on her chest that signified her twin sister, who had passed away when they were born.

  I didn’t tell Melissa about what had happened three weeks ago at The Black Horse. I felt guilty about it for sure, but Mercy hadn’t called me since I told her I was letting her go, not even a text. She was still staying at Alexander’s place here in Newport, according to Leah, who had heard from her. Did the kiss freak her out?

  Dammit.

  “What are we doing?” Melissa’s voice pulled me out of my thoughts.

  “What?”

  “This. What is this between us?”

  Great, I didn’t even know what this was. “I care about you. Let’s start there.”

  She frowned and moved over to the side of the table, now standing closer to me. “I’d like to go on a real date. The only times we ever hang out are the occasional make out sessions at your house or when we’re standing around a dead body.” She smiled and placed her hand over mine. I reciprocated and grabbed her hand, rubbing my thumb over her skin.

  “How about dinner tonight at La Masseria?” I asked.

  “You don’t have business with your coven?”

  I pulled from our touch and ran my hands through my hair. “I’m just training with the coven this afternoon, but we’ll be done early. I can pick you up at six forty-five.”

  She didn’t have to persuade me. I wanted to take her out. I’d been wanting to ask her out for a long time but didn’t want to face the coven’s judgments or ruin what I thought would or could have happened with Mercy and me. I wasted my time on someone who would never love me when I had this gorgeous woman in front of me, who did care, this entire time.

  I needed to move on.

  While I drove to Melissa’s, my phone beeped, and I glanced at it quickly while at a red light. Mercy’s name appeared on the screen.

  It was about damn time.

  Mercy: Someone broke into Alexander’s home last night. It’s not safe for me here anymore. I’m coming home.

  She always did have the worst timing.

  Melissa opened the door wearing a lacy green dress. She had styled her hair in a braid that wrapped around her shoulder, and she smiled as soon as she saw me standing there with a single red rose in my hand. “Such a gentleman,” she said, taking the rose from me. “Thank you.”

  I wore a sleek black suit and gray tie, and I’d shaved off the beard I had been growing the last three weeks as I nervously waited for Mercy to check in with me.

  I cleared my thoughts and focused on the beautiful woman in front of me. I held out my hand, and she took it in hers.

  After a few glasses of wine and La Masseria’s delicious spaghetti marinara, Melissa excused herself to the ladies’ room, and I took this opportunity to respond to Mercy.

  Me: What exactly happened last night?

  She responded almost immediately, as if she had typed it all out, waiting for me to respond first.

  Mercy: We woke up to broken glass near the balcony window. The room is three stories high, with no window or rooftop to connect to where the window sits, so either someone had thrown a rock through the window or we’re dealing with something supernatural. You’d have to be Spiderman to scale that wall.

  Melissa was rounding the corne
r, so I typed up my last text to her for the night.

  Me: Stay at the mansion tonight. There’s a house key under the blue vase by the front door. I’ll turn off the alarm with my phone. Come in and make yourself at home. I’ll be back by nine.

  I shut my phone down and glanced up at Melissa, who had rejoined me at the table.

  “Everything okay?” she asked.

  I let her know what was happening with Mercy, and given Melissa’s kind nature, she showed her concern, but when I mentioned that Mercy would be staying with me tonight because of it, her body language changed instantly. Her shoulders slouched, and she bit her bottom lip. She didn’t whine or share her thoughts, but I knew she wanted to say something.

  The rest of the evening, I had given Melissa my attention, but my thoughts kept going back to the fact that I would see Mercy for the first time in three weeks. Yes, I was moving on, but since her Awakening, this was the longest we had gone without seeing each other.

  Mercy’s safety had always been my number one concern. I didn’t know if this ruled out Alexander as the killer in East Greenwich for certain, but him turning human again was certainly a game changer unless, like Melissa had pointed out, he killed the last victim before he changed. But if that were the case, what was his motive? If it was to draw Mercy out, he had her within his grasp. Was it all to draw her back to him so he could return as a witch? It’s not like she’d refuse a vampire who wanted to be a human again.

  One thing was for certain. Whoever it was knew Mercy was at his house, and they were coming after her.

  The lights were dim in the family room when I entered.