The Chosen Coven Series Box Set

by D L Blade

  I looked around again. There were machines, tubes, and cases all over the place. On the righthand side sat a bunch of computers and technology that looked far too complicated for me to understand. Right as I approached the computers, Maurice walked in. “Mercy, glad you’re here to see this.”

  He walked up, kissed me on the lips, and pulled back when I heard someone clear their throat. A woman with short black hair, and stunningly beautiful, stood behind Maurice with her arms crossed over her chest. “So, this is Mercy. How delightful it is to meet you. I’m Clara.”

  Would she reject me, too?

  I held out my hand. “Hi. Nice to meet you, Clara.”

  She grabbed my hand and shook it with a firm grip. “Welcome to Freedom Corp.” She let go and looked at Maurice with an odd grin. “I hope you like what we’re doing here. It’s been quite a year developing this potion, but once we’re finished, we’ll be able to help so many lives. Just think about it. This potion will create a barrier on vampires’ skin to protect them from the UV rays that destroy them. Wouldn’t that be amazing?”

  I nodded. Why was she making me so nervous? “Yes . . . yes, it would,” I said. Then, I looked at Maurice. “I’d love to see the rest.”

  Maurice smiled and brushed my hair over my ear. “I’d love to show you something, Mercy.”

  “Okay,” I said as he led me out the door and down the hall. We entered another room, which had clear stalls toward the back, and . . . people were inside.

  My stomach twisted. “Maurice, what the hell is this?”

  He laughed. “Don’t worry. Their sacrifice is going to save us.”

  “But they’re prisoners. What are you doing, Maurice? This is wrong.”

  He laughed. “I don’t care.”

  The room spun around me as my nerves took over. Did he want me to hate him? Why was he acting so cruel? Did I really date, maybe even love, someone like this? I wished so badly I could remember everything.

  He gripped my arm and leaned down to whisper in my ear, “Do you have something you want to say to me?” My heart raced, and it nearly exploded in my chest. I couldn’t speak. I just shook my head and looked down at my feet.

  He let go of my wrist and walked over to Clara as she entered the room. “We have all five, now. Alexander came in last night,” she said. The name sounded familiar. I walked closer to the clear stall and looked in. The first was a young girl, about my age. She was sitting with her knees to her chest, rocking back and forth. How long had she been in here?

  I moved over to the next. A man in his forties stood in the corner, his arms folded. He looked straight at me, but his face was fierce, like he wanted to rip me to pieces. I wished I could tell him I had nothing to do with this. Next was an elderly woman. Her hair was silver, and she was curled up in the fetal position. I couldn’t tell if she were sleeping, but she wouldn’t look up, either. The fourth was a beautiful blonde woman, and she stood right at the front of the glass and stared at me. She put her hand up to the glass and tapped. She was saying something, but I couldn’t hear. Her eyes grew wide as she threw her hands up and screamed at me while hitting the glass. I backed into Maurice. He wrapped his arms around me, pulling me further back.

  “That is Abigail. She’s a wild one, isn’t she?” he asked.

  I shook my head. “She’s trying to tell me something.”

  He leaned down to my ear. “Would you like to see the last one?” The heat from his breath tickled my skin until each hair stood up on my neck. I didn’t want to be here anymore, but I nodded anyway.

  When we reached the fifth stall, I looked at a middle-aged man, handsome, with dark brown hair, and the look he gave me was pained. His eyes searched mine as if we were connected in some way. I placed my hand on the glass, and he put his hand flushed with mine on the other side.

  “Who is this man?” I asked.

  Maurice was now by my side, but this man behind the glass only held my gaze.

  “His name is Alexander.” He fisted my hair and pulled my head back. I winced. “We need their sacrifice to complete the spell. Then, we’ll need you.”

  He released his grip, and I turned to him. “Me?”

  He grabbed my right hand and traced my palm with his index finger. “We need your beautiful green light to activate the potion as the final touch. You’ll be helping millions of vampires experience the freedom of the light.”

  I shook my head. “But I don’t have any magic. You told me it had been taken from me.”

  Clara stood in front of me now. “Julian,” she said. Julian was now next to me, grabbing my arm and pulling me into the last stall at the end. I tried to pry away his hands, which gripped on my arm, but he was too strong.

  “Stop, Julian. Let me go. Stop!”

  He slid open a glass door and threw me in.

  No.

  He shut the door and raised his hands over the glass in a circle, and black smoke trickled from his fingers. He swirled it around until the door sealed on the right side. I pulled at the door, but it wouldn’t budge. I slammed my fist against it hard, but it wouldn’t break.

  No! I will not be kept in a cage.

  What was happening?

  Mercy

  I hopped up with a sudden urge to pee. There weren’t any toilets in these tiny stalls. I banged on the door.

  “Hello?”

  But no one came. “I’m going to pee myself if you don’t open this damn door.”

  Julian was in front of the glass and moved his hands in a circle again to unlock it. As soon as it opened, he grabbed my arm and escorted me to the bathroom. After I relieved myself, I took my time washing my hands.

  I cannot go back in that stall.

  Julian knocked on the door. “Hurry up.”

  I opened the door and flipped him off, moved past him, but he grabbed my arm again. “Watch it!”

  Without thinking or caring about the consequences, I spit in his face. “Go to hell.”

  Maurice entered and let out what sounded like a hiss. “Enough. Don’t put her back. We’re ready for her.”

  Maurice grabbed me this time, and when I looked back at the glass stalls, they were empty.

  We walked into the main room with the large tank and standing on a platform were the other five that were kept as prisoners here. Their hands were tied behind their backs, and they looked as if they had been drugged.

  “What is happening? What are you planning to do?”

  He gestured to the people on the platform and said, “They’re going to be our sacrifice.” He turned and smiled. “The world is made up of five Universal Elements. Centuries ago, five families represented these elements. Other witches had to use spell books to harness those powers. But not those families. If that wasn’t special enough, an angel came down and gave them each a child, their spirit being the Element itself. It allowed them to have a direct connection on this earth. Pretty powerful, don’t you think?”

  I didn’t answer.

  “These five are descendants from those families,” Maurice said.

  He moved over to the first, pulled out a knife, held it to her throat, and sliced it in one swift motion.

  “Water,” he said as her blood spilled from her wound. I yelped and covered my eyes.

  He killed her. Oh, my God. He killed her!

  “Hold her head up so she can watch,” he commanded of Julian, who pulled at my hair and yanked my head up to stare in their direction. Maurice walked behind the man, who had been in the second stall and slit his throat, too. “Air.” Then to the old woman. “Earth.”

  I let out a loud sob and gasped for air as anxiety filled my body. Once he reached the young blonde girl, I tried to step forward, but Julian yanked me back. “Please don’t do this, Maurice.”

  The woman looked me straight in the eyes and called my name. “Mercy!”

  She repeated my name, but the second time, she screamed it. Maurice slapped her hard across her face. “Shut up.”

  “Mercy, you need to use your po
wers. Use them now!” she said. Panic rose in my chest as he slit her throat.

  “Stop! Please, Maurice.”

  Tears welled in my eyes.

  This isn’t happening.

  “Fire,” he said as her body collapsed to the floor.

  The last one stood, keeping his eyes glued on mine. He must have been drugged as he rocked from side to side. I hoped the drugs they had given him would take away his pain. They were sick. All of them. They were sadistic, making me watch these senseless murders.

  I thought about what the woman they had called Abigail had said to me. Use my powers? I didn’t have any. Maybe I did, but I didn’t know how to use them.

  He held the knife under the last man’s throat. They called him Alexander, and I felt like he was someone I knew. Someone I loved.

  I stepped forward, but Julian pulled me back again.

  “Say goodbye to your father, Mercy.” He slit his throat and blood poured out of his neck. “Spirit.”

  My father?

  I looked up in horror as Maurice stepped down from the platform. I watched their blood ooze out of their necks and flow to the center until their blood mixed together in a pile of misery and death.

  Maurice gripped my hands and squeezed. “Focus, Mercy. We need you now.”

  He pulled my hands out, palms facing the five dead bodies in front of me. “Let me go!” I screamed.

  “I need your power. Use it!” he yelled.

  “I don’t know how,” I explained. “What’s supposed to happen?”

  Maurice gripped my waist and leaned in close to my ear. “I just killed your father. I’ve made you believe that you belonged to me. Tricked you into loving me. I kissed you. I even had your body, making you think that we were something special. How does that make you feel?”

  Angry. That made me incredibly angry. It was all a lie. I knew I couldn’t love someone like this, but I wasn’t going to let my anger give them the power they needed. I wasn’t going to let them use me this way.

  Except, I felt something stirring inside just then. I felt these powers he had spoken of. They radiated through my body and reached my hands. I looked down and saw the light for the first time, but I wasn’t going to give them my power that they needed. Instead, I flung my head back and head-butted Maurice so hard, I heard a crunch, then I ran. Julian grabbed the collar of my shirt and yanked me back. I pulled my hands forward and blasted him across the room as soon as he stood over me. Once I reached the door, Clara was standing in front of it. I lifted my hands to blast her, but the moment the power landed in front of her, she caught it in her hand and threw my magic toward the bodies on the floor.

  No!

  I backed up into a body, and a needle pricked my neck.

  They pulled me toward the platform, and I watched in horror as my power, which she had directed their way, swirled in circles, with the blood of their victims circling around like a tornado until it was mixed together as one.

  Clara walked up to the platform and moved her hands from side to side, directing the liquid up to the large tank in the center of the room, and lowered it inside.

  She was a witch, and that scared me more than being around Maurice. She just took my own powers and used them against me.

  She smiled and stepped toward me, but I couldn’t attack anymore. The drugs they’d given me had taken over.

  And I shut my eyes.

  Mercy

  When my eyes opened, I was chained to my bed at my wrists and ankles.

  Oh, come on!

  I looked at the door, which was open, and called out, “Maurice!” But he didn’t come.

  I huffed, laying my head back down and closing my eyes. I focused on the power that radiated from my palms.

  Did he really think I wouldn’t try this?

  The powers hovered over the chains, and I focused, hoping it would penetrate the metal, but nothing happened.

  “Hello, Mercy,” Jade said as she walked in. “I’m not supposed to take those off, so I have to feed you and give you the drugs that are keeping your powers stabilized.” Her voice was sluggish, as if I were a huge inconvenience to her.

  She carried a tray of food and a glass of orange juice. She set the tray down on the nightstand and stuck a straw in the drink. “Here.”

  “No, thank you,” I said, turning my head away from her. “It could be poisoned.”

  She laughed. “Ha! Not like it would kill you. Drink it. You’re going to dehydrate.”

  “Then, give me water,” I snapped, turning back to her.

  Her face hardened. “Look, you stubborn little witch. Drink and eat what I give you, and I’ll leave. If you don’t, he will punish me.”

  I laughed. “Good.”

  Her fangs appeared, and she lurched toward me but stopped before she reached my neck. Her breath was heavy against my skin. She was so close, but she wouldn’t bite down.

  Why? She’s a vampire, that’s what they do.

  She let out a frustrated growl, grabbed the tray, and stormed out.

  She left me alone again, which I was both thankful for and worried about. How long were they going to chain me up like this? What if I had to pee?

  The clock on the nightstand read ten in the morning, and when I looked back at the ceiling above me, the door opened again. This time, it was Maurice.

  “I’m heading back to the lab today to start preparing the vials of potion you helped us make last night. Thank you, by the way. After last year, learning about what you did, I found you worthless, but really, you were the key to helping us after all, just in a different way.”

  He rubbed the back of his fingers against my cheek and my skin crawled. “What are you talking about?”

  His devilish smile grew wide. “You and I, Mercy, have done this before, but in a different setting and circumstance.” He kept stroking my cheeks, and it was pissing me off.

  “I’ve never loved you, have I? It was a lie from the start.”

  He removed his hand finally, and I hadn’t realized that I was tensing up the entire time. I relaxed my shoulders into the mattress. “We were never in love, but I wanted you then, and I still want you now.”

  “Oh, please. You want to use my powers. That’s it.”

  His face grew fierce and he brought his hand to my throat, squeezing hard. “I already got what I wanted. I could let you go back to your coven, but you’re too dangerous with them, and with the help of Julian removing all the negative feelings and memories you have of me, you and I could have a future together. It’s a shame you can’t die, or I would turn you into a vampire. Maybe then you’d see that a powerful man needs a powerful woman.”

  “I’d rather choke on my own vomit,” I spat out. As I turned to look away from him, his fingers lifted from my throat.

  I didn’t want to see the look on his face, but I could only imagine. “Eat when Jade brings you food!” His voice was harsh and authoritative.

  I didn’t watch him leave, but I heard the door shut.

  I think I laid there for over three hours or so.

  Waiting.

  Bored.

  Thirsty.

  The door creaked open again, and I thought it was Maurice coming back, but it was Jade. She didn’t have food this time, but she was carrying a bottle of water. “Open,” she instructed. And I did. I can’t remember the last time I had been so thirsty.

  After I drank the entire bottle, she undid my chains with a key and stepped back. I rubbed my wrist.

  My brows furrowed. “Why couldn’t I break the chains with my magic?”

  “Julian put a spell on it, but I’m still able to open with the key. Use the bathroom,” she commanded. I hurried to the bathroom quickly and relieved myself, as she sat on the bed, waiting.

  I could have taken her out right then and there if I wanted to. Just a flick of my wrist and I could have shot my powers out toward her and ran.

  I wasn’t sure if anyone else was in the house, but I had to at least try to escape.

 
“If you’re thinking of hurting me, please don’t,” she said as I entered back into the room.

  I slowly walked toward her. “Are you going to tie me back up?”

  She shook her head. “Come. Follow me to the library.”

  I didn’t understand what was happening. She seemed like she didn’t hate me in that moment. She was being . . . nice.

  I followed her to the library, which I had only been in a few times. Her coffee mug sat on a small table, and next to it was the play Romeo and Juliet.

  I snickered.

  “What’s so damn funny?” she asked.

  “I don’t know, Jade. You seem like you’d be reading something darker. Like Dracula or Salem’s Lot.”

  She snickered this time, picking up her book. “Yeah, I don’t come off as the romantic type, do I?”

  I shrugged. “Well, there is tragedy in that story, isn’t there?”

  She smiled, set the book back down, and strode toward me. “I love him, you know?”

  I knew who she was talking about. It wasn’t Julian. It was Maurice. “Did you date?”

  She nodded. “A long time ago. Now, I work for him.”

  I looked down, gathering up my thoughts. “He’s my worst enemy, isn’t he?”

  She nodded. “Yes, but he’s obsessed with you.”

  My stomach twisted into knots at those words. Love wasn’t scary. Hatred wasn’t even scary. Both love and hate allowed you to feel free. But obsession. That was something you’d have to escape from.

  “What am I?” I asked her.

  She turned, and her lips made a straight line. “You’re our worst enemy.”

  She walked over to the bookshelf, pulled out a book, and opened it. It wasn’t a book, though. It was a box with a small cut out. She pulled out a large key and walked up to me.

  “What does that open?” I asked.

  She placed it in my hand. “The other answer to your question.”

  I looked down at the key, then eyed the hallway connected to the library. The hallway led to that thick door I was forbidden to open.

  “I’ll be in my room for a while,” she said.