Eternal Bond : (The Cursed Series, Book 3)

by Kara Leigh Miller

  “How do we break the bond?” Trent asked. There was a dangerous edge to his tone, causing a shudder to snake down my spine.

  Macaih chuckled. “Oh, my dear boy. There is no way to break an eternal bond.”

  I felt the color drain from my face, his words ringing in my ears.

  “If Chloe continues to resist, the urges will become stronger. Eventually, she will act on them, or she will go mad,” Macaih said.

  My jaw dropped, and my eyes widened. “Hannah,” I whispered, shocked. All at once, everything came crashing into sharp focus. “I’m going to end up like her.” It was a truth so certain I felt it clear to my soul.

  “What does Hannah have to do with this?” Sean asked.

  I stood, my body suddenly alive with nervous energy. I paced in front of the couch. “The curse drove her crazy with bloodlust, but Trent…” I looked at him, and he was staring at me, confused. “He’d bitten her first. Made love to her.” My steps faltered, and I took a moment to steady myself.

  “You told her that?” Trent shouted at Jax. He made a move toward his brother, and I stepped in his path.

  “Stop.” I put my hand on his chest, and he stepped back. My hand fell, and so did any hope I had of making things right with him. “The curse and the bloodlust made her kill, but it was what she’d done with you that made her crazy. But she’d been bonded to you, Trent. Don’t you see? She loved Jax, but she was bonded to you. She went mad with the thoughts and urges.”

  And I was destined to be just like Hannah, minus the bloodlust.

  Trent’s eyes widened, and he took another step back. He shook his head. “No. She wasn’t. She couldn’t have been…”

  “It makes sense,” Jax said, his voice detached. “When we found her at that orphanage, she wouldn’t even look at me. All she wanted was you. You had to get closer to her. You had to talk her down.”

  Surprisingly, there wasn’t a single note of accusation in Jax’s tone. He could have been reciting the weather for all the emotion he displayed.

  Trent’s face fell, and he stood there, not moving, not speaking. It was as if he’d been frozen in place, unable to comprehend the truth.

  I spun around to face Macaih. “There has to be a way to break the bond.” Panic laced my words. I would not spend my life bonded to Jax. I couldn’t. “What if another vampire bit me? Wouldn’t a new bite cancel the old?”

  Laughing, Macaih shook his head. “That is not how it works. Once you are marked, it is a sign to all other vampires that you belong to another and are off limits.”

  My temples throbbed, and my eyes burned. This was not happening. “There has to be a way,” I insisted. “Jax didn’t claim me. All he did was feed on me.”

  And then it hit me. My eyes widened, my heart raced, and I looked at Trent, hope blooming in my chest. All he did was blink at me, clearly not making the same connection I was.

  “I’m Trent’s soulmate,” I said forcefully, excitement swirling through my tone. “If I let him claim me, would that break the bond?”

  Finally, Trent snapped back to his normal self, and a hint of a smile lifted his lips.

  I’d already told him I wanted him to claim me, and even though I wasn’t completely ready for that, if it meant breaking the eternal bond with Jax, I’d let Trent claim me tonight.

  Macaih shrugged. “Claiming a soulmate is extremely powerful, but I do not know if it’s strong enough to break an eternal bond. But you’re forgetting the most important thing.”

  “What?” I asked.

  “That mark”—he pointed at my neck—“means no other vampire can ever bite you.”

  My shoulders slumped, my heart shattering into a million jagged pieces. “So… Trent can never bite me?” I whispered with equal parts horror and disappointment. “He can never claim me?”

  Macaih shook his head.

  I gasped and slapped my hand over my mouth. If Trent couldn’t ever claim me, then what did that mean for us? How could he be with me when he couldn’t do the one thing that was ingrained in him?

  Trent growled, his hands curling into fists. Flexing. Curling again. I held my breath, praying he didn’t attack Jax. Or punch the wall.

  “Though, there might be one way…” Macaih grinned mischievously.

  “How?” Trent asked.

  “The only thing more potent than our bite is our blood. Should you change her…” Macaih waved his hand as if it were common sense. “She will then have your blood running through her veins.”

  “I have to become a vampire to break the bond?” I muttered and fell back onto the couch.

  And then I laughed, lightly at first, then more hysterically. Everything always circled around to me changing. Breaking the curse—change. Restoring the magical balance so Ivy would stop chasing me down—change. Breaking the bond—change.

  There was just one small problem: Isach Zoya.

  “Wait.” I stood abruptly. “How can Trent change me if he can’t bite me?”

  “He can’t,” Macaih said. “But he can.” His gaze landed on Jax.

  CHAPTER THIRTY:

  Taking a Break

  I BOLTED OFF THE COUCH, RAN into the bathroom, and threw up. My entire body shook with sick sobs, and the tears wouldn’t stop falling. It was like my eyes had become Niagara Falls. I splashed cold water on my face, my legs weak.

  What was I going to do? No way was I letting Jax change me. But I couldn’t stay bonded to him, either. That would only cause more problems. How could Trent and I ever be together if I continued to have all these feelings for Jax?

  Oh, God. I clutched my stomach and breathed deeply through my mouth, fighting back a fresh wave of nausea. Was this it for me and Trent? Our relationship had been complicated right from the start, but now it seemed doomed.

  “Chloe?” Trent knocked lightly on the bathroom door. “Are you okay?”

  “Yeah,” I said, my throat raw. I wiped my face with a towel and slowly opened the door.

  Trent was leaning against the doorframe, arms crossed, concern etched across his face. He straightened, and one look into his deep blue eyes was all it took to break me. I covered my face with my hands and sobbed.

  Without a word, he wrapped his arms around me and held me tight. Would this be the last time I ever felt his arms around me? Was it only a matter of time before he realized what I did—that our relationship was as good as over? How could we stay together when my feelings and urges for Jax were only going to get stronger?

  “C’mon,” he said softly and guided me back to his room.

  But being in here was worse, because in here were too many memories of afternoons spent in bed, kissing, dreaming of our future. A future we no longer had. My heart shattered, and my breath hitched painfully.

  “Will you take me home?” I asked.

  “You want to leave?” he said, his voice a mixture of disbelief and heartache.

  I nodded and moved across the room to change back into my own clothes. Snatching my jeans from the floor, I slid them on beneath Trent’s shirt. Turning my back to him, I took off his T-shirt and clutched it to my chest, letting his scent linger.

  My spine stiffened, and the hairs on my neck stood on edge. Goose bumps spread up my arms, and then Trent’s hands landed on my waist. He lowered his head to my shoulder and planted tiny heated kisses across my skin.

  “Please don’t go,” he said softly, his breath warm against my flesh.

  I closed my eyes, fighting with everything I had in me not to collapse on the floor in a heap of sobs. “I have to,” I whispered. “I can’t stay here. Not after…”

  “Chloe, honey.” Trent gently turned me toward him. He cradled my face in his hands, but I pulled away, knowing I wasn’t strong enough to handle whatever he was about to say.

  I turned my back to him, dropped his shirt to the floor, and scooped mine up. I yanked it over my head and pulled it down to cover my stomach. My fingers grazed the scar from my appendectomy, and I froze.

  I’d almost died ha
ving that surgery. Trent had been frantic, more worried than I’d ever seen him before—until now, anyway. Now, he had that same look on his face, the one that screamed with fear and knowledge and helplessness.

  No matter what choices I made from this point forward, Trent was going to lose me. And I couldn’t do a thing about that, unless I wanted to let Jax change me. But I had a feeling Trent hated that idea even more than I did.

  “Please talk to me,” he said.

  My shoulders slumped. “I don’t know what to say.” I forced myself to face him. “I’m sorry,” I said, tears pooling in my eyes. “I’m sorry I didn’t say yes when you asked me to spend eternity with you. I’m sorry I didn’t let you claim me. I’m sorry I took off and got kidnapped and held prisoner. I’m sorry Ivy starved Jax to get to me. I’m sorry I—”

  “Stop,” he said forcefully. “I don’t blame you for what happened.”

  “You don’t have to,” I said, crossing my arms. “I blame myself enough for the both of us.”

  “You saved his life, Chloe.” Trent eased my arms away from my chest and took hold of my hands. “Because that’s the type of person you are, and that’s just one of so many reasons why I love you.”

  I swallowed against the lump in my throat. “I didn’t want any of this other stuff to happen.”

  “I know.” He tugged me closer.

  I welcomed his embrace and rested my head on his chest. He held me, and I took comfort in his arms, even though I had no idea how many more moments like this we might have.

  “If you still want me to take you home, I will,” he said.

  “I do,” I mumbled. I needed some time to pull myself together and think about what to do next. How were Trent and I ever going to get through something like this?

  He took a deep breath, his body seeming to sag against me. “Okay,” he said after a moment.

  I gathered my stuff and slipped on my shoes. Silently, I followed him out of his room. Whitney, Sean, and Macaih were seated in the living room, talking and laughing. Jax was nowhere to be seen.

  “Are you leaving?” Whitney asked, standing.

  “Yeah. I just need—”

  She grabbed me in a bear hug, silencing me. “It’s going to be okay. I’ll call you later.” Then she released me.

  “Thanks,” I said with a forced smile.

  Trent led me outside, tossed my bag behind the seat, then waited for me to climb in. But before I could, he clutched my arm. “Wait,” he said.

  I stood facing him, my heart hammering.

  “I love you, Chloe, more than I have ever loved anyone in my very long existence, and nothing will ever change that,” he said, his voice clear and firm. “I need you to know that.”

  “I do,” I said.

  I’d never doubted Trent’s love for me. He’d never given me a reason to. I only wished I could say the same, but after tonight, he had no reason to trust me. My declarations of love for him were nothing more than empty promises that I was too weak and afraid to back up with any real actions.

  And right then I knew, if I didn’t find a way to fix this, I was going to lose Trent forever.

  I SPENT ALL DAY Saturday in bed, agonizing over what to do, not that I had many choices, but there had to be a way to fix everything I’d messed up. Because there was no denying that all of this was my fault.

  If I had just said yes when Trent asked me to change for him, he would’ve made me a vampire. Ivy never would have kidnapped me. Jax wouldn’t have been thrown into the room with me and starved. He never would have fed on me.

  “Hey, feeling better?” Abby asked, poking her head into my room.

  “Meh,” I said with a shrug.

  It was now late Sunday afternoon, and I still hadn’t managed to drag myself out of bed or shower. My phone was next to me. Trent had been calling and texting, but I’d been avoiding him. I still had no idea what to say to him. Continuing to say “I’m sorry” didn’t help the situation all that much.

  “You’re still going to Ellie’s sleepover tonight, right?” she asked, sitting on the edge of the mattress.

  Today was Ellie’s seventeenth birthday. She’d been planning this sleepover for weeks, and I had no intention of missing it. Maybe a night with my human friends was exactly what I needed to help clear my mind.

  “Yeah,” I said, sitting up and stretching. “Let me shower and pack.”

  “Cool.” Abby stood. “I’ll text Ellie to let her know, and I’ll tell Mom, too.” She left my room.

  I swung my legs over the side of the bed and reached for my phone. Even though I hadn’t been responding, I had read all of Trent’s messages. I really needed to say something to him.

  Me: GOING TO ELLIE’S TONIGHT FOR HER BIRTHDAY. LOVE AND MISS YOU.

  I’d barely set my phone on the nightstand when it chimed with an incoming message. That was fast. Standing, I grabbed my phone, a flutter of excitement whizzing through me at how quickly he’d responded.

  Trent: I LOVE YOU TOO.

  Trent: I’M LOSING MY MIND OVER HERE. CAN I PLEASE SEE YOU BEFORE YOU GO TO ELLIE’S?

  Blowing out a breath, I stared at his message. My fingers hesitated over the screen. I wanted to see him, too, but I still had no idea what to say to him. What if he asked me questions I couldn’t answer?

  Me: I’LL SEE WHAT I CAN DO.

  But I already knew that was a lie. I wasn’t ready to face him yet. Tonight, I was taking a break from him and everything else. I’d hang out with my friends and have fun. Like a normal teenager.

  My phone rang, startling me. I swiped my finger across the screen, my heart in my throat. “Hey,” I said, easing back down onto the mattress.

  “I needed to hear your voice,” Trent said.

  I smiled. “Feel better now?” I asked.

  “No.” He sighed. “I mean, a little.” He hesitated. “Are you okay?”

  “As okay as I can be, I guess,” I said.

  Abby barged into my room, her face flushed. “You’re seriously still in bed? Get up,” she demanded, tapping her foot. “I told Ellie we’d be there in half an hour.”

  Trent chuckled, the sound sending a warm shiver through me. Avoiding him like I had been wasn’t fair. He hadn’t done anything wrong, yet I was punishing him for the mess I had made.

  “I’m getting ready. Promise,” I said to Abby, holding the phone a little tighter against my ear.

  She rolled her eyes and walked out of my room, muttering something I couldn’t understand.

  “You’d better go,” Trent said.

  “Yeah.” I sighed. “I’ll call you later, okay?”

  “I love you,” he said, his words packed with so much emotion. “Always. No matter what happens.”

  Closing my eyes, I took a deep breath. “I love you, too. More than anything.”

  That was a fact that hadn’t changed. Despite everything I’d been through, my love for Trent was the one constant thing in my life. Even when I hadn’t remembered him, a piece of me had been missing, a hole that only his presence filled. I had no idea how we were going to get through this, but we had to find a way because life without Trent was unimaginable.

  “Have fun tonight,” he said.

  “Oh, I’m sure I will.” I stood again, knowing I needed to shower and get dressed, but now that I was actually talking to Trent, I didn’t want to let him go. “What’re you doing tonight?” I asked.

  “Hunting with Dad and Wyatt,” he said.

  “Have fun,” I said, then cringed. Was that the appropriate thing to say in this situation? Someone really needed to write a how-to-talk-to-vampires etiquette book.

  He chuckled. “I’d have a lot more fun with you.”

  For the first time all weekend, I smiled.

  “Oh, my God!” Abby said, once again walking into my room without knocking. She marched up to me and tore my phone from my hand. “Chloe loves you to the moon and back. Smooches. Hugs. Whatever else you two do, but she really needs to go now.” Then she ended the call.r />
  My eyebrows shot up, and my jaw dropped. “Abby!” I laughed.

  “What?” she asked innocently. “You never would’ve gotten off the phone with him if I hadn’t intervened.” She smiled sweetly. “So, go get ready, and then you can have your phone back.”

  I rolled my eyes, but my smile was still in place. My mood was brighter, and I was looking forward to spending the night with my friends. A sense of peace settled over me about Trent, too. He still loved me as much as he always had, and I was more determined than ever to fight for him. For us. For our future.

  CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE:

  Adulthood

  “PIZZA’S HERE!” ELLIE JUMPED UP AND ran toward the front door. She tripped and nearly face planted on the kitchen floor. “Oof,” she grunted and caught herself.

  I laughed. “Are you okay?”

  She nodded and giggled. “Totally.” Her eyes twinkled, and then she walked a much more normal pace to the door.

  “I have no idea where she gets all that energy,” Gina said, shaking her head.

  We were sprawled out on the living room floor in Ellie’s house. Her dad wasn’t home tonight, and her mom was hiding in her bedroom to give us privacy. So, it was me, Ellie, Gina, Tonya, Abby, and Whitney.

  Dressed in ridiculous pajamas—Ellie’s idea—we’d ordered food almost an hour ago, and it finally arrived. My stomach grumbled loudly, and Abby gave me a strange look. I hadn’t eaten much the past couple of days, but now that I was surrounded by my friends and somewhat relaxed, I was suddenly starving.

  Ellie returned a moment later with four pizza boxes and a stack of paper plates. She set everything in the middle of the floor and grinned. “Dig in!”

  I didn’t waste any time flipping open the lid and slapping two slices of gooey cheese pizza on a plate. I inhaled deeply, and my stomach rumbled again.

  “You’d better eat that pizza before your stomach eats itself,” Gina said with a laugh.

  I took a large bite and closed my eyes, savoring the taste. Then I groaned with satisfaction. This was quite possibly the best pizza I’d ever tasted.

  “Wow, that must be some good pizza,” Whitney said, her tone teasing.