Eternal Promise: (The Cursed Series, Book 5)

by Kara Leigh Miller

“Please hurry, and be safe, okay? And come straight to my house. We need to talk.”

  I swallowed the sudden lump in my throat. “Yeah, okay.” I ended the call and gripped the steering wheel with two shaking hands.

  With Felicity and the Zoya in Keene Valley, I needed to be careful. Other than Felicity, I had no idea what any of the Zoya looked like. How would I know if I encountered one?

  “I just texted Mom and told her we were going to Whitney’s,” Abby said.

  “Thanks.” I smiled gratefully.

  “I don’t really want to go home anyway. Mom will know something’s wrong and ask me a bazillion questions I don’t want to answer.” Abby shifted in her seat and sighed. “Trent sounded really upset.”

  “Yeah, I should’ve told him I was ditching school.”

  Last time I’d taken off without telling him, Ivy had kidnapped me. Trent had every right to be worried.

  “I really just want someone to love me like Trent loves you.” Abby’s bottom lip trembled, and she turned to stare out the window.

  I wanted to tell her she did have someone like that, but now wasn’t the time to defend Isach to her, not when he’d shattered her heart.

  The drive to Trent’s house was filled with music, but neither of us said much. What was there left to say? As soon as I pulled into Trent’s driveway, he was out of the house and opening my door.

  I climbed out, and he yanked me into a suffocating hug, his face buried against my neck. His breaths were deep, as if he were trying to inhale everything about me. I hugged him back, taking comfort in his embrace, even if it was completely frantic and intense.

  After several moments, he pulled back and searched my face. “You’re okay?”

  I nodded.

  “Thank God.” He took my face into his hands and slanted his lips over mine, kissing me with hard desperation. “Please don’t do that again.” He rested his forehead against mine, his eyes pleading. “I thought Felicity or the Zoya had gotten to you, that you might be dead.”

  “I’m fine,” I whispered, realizing just how worried he’d been. Guilt swirled in my gut. “But if I was dead, you would be, too,” I reminded him.

  He scowled.

  “Which is exactly why we should just kill them now and be done with it,” Jax said. When his gaze met mine, he smiled faintly, and my heartrate kicked up. “Glad you’re okay.”

  “Thanks.” I shifted uncomfortably on my feet and returned my gaze to Trent. “You said we needed to talk. What’s going on?” I glanced toward the passenger seat, and Abby wasn’t there. She must’ve gone in the house.

  “Let’s go inside.” Trent took my hand and led me into the house.

  Jax was right behind me, and my entire backside heated under his gaze. I didn’t need to turn around to know he was watching me. When I stepped inside, I found Abby crying again and hugging Whitney.

  I dropped Trent’s hand and wrapped my arms around Abby and Whitney. I had no idea what Trent needed to talk about, but dealing with witches and vampires was the last thing Abby needed. I wished she would have gone home, though being alone probably wasn’t good for her, either.

  Abby broke away from the group hug and wiped her face. “Sorry.”

  “Don’t be,” I said.

  She had every right to cry as much as she wanted.

  “Tell them what you told us,” Jax said to Whitney. He stood near the front door, arms crossed.

  My gaze lingered on his biceps, on how they always bulged with tension whenever he crossed his arms like that. Tearing my eyes from Jax, I sat on the couch, and Trent sat next to me.

  He laced our fingers and gave my hand a gentle squeeze. Fresh guilt wiggled its way into my veins. I was engaged to Trent, yet I was just visually ogling his brother. I hated what the bond had done to me—to us—how it had forever altered what Trent and I shared, how even now, it still had lingering effects.

  Colt sat in one of the chairs, Karina on his lap. He studied me for a moment before he said, “Good to see you’re safe.”

  “Thanks,” I said, slightly confused. Since when did Colt care about my well-being? Or was he just saying that because he knew how upset Trent had been?

  Trent brought my hand to his mouth and kissed my knuckles, his gaze still mildly frantic. I hated that I’d made him worry so much. I’d make it up to him somehow, but right now, there was something else going on that needed my attention.

  “Well?” I said to Whitney. “Spit it out.”

  She paced in front of the couch. “I overheard Isach’s thoughts today.”

  “Overheard?” I said around a disbelieving laugh.

  Whitney stopped and gave me an annoyed look before she resumed pacing. “Normally, he has me blocked, but today he let me in. It was almost like he wanted me to know something.”

  “Okay,” Abby said, sitting on the edge of the couch. “So, what did you hear?”

  “He talked to his father last night.”

  I stiffened. Isach wasn’t supposed to talk to Rector; he was supposed to talk to Felicity. That was the plan. Why hadn’t he followed our plan? Trent rubbed his thumb across my knuckles, and the soft touch calmed some of my nerves.

  “Rector said he knew Felicity was back in Keene Valley, that he’d sent her on a mission to earn back his trust,” Whitney said. “But there was nothing in Isach’s thoughts about what that mission was.”

  Abby dropped her head and covered her face with her hands, but she remained silent. I couldn’t imagine what she must be thinking.

  “And there was nothing about Colt or Karina, so either Rector doesn’t know anything about you two, or Felicity really isn’t here because of Dante,” Whitney said, giving Colt an encouraging smile.

  “So, that’s it?” I asked, staring up at Whitney. “That’s not helpful. At all.”

  “I know.” She sighed. “Like I said, I got the feeling he wanted me to know something, but I can’t figure out what. He must still be guarding some of his thoughts.”

  Everyone had been acting weird today, but all of this stuff with Isach was too much. Why would he talk to his father? Why would he break up with Abby with almost no explanation? What mission was Felicity on, and why didn’t Isach let Whitney know? Why grant her access to only part of his thoughts? And how did Dante figure into all of this?

  Frustration erupted in my chest, and I stood abruptly. “Seriously, what is going on with everyone today?” I smoothed my hands over my hair and blew out a breath. “Are we all under some sort of spell or something? I mean, you barely spoke to me this morning.” I pointed at Trent. “And you got mad at me because I didn’t agree with you.” I glared at Jax. “You seem to be genuinely concerned for my safety all of sudden when all you’ve done since you got here was make snide comments about what’s been going on.” I waved my hand dismissively in Colt’s direction. “And you”—I whipped around on Whitney—”you basically told me I was being inconsiderate of Jax’s feelings.”

  “You what?” Trent said as he slowly stood.

  I put my hand flat on Trent’s chest. “Don’t, okay? We’ll talk about it later.”

  Trent scowled, but he didn’t say anything else to Whitney. I breathed a sigh of relief.

  “That right there is why I make the comments I do,” Colt said coolly. “You got both of my brothers wrapped so tightly around your finger they can’t go more than two seconds without wanting to tear each other apart.”

  I curled my hands into fists. Rage boiled through my veins, my fury so hot and thick I couldn’t form a coherent thought.

  “Colton,” Trent said, his voice tight.

  “Am I wrong?” Colt asked. He nudged Karina, who quickly climbed off his lap and moved to stand near Whitney. He stood and leveled his stare on me. “Tell me I’m wrong, Chloe. Tell me you’re not stringing Jax along.”

  “She’s not,” Jax said, and my eyebrows shot up. Of all the people who I expected to step in and say something, he wasn’t on my list. “Whatever feelings I still have for Chloe are on m
e. She’s done nothing to lead me on.”

  “Watch yourself, Colt. I mean it,” Trent warned.

  “Whatever.” Colt threw his hands in the air, then turned on his heel and stormed out of the room.

  I stared after him, dumbfounded. Why would he think I was leading Jax on? I hadn’t done or said anything to give him that impression. And why had he gone from genuine concern to baseless accusations in the blink of an eye?

  “Well, now that he’s gotten that out of his system…” Whitney said. “Can we get back to what’s really important here?” She nodded at me.

  “As I was saying, every one of you have been acting strange,” I said. “And let’s not forget Isach’s behavior today.”

  “And yours,” Jax added. “Taking off like you did. Not telling anyone. Last time you did that, we ended up Ivy’s prisoners.”

  “Fine,” I said through clenched teeth. “You all have to admit today’s been weird, right? I mean, weirder than normal.”

  No one said anything, not even a nod of acknowledgement. They may not think their behavior was weird, but I did, and I wasn’t going to pretend everything was fine.

  “I suppose it’s possible the Zoya did something to us,” Trent said after a moment. “But I haven’t seen any in school. Have you?” He glanced at Jax, who shook his head.

  “Felicity was there Friday, though. Maybe she did something?” I suggested.

  Trent rubbed the back of his neck. “I don’t think so. The Zoya obviously don’t like us, and while they do like to play mind games, they’ve never messed with our heads like this before. And why Whitney? She’s not a Halstead.”

  I flopped down on the couch next to Abby. I had no answers, and the one person who might be able to tell us anything wasn’t here. “Did anyone else talk to Isach today, besides Abby?” I asked.

  One by one, they all shook their hands.

  “Not even Ellie or Gina or Luke?”

  Again, they all shook their heads.

  “Now that I think about it, I don’t remember seeing Isach today,” Whitney said.

  There was a sickening feeling in the pit of my stomach. “Give me your phone,” I said to Whitney. When she handed it to me, I dialed Isach’s number and put it on speaker.

  “Took you long enough,” Isach said.

  At the sound of his voice, Abby cringed and turned away, as if not seeing the phone would somehow make it so she didn’t hear him at all.

  “It’s Chloe. What the hell is going on, Isach? Why did you break up with Abby and then ditch school? And why did you talk to your dad when we all agreed you wouldn’t do that?” Fury laced my words, but I didn’t care. He had a lot of explaining to do.

  “Her mission is to watch me.” And then Isach ended the call.

  I stared at the phone, eyes wide. Then, my heart took off like a racehorse. Tension filled the room, and I sat stunned. Why would Rector ask Felicity to follow his son? And if her job was to follow Isach, why was she watching me? Why had she appeared in the road in front of Trent’s truck? Isach hadn’t been with us. He’d been with Abby.

  Confusion quickly morphed into terror as realization seeped into my pores. Felicity must know that Isach was with Abby, which meant Isach probably broke up with her to protect her. It wasn’t because he didn’t love her—it was the opposite. He loved her enough to walk away, to ensure she was safe.

  But if Felicity knew about Abby, then Felicity must also know that Isach has been hanging around with us, and that meant Rector knew, too. He had to know Isach was working with us, planning to betray the Zoya. Did Rector know about me, though?

  “Can we kill her now?” Jax asked.

  “Yes,” I said, meeting his gaze.

  CHAPTER NINETEEN:

  Trust Issues

  “WE SHOULD GO,” ABBY SAID, STANDING. Her face was splotchy, and her eyes were bloodshot from crying so much. She looked emotionally drained.

  I nodded and headed for the front door.

  “Chloe, wait.” Trent clutched my elbow. “Can I talk to you for a second?”

  I glanced at Abby, who shrugged.

  “Go ahead,” Whitney said, draping her arm around Abby. “I want to talk to Abby anyway.”

  With a sigh, I turned and followed Trent into his room. My head was starting to throb, and all that dessert I’d eaten at the diner was now churning in my stomach. Trent closed the door and stood in front of it.

  “Look, I’m really sorry about today. I didn’t mean to make you worry,” I said.

  He laughed and shook his head, his expression amused. “I was actually going to apologize to you.”

  “For what?” I asked.

  “For freaking out like I did. I hope you know I don’t expect you to tell me where you are all the time,” he said, stepping away from the door and closing the distance between us.

  “I know.” I slipped my arms around him. “But you were right. With Ivy and the Zoya and now Felicity… I need to be more careful. And I will. Promise.”

  “Thank you.” He leaned down and brushed his lips over mine. “And I’m sorry about Colt. He has no right to talk to you that way.”

  Groaning, I eased away from Trent’s embrace and crossed my arms. “It’s obvious he doesn’t like me, and that’s fine. Whatever. But to accuse me of leading Jax on?” My gaze met Trent’s. “You know I’m not doing that, right?”

  “Yes,” he said without hesitation.

  I shifted on my feet. “Was Colt right? Are you and Jax still fighting because of me?”

  Trent rubbed the back of his neck and moved around me to stand near the window. “Not as much as we used to.”

  I dropped my arms to my sides and let out a heavy sigh. “Trent,” I said, my tone full of frustration.

  “I don’t trust him,” Trent said, his back still to me. “I know you love me, and I know you’d never hurt me.” He turned to face me. “But I don’t trust that he won’t try to convince you to do exactly that.”

  “If you trust me, none of that should matter,” I said. “You should trust that I wouldn’t do anything. That I wouldn’t allow Jax to convince me to do anything.”

  Trent sighed. “I do trust you, but I know my brother.”

  Shaking my head, I took a step closer. The very last thing I wanted to do was stand here and convince Trent he could trust me. I believed he did, and I was going to continue to believe him. Eventually, he’d realize he was wrong about Jax. At the moment, I was more concerned with Colt and how seemed to hate me.

  What had I ever done to him? I could honestly handle Colt hating me, even if that would make future family gatherings difficult, but I couldn’t handle knowing he was probably saying things about me to Trent. They’d been spending a lot of time together. For all I knew, Colt could be trying to get Trent to leave me—which would certainly explain Trent’s sporadic behavior the past couple of months.

  “What’s wrong with us lately?” I asked.

  “What do you mean?”

  “I mean, ever since Colt got here, things between us haven’t been… normal. You’ve been spending so much time with him, which is fine. I’m glad you can. But we hardly ever see each other outside of school anymore, and when we are together, either everyone else is around, too, or you’re distant.”

  I took a deep breath, forcing myself to shut up before I said anything else. I’d probably already said too much, and making Trent feel bad for spending time with his brother was not the purpose of this conversation.

  “I don’t know,” I mumbled when Trent didn’t speak. “I guess I just miss the way things used to be before Colt showed up.”

  Trent crossed the room to the bed and sat. His shoulders slumped, and he hung his head. I waited, the unease in my chest becoming stronger with each second of silence.

  “Growing up, Colt always acted like the big brother,” Trent said, still not looking up. “Despite the trouble he liked to cause, he always watched out for me and Jax, made sure we had what we needed, that we made good choices.”

/>   I remained frozen in place.

  “Even after all these years, he’s the same old Colt.” Trent rubbed his hands over his face, then propped his elbows on his knees, body hunched forward. “Jax and I told him everything that’s happened, not just with you, but the curse and our lives as vampires. He’s worried you’re coming between me and Jax.”

  My breath hitched, and I momentarily closed my eyes. “Do you agree with him?” I asked.

  “No.” Finally, Trent looked up at me. His eyes were sharp and clear. “I think you were unfairly caught between me and Jax. You made a choice to save his life, but you had no way of knowing his true intentions.”

  I bit the inside of my cheek to stop the impending tears and nodded.

  “That’s all on Jax, and I’m not sure I’ll ever be able to forgive him, but I don’t blame you, Chloe. I never have, and I never will,” he said.

  Swallowing hard, I took a cautious step closer. I wanted nothing more than to throw myself into his arms, but something held me back, a gut instinct that there was more he needed to say.

  “Colt thinks Jax and I are blinded by you, that we’re putting you ahead of each other. And for Colt, there has never been anything more important to him than me and Jax,” Trent said.

  If that were true, why had Colt stayed away from them for so long? But I kept that thought to myself, not wanting to make this situation any worse.

  I kneeled in front of Trent. He straightened, and I rested my hands on his legs. “I have never wanted to come between you and Jax.”

  “I know,” Trent said. “But we can’t ignore what’s going on here. He still loves you, and that’s not something he can just get over. I tried to convince myself that wasn’t the case, that I was just being paranoid and jealous, but Colt sees it, too. So does Sean.”

  Averting my gaze, I blinked, tears spilling silently down my face. “I don’t love Jax,” I mumbled.

  Gently, Trent lifted my chin, forcing me to look at him. “I know you don’t. But Colt doesn’t know you like I do. He doesn’t know what we’ve been through to get where we are, and he can’t fathom how much I love you, how I’d do absolutely anything for you.”