Eternal Choice: (The Cursed Series, Book 2)

by Kara Leigh Miller

  I slipped my arm across his stomach and wiggled closer. Trent’s arm tightened around me. “Why do they call themselves the Rose Coven? Is it because that’s Samara’s last name?” I asked.

  Trent stiffened, his hand freezing mid-stroke.

  Oh, no.

  My ears rang. My neck and ears burned with the stark realization of what I’d just said. My heart beat wildly against my ribcage. Pushing against Trent’s chest, I slowly sat up. How was I going to get myself out of this one?

  “How do you know about Samara?” Trent asked, his voice level and his words calculated.

  “Sean mentioned her,” I said a little too quickly.

  “No, he didn’t.” Trent eased himself into a sitting position.

  “You must have told me her name.” I shrugged like it was no big deal and moved to get out of bed.

  Trent clutched my arm, stopping me. “Chloe… Do you know something?”

  I twisted out of his grip, and he released me without argument. “I only know what you’ve told me. And until two days ago, I didn’t even know that.” I climbed out of bed and threw my hands in the air with frustration—mostly at myself for slipping up.

  “Samara Rose was the witch who’d been trying to help us. She’s the one who disappeared.” He made no effort to get out of bed.

  I paced the room, unable to sit still. Every nerve was on edge, ready to send me over the cliff at a moment’s notice. How could I have been so stupid?

  “Before Samara went missing, they were known as the Celestine Coven, named after the mineral they wore around their necks. But then their strongest witch vanished, weakening them even more, and so they changed their name to honor her.” With all the gracefulness in the world, Trent flipped off the covers and got out of bed.

  The sight of him—barefoot, bare chested, cotton pants hanging low on his hips, hair mussed—stole my breath. Slowly, he sauntered toward me, and I stood frozen in place.

  “If you know something, you need to tell me. I can’t protect you if I don’t know why they’re after you.” He swept his hands along either side of my neck and drew me closer.

  I stepped to him willingly. He caressed my cheeks with his thumbs, his touch so tender and loving. I lowered my head and closed my eyes, unable to look at him.

  “Chloe?” He tilted my head. “Do you know something?” he asked again.

  Nodding, I stared at him through blurry, tear-filled eyes. “Yes,” I choked out.

  “What do you know?” His voice was barely a whisper, but the insistence in his tone was hard to miss.

  “I can’t tell you,” I whispered. Turning away from him, I wiped the tears away.

  “Why?” He sounded distant, like he’d moved to the other side of the room. But he hadn’t—I could feel him behind me.

  “Because I don’t want to.” My heart cracked at having to say those words.

  I knew they were going to hurt him, and that’s the very last thing I wanted to do. But what other choice did I have? If I told him, one way or another, my life would be over. Literally.

  “You don’t want to?” he repeated.

  Taking a deep breath, I turned to face him. His expression was conflicted. I hated myself for doing this to him.

  “I’m sorry.” I wrapped my arms around him, resting my head on his chest. “I can’t tell you. Not yet. I just need some time to figure a few things out.”

  After a moment, he returned my embrace, and I sighed with relief. “We might not have time, Chloe.”

  “I know.”

  Trent would never hurt me, but until I was sure Sean and Jax wouldn’t, either, I needed to keep the truth hidden a little bit longer.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN:

  Lies, Lies, and More Lies

  WHEN I WOKE UP, I WAS alone. I squeezed my eyes shut, fighting against the familiar—and unwanted—sting of tears. Of course, Trent had gotten up and left. I’d hurt him last night. I might as well have screamed in his face that I didn’t trust him.

  Groaning, I grabbed the nearest pillow and covered my face. It smelled like Trent, which made my heart clench with hurt and longing.

  After several moments of self-pity, I got out of bed and showered. Dressing in comfortable jeans, I reached for my favorite long-sleeved T-shirt with the Black Veil Brides logo emblazoned across the front.

  My heart seized for a completely different reason—Simon. I wished I could’ve told him goodbye or somehow explained… everything.

  I yanked the shirt on over my head, pulled my hair into a ponytail, and then headed downstairs. The cabin was eerily quiet, and my steps slowed near the bottom of the staircase. Jax was in the kitchen. Cooking eggs.

  I stopped and watched him for a second, amused at the sight of him doing something so normal. “Hey,” I said.

  He glanced over at me and smiled. “Morning, sleeping beauty.”

  I wasn’t sure if him calling me that was cute or annoying. I shuffled into the kitchen and hoisted myself up onto one of the barstools that was pulled up to the island counter.

  “Where’s Trent?” I asked.

  “Out.” Jax folded the eggs around, scrambling them.

  “Out?” I asked. When he didn’t offer any further explanation, I said, “Out where?”

  “He didn’t give me an itinerary. He just said he had a few things to take care of.” Jax returned his attention to the frying pan, his back to me.

  I sat there, stunned. So, Trent had just left? Was he really that mad about me not telling him what I knew? It’s not like I was never going to tell him—that would be impossible. I just needed a couple of days to work things out in my mind. Why couldn’t he understand that?

  “When did he leave?” I asked as I slid off the stool and went to the refrigerator. My mouth was suddenly dry.

  Jax shrugged. “A few hours ago.” He moved the pan from the burner and turned off the stove. Then, he leaned against it, arms crossed. “What’s with the interrogation? Trouble in paradise?” He laughed. “Or are you mad you have to be here with me?”

  “Both.” I slammed the refrigerator door closed and shot him a dirty look. Every angry retort I wanted to hurl at him died on my lips, and my shoulders slumped.

  “Want to talk about it?” he asked, his tone reminiscent of the Jax I’d grown to trust. But that Jax wasn’t real. He was a liar and a fraud, and I was not going to be swayed by the memory of him.

  “Not with you.” I returned to the stool. “I’m still furious with you.”

  “Yeah, I figured as much.” There was a note of regret in his tone.

  A second later, a plate of scrambled eggs, bacon, and two golden brown pieces of toast appeared in front of me.

  “Eat. It will help.” Jax sat on the stool next to me, a similar plate of food in front of him.

  Eating was the last thing on my mind, but my stomach grumbled. I took a small bite of the eggs. They were light and warm and seasoned with just the right amount of salt, pepper, and cheese.

  “Wow. These are really good,” I said.

  One corner of Jax’s mouth lifted in an arrogant smile. “Courtesy of two years of culinary school.”

  My jaw dropped. “You went to culinary school?”

  He nodded. Chewing and swallowing a mouthful of food, he said, “When you have an eternity at your disposal, you can do whatever you want. There were a few years where the boredom got to me, so I went to school.” He shrugged.

  I ate several more bites, savoring the taste. “You know, for someone who doesn’t need to eat, you sure do like food.”

  Jax laughed, and despite my bad mood, I smiled.

  “Just because I don’t need this kind of food doesn’t mean I don’t like it. With my heightened senses, it tastes…” He paused as if searching for the right words. “Sinful. Like the one thing you know you’re not supposed to do, but you do it anyway. That rush you get? It’s exactly like that.” He grinned.

  I stared at him. Pre memory loss, Jax had been angry and closed off. In Malibu, he’d
been quiet and guarded, not really saying much. But this was an entirely new side of him. He was relaxed and passionate. His eyes sparkled in a way that reminded me too much of Trent, of the way he looked at me with adoration and amusement.

  Would he still look at me like that if I refused to tell him what I knew? Or would he become angry and frustrated with me? Now that I had Trent back in my life, I couldn’t handle the thought of fighting with him, especially when we were living together. Appetite gone, I pushed my plate away.

  “What’s wrong?” Jax nodded at my plate.

  “Nothing. I’m just full.” I gave him my best smile, but based on the way he narrowed his eyes, he didn’t believe me. “It was really good, though.”

  “Of course it was. I made it.” He winked.

  I refused to let him disarm me, to make me forget his betrayal and deceit. “So, where’s your dad, anyway?”

  “He left before Trent.” Jax shoveled the rest of his eggs into his mouth and ate them. “He’s meeting with Audrey. The friend he mentioned last night. He’s hoping she has more information about the coven.”

  “Right.” I snatched my plate and carried it to the trash. Scraping the uneaten food into the garbage, I set my dishes in the sink.

  “Which means it’s just you and me,” Jax said from behind me.

  I gasped and spun around—and bumped right into Jax’s chest. I hadn’t even heard him move. I glared at him. “Don’t sneak up on people like that. It’s rude.”

  Without moving, he reached around me and set his plate in the sink, bringing him even closer. I sucked in a breath, which only caused me to get a big whiff of his cologne.

  “Sorry,” he said, smirking, as he took a step back.

  I let out the breath I’d been holding.

  Jax shoved his hands into his pockets. “So, what do you want to do today?”

  “What?” I blinked, thinking I’d misheard him.

  “Considering I have no idea when Dad or Trent will be back, and it’s just the two of us…” He shrugged. “Figured you’d want to do something.”

  “Like what?”

  A wicked grin lifted his lips, and my gaze zeroed in on his mouth. His grin widened, and I snapped my attention back to his eyes. His intentions were written across his face like a glaring neon sign. But that wasn’t possible because Jax didn’t like me that way. And I sure as heck didn’t like him that way, either.

  I moved away from the sink—and him—and inched toward the stairs. “Um…”

  He flung his head back and laughed. He was messing with me.

  I grabbed the dish towel from the counter and threw it at him. “You’re a jerk.” But I couldn’t stop from laughing.

  He caught the towel midair. “Get your shoes on. We’re going outside.” Then, without another word, he turned on his heel and made his way toward the sliding glass doors.

  I quickly put on my sneakers and followed Jax out onto the back porch. He was leaning on the railing, arms extended over the wooden beam, hands clasped, his back to me. I was hit with the memory of that day he took me to the lighthouse, the day he’d told me to give Trent a chance. That was the last day I’d seen or talked to Jax, until I showed up at Trent’s hotel.

  Momentarily closing my eyes, I forced the image away. That version of Jax was nothing but a lie. Jax wasn’t my friend, not in the ways that truly mattered.

  “It’s peaceful here,” he said.

  “It’s beautiful,” I said, mimicking his stance and staring at the miles of woods stretched out before me. It wasn’t quite as awe inspiring as the ocean, but it was close. “It’s quiet.”

  Other than a random bird chirping, there were no sounds. No traffic. No people. Nothing at all like the constant rush of noise in Malibu.

  “Want to go for a walk?” He twisted so he was facing me, elbow propped on the railing.

  “Trent told you to babysit me, didn’t he?”

  Jax shrugged one shoulder. “Yes, but I don’t mind.”

  Anger sparked and then ignited in my chest. The nerve of Trent. He disappeared from my room without so much as a goodbye or a note telling me where he was going, and then he sends his brother to babysit me? I didn’t think so.

  “Yeah, well, I do. I don’t need a stupid babysitter,” I snapped. “It’s bad enough you spent weeks pretending to be my friend when you… what were you doing there, exactly?”

  “I wasn’t pretending to be your friend. I am your friend.” His tone was biting. “And I already told you why I was there. Asking repeatedly isn’t going to change my answer, no matter how much you dislike it.”

  I crossed my arms. “Newsflash, Jaxon. Friends don’t lie to each other like that.”

  “Hmm.” He tilted his head, studying me. “You’re red.”

  “What?”

  “Your aura. It’s pulsing red.”

  Was he for real? I was not going to stand here while he checked out my aura. Shaking my head, I took a step toward the glass doors.

  “Don’t go.” Jax grabbed my hand.

  I froze.

  His hand was warm and soft, and the feel of his touch sent a shudder through my body—not of revulsion but of something I refused to acknowledge. He’d touched me like this before, but I hadn’t reacted like this. Was my reaction different now because I knew him?

  I glanced down to where our hands met, and my heart rate skyrocketed. This was wrong. Yet, I couldn’t physically remove my hand from his.

  Jax adjusted his hold and laced his fingers with mine. I needed to stop this. Now. I flexed my fingers, determined to break whatever weird spell he had me in, but I ended up tightening my hold on his hand.

  His lips twitched with an impending smile. “Well, that’s interesting.”

  “What?” My voice cracked, and I barely managed to force the word out of my mouth.

  “You’re still red, but now it’s steadier and slightly hazy.” He tilted his head again, eyes narrowed. But that almost smile was still firmly in place.

  “And what’s that supposed to mean?”

  His smile fully formed, and a single eyebrow lifted. “Lust.”

  I jerked my hand from his and huffed. “I don’t think so.” I stormed inside, fuming.

  Lust. For Jax? Yeah, right. He certainly knew how to mess with me, though. I had to give him credit for that. It was going to be a long summer trapped in this cabin with him if this was his idea of fun.

  Jax entered the cabin, his laughter light and easy. I glared at him from where I’d flopped down on the couch.

  “I don’t know why you’re getting mad at me. They’re your emotions.” He sat on the opposite end of the couch. Thank God.

  I wasn’t sure I could handle having him any closer. “So, what? You can just know my emotions based on the color of my aura?”

  “Pretty much.” He kicked his feet up on the coffee table.

  “Awesome,” I said drily.

  “Don’t worry. I won’t tell anyone you’re secretly lusting after me.” A devilish glint lit his expression. He was enjoying this way too much.

  I rolled my eyes and reached for the remote. Turning on the TV, I aimlessly flipped through the channels, not really paying attention to what was on any of them. I was too distracted.

  Not only did I have to worry about Sean learning the secret I kept, I now also had to worry about my emotions flashing like a neon sign for Jax. This situation couldn’t possibly get any worse.

  I desperately needed something to distract me, and there wasn’t going to be a more opportune time than now to ask some of the questions that had been on my mind.

  “Why did you want to be a vampire so bad?” I asked and tossed the remote onto the couch between us.

  “Why not?” He shrugged. “Heightened senses. Immortality. Good looks.” He grinned. “I’m superior in every way.”

  “Yeah, but… isn’t drinking blood gross?”

  Jax laughed. “Not for us, no. Trent did tell you that we only drink animal blood, right?”

 
I nodded. “So, you never had any doubts about turning?”

  “None,” he said with a note of certainty I’d never heard from anyone before. “What’s with all the questions? You know you can never be changed. Not by us. And Trent would lose his mind if you ever allowed another vampire to change you.”

  “Yeah, I know.” I stared at my hands in my lap. “I guess I’m just finally starting to realize that what you said to me is true. There’s no way for me and Trent to ever truly be together.”

  “Chloe.” He sighed. “I only said that because I was trying to protect my brother from the same heartache I had to endure. If you really want to be with him, I’m sure you’ll find a way. You’ll have to if you’re his soulmate. And my brother’s stubborn enough to devote himself to you until you die, and then he’ll be insufferable for the rest of eternity.”

  “Maybe.” I picked at my cuticles. “But you eventually healed from losing Hannah, right? There’s hope Trent would heal from losing me, too.”

  “I haven’t healed. I’ve simply learned how to live with the constant heartache. There’s a difference.” His tone was clipped.

  My shoulders drooped. “You’re seriously saying if another woman came along that you liked, you wouldn’t be able to love her? That you wouldn’t want to?”

  Trent had told me vampires loved a lot during their existence, so I knew it was possible for Jax to love someone other than Hannah. Maybe he really didn’t want to.

  He hesitated, his gaze landing on me and lingering much too long. “Would I want to? Of course. Could I? Maybe.”

  “But…?”

  “What do you want me to say?” He stood and paced, his frustration evident with every step. “You want to know the truth?” He stopped and gripped the back of the couch.

  I twisted around so I could face him.

  “I loved Hannah. A lot. But she wasn’t my soulmate, and I hate myself for that, because that means I destroyed her for no reason. If I had just left her alone.” He shook his head.