Eternal Love: (The Cursed Series, Book 4)

by Kara Leigh Miller

  He spun around, his eyes dark. “You’re sorry?” There was an edge to his tone that had fear snaking up my spine. “You begged me to come here. Even though I told you this wouldn’t work, you insisted we had to talk to her. So here we are.” He held his arms out at his sides.

  “I know, but—”

  “But what? You don’t like what she offered? I told you this was going to happen.”

  I stared at him. “Are you serious right now? You’re yelling at me because I won’t risk your life?” I couldn’t believe he was acting this way.

  “Yes, that’s exactly what I’m doing.” He stormed up to me and glared down at me. “I’m supposed to be okay with you being bonded to my brother, staying human, and then someday dying. But you can’t trust me enough to take this risk?”

  I swallowed hard, tears burning my throat.

  “Maybe you’re the one who doesn’t really want to change,” he said, taking another step closer. “It’s rather convenient that you suddenly make this choice knowing full well I can’t change you. Maybe you only said that to make me feel better. Or maybe you really just want Jax to be the one to change you.”

  “Knock it off,” I said through clenched teeth.

  “No.”

  I shoved him, but he barely moved. I shoved him again, tears spilling down my cheeks.

  “Tell me the truth,” he demanded. “You said no because you really don’t want to break the bond with Jax, do you? And you really don’t want to change, either.”

  “I was the one who pushed to come here, remember?” I pointed at myself. “I’ve been the only one fighting to find a way to break this bond, so don’t you dare stand there and tell me this isn’t what I want.” Crossing my arms, I held his gaze.

  He might be taller and stronger and faster, but he didn’t scare me. And I wasn’t going to let him intimidate me or make me admit something that was so ludicrous it was laughable.

  “But I am not risking your life, Trent. I won’t do it,” I said.

  “What happened to doing whatever it takes?” he asked. The vein in his temple throbbed, and his jaw ticked.

  “I’m still going to do whatever it takes. I’m just not doing this.” I took a deep breath.

  Trent flung his head back and screamed so loud I had to cover my ears. Then he kicked a nearby tree, the trunk splintering with a deafening crack.

  My heart jumped in my chest, and my instincts kicked in. I took off toward the street.

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN:

  Trouble in Paradise

  “CHLOE, STOP.” TRENT GRABBED ME FROM behind and lifted me off my feet. “Where are you going?”

  “Put me down,” I said.

  Trent set me down.

  “I’m going home,” I said and proceeded to walk away from him.

  Behind me, he muttered something I couldn’t understand, and honestly, right now, I didn’t care what he had to say. He’d already voiced his true thoughts and feelings, and I didn’t need to hear anymore.

  “I’m not letting you walk home,” he said, falling into step beside me.

  “Fine. Then you can drive me home.” I turned and marched back to his truck.

  I climbed in, slammed the door, and stared out the window, refusing to look at him as he slid into his seat and backed out of the driveway.

  I still couldn’t believe he thought I wanted to stay bonded to Jax, or that I’d been lying about wanting to change. Or that he was crazy enough to risk his life. He’d never be okay with me doing something like this, so why would he assume I’d be okay with him doing it?

  He drove me home, and my anger simmered to its boiling point. When he pulled into the driveway, I opened the door before he fully stopped.

  “Don’t bother picking me up Saturday. I’m not going on a date with you.” I slammed the door and rushed inside, equal parts relieved and disappointed that he didn’t try to stop me.

  THE FOLLOWING MORNING, I walked into school, my steps heavy. Trent hadn’t called or texted last night—not that I’d reached out to him, either—and I hadn’t slept more than an hour. I’d spent most of the night crying, so now not only was I exhausted, my head ached, and my eyes burned.

  This wasn’t the first argument Trent and I ever had, but it was by far the worst. And I had no idea how or if we could get past it.

  “Are you sure you don’t want to talk about it?” Abby asked.

  “Yes.” I sighed.

  She’d been asking me that since I’d gotten home yesterday. Her concern was nice, but there was no way I could talk to her about this.

  “Well, if you change your mind…” She smiled sympathetically.

  “Thanks.” I veered off toward my locker, and my heart raced.

  Would Trent be waiting for me? As angry and hurt as I still was, I missed him so much already, and I wanted to see him. I wanted to hug him and tell him I was sorry and that I loved him.

  But when I got to my locker, he wasn’t there. I swallowed the anguish threatening to overtake me, grabbed my notebook, and rushed to my Life Skills class. When I arrived, I was only one of two students in the room, and Mr. Gordon was nowhere to be found.

  Jax was already at his desk, and he looked up. The concern in his eyes broke me. My bottom lip trembled, and tears spilled down my cheeks.

  He was out of his seat and pulling me into his arms before I could take another step. I buried my face against his chest and cried. He was the very last person I should be leaning on for emotional support right now, but he was the only one around.

  “Trouble in paradise, huh?” he asked.

  I groaned. “Shut up.”

  He held me out at arm’s length. “Seriously, what’s going on?”

  “Nothing.” I wiped my tears and sniffled.

  “Don’t lie to me,” he said. “I know something’s going on. Trent was on a nonstop rampage last night.”

  “We talked to Ivy about breaking the bond,” I said as I slid into my seat.

  Jax returned to his seat, too. “You did?” he asked.

  I nodded and swiveled to face him. The expression on his face was a mixture of curiosity and hesitation, like he wasn’t sure if he really wanted to know what I had to say.

  “Trent and I disagreed on the terms Ivy gave us, so…” I blew out a breath.

  A group of students barged into the room, laughing and shouting, saving me from having to tell Jax anymore than I already had.

  I turned back around and once again wiped my face, hoping I didn’t look like too much of a mess. Whitney walked into the room, took one look at me, and frowned. Well, so much for not being a mess.

  “I can’t help but wonder,” Jax said, and I twisted to face him. “Which one of you is refusing the terms? Because I think you’d both do just about anything to break the bond.”

  My shoulders slumped. Of course he’d ask me that question, because the moment I told him I was refusing the terms, he’d get his hopes up that there might still be a chance for us. And there wasn’t.

  “Chloe?” he asked.

  “It doesn’t matter, okay? Just drop it,” I snapped.

  “All right, that’s enough.” Whitney stood near my desk, arms crossed, tapping her foot impatiently. “C’mon, we need to talk.” She spun on her heel.

  I scrambled out of my seat and followed. She was silent as she marched toward the girls’ bathroom. Thankfully, no one was in there.

  Whitney stood in front of the door, her demeanor a little softer. “Look, I don’t know what’s going on between you and Trent, but running to Jax is not a good idea.”

  I scowled. “I wasn’t running to Jax. In fact, I barely told him anything.”

  Though, he did know more than Whitney right now, but he still didn’t know the whole story. And I had no intentions of telling him anything more than I already had.

  “You can talk to me, Chloe,” Whitney said, her tone sympathetic. “In fact, I’m probably the only one you can talk to about this.”

  “I know.” I sighed and hung
my head. “But it’s still too painful right now.”

  Whitney hugged me. “Whatever’s going on, you and Trent will get through it. He loves you too much to lose you again, and I’m guessing you love him just as much.”

  I fought against the urge to cry again. “I love him more than anything,” I whispered.

  But there was so much stacked against us right now, so many hurdles that we couldn’t seem to get past.

  “Then you need to fight through whatever issues you’re having right now,” she said and released me.

  I nodded. “Believe me, I’m trying.”

  All I’d done since leaving Ivy’s was think about her offer. I’d agreed to swear a blood oath even though Trent hadn’t wanted me to, and I didn’t let him have a say in it. It was my decision. Yet, I was refusing to let him decide his own fate. I was such a hypocrite. In my defense, though, I couldn’t be complicit in something that could very well kill him.

  “It’s going to be okay.” Whitney smiled and rubbed my arm. “If there’s anything I can do…”

  “Thanks.” I sniffled. “We should probably get back to class.”

  I DIDN’T SEE TRENT on Friday, either, which meant he was avoiding me. That was probably a good thing, because I had no idea what I’d say to him if I did see him. And I went out of my way to avoid Jax.

  During lunch, I pulled Ellie aside. “Hey, can I talk to you?”

  “Always.” She smiled.

  “Trent and I got into this huge fight the other night, and we haven’t talked since. I have no idea what’s going on or if we’re even together anymore.” I took a deep breath, letting the weight of my words settle on me.

  Soulmate or not, I had no idea if we’d ever work through our issues, or if Trent still considered me his girlfriend. Frowning, I twisted the promise ring he’d given me.

  “I’m so sorry.” Ellie hugged me. “What happened?”

  “We were fighting about Jax,” I said, rolling my eyes. “Trent thinks I like his brother a lot more than I actually do.”

  Hopefully, infusing a tidbit of truth into my lie would make it believable because I couldn’t tell Ellie what had really happened.

  She scrunched up her face. “You and Jax didn’t kiss again, did you?”

  “No,” I said, shaking my head adamantly.

  “Then why would Trent think you like Jax more than him?”

  I shrugged. “No idea, but things are pretty bad right now. I told him I wasn’t going to go out with him Saturday.” My heart ached knowing I’d cancelled what would have been our first official date. “And… I kinda just want to be alone this weekend. Can we maybe do the sleepover next weekend?”

  “Of course,” she said emphatically. “But you know you can talk to me, right?”

  I nodded.

  “If you change your mind, text me, okay?” she said.

  “I will. Thanks, Ellie.”

  The rest of the day dragged, and when it was time to leave, I trudged out to Abby’s car. She’d stopped asking me if I was okay, and she hadn’t pried into what was going on.

  “So, Whitney suggested we hang out tonight, watch scary movies, and pig out on junk food. It is Friday the thirteenth,” Abby said as she drove home.

  Go to Whitney’s house? Where Trent and Jax also lived? I didn’t think so.

  “Thanks, but I think I’m just going to hang out at home this weekend,” I said.

  And that’s exactly what I did—I spent all weekend at home. I got ahead on homework, cleaned and rearranged my room, read an old romance novel Aunt Beth had lying around, painted my toenails, and helped Aunt Beth around the house.

  When Aunt Beth asked about my date on Saturday, I lied and told her Trent had a family emergency.

  I didn’t hear from Trent all weekend, and even though I really wanted to, I didn’t call or text him, either. Why should I? He was being unreasonable. And a hypocrite. He’d never let me agree to a deal where my life was at risk, and it was stupid for him to think I’d be all right with him doing so.

  There had to be another way to break the bond, and I wasn’t going to stop until I figured it out—with or without Trent by my side—because I was not spending the rest of my human life bonded to Jax.

  CHAPTER FIFTEEN:

  Truce

  TRENT WASN’T IN SCHOOL AGAIN ON Monday, and now I was starting to worry. Where was he? Was he okay? I didn’t dare ask Jax, and I hadn’t had a moment alone with Whitney to ask what was going on.

  “Look, I’ve been trying to give you space because I know you’re dealing with stuff right now, but you have to talk to someone about what’s going on,” Abby said as we walked out of school Monday afternoon.

  Head down, I shuffled along beside her. The only person I could talk to about this was Whitney, but honestly, I didn’t want to talk to anyone. Except Trent. I missed him like crazy.

  “Um, Chloe.” Abby elbowed me.

  “Ow, what was that for?” I glanced up, and my heart stopped.

  Trent was leaning against the front of his truck, arms crossed. Dressed in dark blue jeans, a black long-sleeved shirt, white sneakers, and those stupid sunglasses that I’d grown to love, he looked a million times better than I remembered.

  “Go talk to him,” Abby said, nudging me in Trent’s direction. “If you’re not in my car in five minutes, I’ll assume things are going good, and I’ll tell Mom you’re with him.”

  “Thanks, Abby.” I gave her a grateful smile, took a deep breath, and then approached Trent. I stopped in front of him, and he straightened. “Hi,” I said. Ugh. Could I be any lamer?

  “Hi,” he said, a hint of a smile on his lips.

  He reached for my right hand, and heat spread through me at his touch. Caressing my knuckles, his thumb grazed over my promise ring. I held my breath. Was he going to ask for it back?

  “I worried you might have taken this off,” he said, his gaze focused on my ring.

  “Do you want me to?” I asked, my voice shaky.

  “Do you want to?” He met my gaze, a tiny sparkle in his clear blue eyes.

  I shook my head, unable to contain my smile at our silly game. Even though we’d made a deal not to do that anymore, neither of us had stuck to it, and I was grateful for that because this interaction was so us. And right now, I needed that more than I realized.

  “No,” I whispered. “I’d really like to keep it on.”

  Relief flashed across his face. “Can we go somewhere and talk?” he asked.

  I nodded, and he walked me around to the passenger’s side and opened the door. I climbed in and hooked my seat belt. My nerves were frayed, and my palms were suddenly sweaty. Would we work through this problem together, or would today turn into another massive argument?

  Trent slid in behind the steering wheel, started the engine, and pulled out of the parking lot. He drove toward the outskirts of town.

  “Where have you been?” I asked.

  “I needed some time to think, so I spent most of the weekend driving through the mountains,” he said.

  He’d done the same thing after he broke up with me. Had he been sleeping in his truck again?

  “And I figured we both needed time to calm down,” he said, glancing at me.

  I couldn’t argue with that.

  A moment later, he stopped in front of the massive wrought iron gate that stood in front of the mausoleum housing the statue of Annmarie and the baby. This was where Trent had brought me the night I’d chosen him. That had been a little over a week ago, but it felt like ages. So much had happened since then.

  Trent parked and killed the engine, then swung open the gate. I got out of his truck, and we walked the rest of the way. Normally, he’d take my hand, but this time, he shoved his hands into his pockets.

  Silence stretched between us as we headed for the stone bench situated in front of the statue. The first time I’d been here, colorful flowers had been in bloom, but now everything was green and brown. The changing leaves were the only bright spot around
us.

  We sat, and I tucked my hands under my legs.

  “I’m sorry,” he said. “For everything. For accusing you of wanting to stay bonded to Jax and for blaming you for not changing when I’d asked. That wasn’t fair of me.”

  I took a deep breath. “I’m sorry, too. I never should’ve forced you to talk to Ivy. You were right about her.”

  I stood and wandered toward the cliff that overlooked the mountains. It really was peaceful, and I understood why Trent liked to come here. I crossed my arms and shivered against the cool air.

  “No, I wasn’t,” he said. “But you were. You knew she wasn’t lying about being able to break the bond.”

  I glanced over my shoulder. Trent still sat on the bench. His shoulders were slumped, and his gaze was trained straight ahead. Everything in me wanted to comfort him, to kiss him and tell him everything was okay. But right now, nothing was okay.

  Turning my attention back to the view, I debated how to respond. Being right about Ivy didn’t mean a thing when her “help” was more dangerous than the problem we were trying to fix. And knowing Ivy, she’d demand I change the second she broke the bond with Jax, and while I wanted to change, there were still so many things I wanted to do, things I needed deal with first. Like high school and my family.

  “I know how you feel about Ivy’s deal, but do you really think I’d ever let anything happen to you?” Trent asked. He now stood next to me, and everything inside of me hummed to life.

  I sighed. “No. I know you’ll always protect me.”

  He’d told me more than once that he’d give his life for me, and I didn’t doubt that.

  “Then if you know that, what’s the problem with Ivy linking us?” he asked.

  “The problem is the Zoya. They’re back in town, and the second they find out about me, they’re going to kill me.” I turned to face him. “And Ivy. God only knows what she’ll do if I don’t immediately break the curse.”

  “The Zoya aren’t going to find out about you, at least not until after you change, and by then, we won’t be linked anymore,” he said, facing me.