Trent: WHAT’S TAKING YOU SO LONG?
Trent: SERIOUSLY. HURRY UP. I MISS YOU.
I laughed and shook my head. He’d been terrible this week—in a completely good way—about spending time with me. Neither of us wanted to be apart, and it seemed to only be getting worse.
“Hello, Chloe.”
I froze. My ears rang, and goose bumps prickled across my skin. Slowly, I turned around to face Ivy.
She wore a pair of dark brown slacks, matching boots, and a thick jacket that stopped right below her knees. A hand-knit white hat sat atop her head, and white-gloved hands were clasped in front of her. She looked like she was ready to walk into a snowstorm. It was cold outside, but not that cold.
“What do you want?” I asked.
“Ultimately, I’d like an answer to the offer I made.” She smiled, the movement stiff and creepy.
“I already gave you an answer,” I said as I made my way around to the driver’s side of the car. “I can’t help it if you didn’t like it.” I yanked open the door.
“What if I sweeten the deal for you?” Ivy said.
Something in her tone made me pause, though I had no idea why. She’d proven time and time again that she couldn’t be trusted. Even though she always followed through with whatever she said she was going to do, there was always a catch, a trap or trick that was unavoidable.
Still, she wouldn’t have sought me out if she didn’t have an offer she knew I wouldn’t be able to refuse. Granted, she was desperate to break the curse, and she’d already tried kidnapping, threats, and torture. Maybe she was finally realizing those things wouldn’t get her what she wanted.
“Sweeten the deal?” I asked.
“Yes.” Ivy nodded and tugged the collar of her jacket tighter around her neck. “Will you join me so we can chat?” She nodded at the diner.
“I can’t. I have to take food to my sick aunt,” I said, and then immediately regretted telling her that.
“Very well. Will you come to my house after? We can chat there.”
“No.” The last thing I was going to do was be alone with her like that. Just talking to her was risky enough. “But I’ll meet you back here, in the parking lot, in ten minutes.” Then I got into the car and headed for home.
I had no idea if Ivy would be there when I returned, and I didn’t care. If she was, I’d talk to her. If she wasn’t… then whatever. But at least we’d be in a very public place.
Trent wouldn’t be happy when he found out I talked to Ivy without him, but it wasn’t like I was going to take whatever new deal she offered. Honestly, I had no idea why I was even bothering talking to her again. Pure curiosity, that was all.
I pulled into my driveway and sent a quick reply to Trent.
Me: SOON. DROPPING OFF FOOD TO MY AUNT, THEN I NEED TO GRAB CLOTHES, AND I’LL BE RIGHT OVER.
Tossing my phone on the seat, I grabbed the bag of food and rushed inside. Aunt Beth was asleep on the couch, so I set the food on the coffee table, hurried up to my room, packed an overnight bag, and was back in the car in less than five minutes.
As I headed back toward the diner, I contemplated not stopping—that would be the smart thing to do—but I couldn’t stop wondering what Ivy had to offer now. And I hadn’t been able to forget what Whitney had said about letting people help me.
If I explained the flaw in Ivy’s plan to transfer the bond and link me and Trent, maybe she’d have a solution. Or maybe she’d come up with a different solution all together. No matter what, Whitney was right—I couldn’t do this alone.
I took a deep breath and once again pulled into the Noon Mark Diner parking lot. Ivy was leaning against a boxy-looking red car parked at the far end of the lot. She was chatting with someone. A man…
Macaih!
Trent said he’d disappeared, that Sean hadn’t been able to find him. What on earth was he doing here with Ivy? I slowed to a stop next to her car but didn’t shut off the engine. I got out, careful to stay close to the still-open car door, just in case I needed to make a quick getaway.
“All right. I’m here. Talk.” I crossed my arms, my gaze darting from Ivy to Macaih.
Ivy chuckled. “Always so quick to get to the point, aren’t you?”
I rolled my eyes.
“Lovely to see you again, Chloe,” Macaih said with a slight bow. He rested his hand on Ivy’s waist, kissed her cheek, then straightened. “I’ll wait for you inside, Ivy.”
I narrowed my eyes. Were those two a couple? Gross. But now I knew how Ivy had found out about the eternal bond. Macaih must have told her, because no one else would have. But why would he have done that?
“Before I offer up anything else, I must know… why are you unwilling to accept my original offer?” Ivy asked.
“Do you know anything about the transformation process?” I asked, genuinely curious.
She seemed to know so much about everything else I had a hard time believing she didn’t know this, too.
“I know everything about the transformation process,” she said, and if I wasn’t mistaken, she sounded highly offended that I’d questioned her.
Of course, if she was as involved with Macaih as I suspected, then she must know everything there was to know about vampires. She probably knew more than I did.
Then how could she not understand the consequences of linking me and Trent? Unless… did she know that the eternal bond meant only Jax could bite me? Was she assuming I wanted the bond broken simply because I loved Trent? Why wouldn’t Macaih have told her that, too?
My heart raced. Did I dare tell her? Would she offer to help, or would she use the information against me? Trent hadn’t wanted me to tell her I was willing to break the curse, so how would he feel about me telling her this? If it helped us, he couldn’t be too angry, could he?
Before I divulged anymore information, I needed to know her offer. “You said you could sweeten the deal. What did you mean by that? And why are you even offering me anything else?”
Ivy paced near the trunk of her car. “You, my dear Chloe, are the only thing that can restore the magical balance. You know this just as well as I do. I’ve given you multiple chances to willingly work with me, and you’ve declined. Then I tried to force you, and well, that didn’t work so well, did it?” She grimaced.
I leaned against my car, wishing she’d hurry up and get to the point.
“So, I figured I’d try a different approach.” She stopped in front of me. “Maybe if I offer you everything you want, you’ll finally break this curse.”
I snorted. “You have no idea what I want.”
“Sure I do.” She shoved her hands into her jacket pockets. “You want a life with Trent, free from the bond you share with his brother. And, if I’m not mistaken, you want his child, yes?”
My jaw dropped, and I felt the color drain from my face. “How can you possibly know that?”
Trent and I had talked about my desire to have kids, and he’d suggested adoption. He’d also said he’d have a baby with me if he could, but there was no way Ivy could know any of that. And Macaih didn’t know that, either, so there was no way he could’ve told her.
“I told you. It’s in my best interest to know what’s going on with you,” she said.
“You’ve been watching me,” I said, stunned.
Though I didn’t know why I was so surprised. Of course Ivy would watch me, to make sure her most prized possession was alive and well. But the stuff she knew was extremely personal. A shiver wiggled down my back.
“I’ve been protecting you,” she said.
I laughed bitterly. “Yeah, right.” I straightened and dropped my arms to my sides. “We’re done here.” I turned to leave, and she grabbed my arm. I jerked from her touch.
She held up her hands in a show of surrender. “You have every reason in the world not to trust me, Chloe, but please believe me when I tell you I’m being sincere. I’m hoping by offering you the things I know you want, you’ll finally be willing to give me
what I need.”
“So, you’re bribing me?”
“Sure, if that’s how you want to see it.” Ivy took a few steps back.
“There’s just one problem, Ivy,” I said, glaring at her. “You can’t give me what I want. It’s impossible. All of it. Vampires can’t have kids.”
“No, but with my help, Trent can.” Her eyes twinkled with knowledge that only she possessed. “I can free you from the bond you share with Jax, and I can give you the opportunity to have a child with Trent.”
I narrowed my eyes. I did want Trent’s child, almost as badly as I wanted to change so I could be with him for eternity, and I knew Trent wanted a child, too. But was that really possible? Or was Ivy lying to me?
“Why?” I asked. “I mean, you want me to break this curse, and the only way to do that is to change. Having a child means I have to stay human a lot longer.”
And if I didn’t also let her transfer the bond, that meant I’d be bound to Jax for even longer, too. Like it or not, I needed to tell Ivy about the flaw in her plan.
“I’m aware of that,” she said with a slight nod. “Which is why I’ll stay in town until you’re ready to change. Like I told you and Trent already, I’m on your side. I’ll help keep you safe until you no longer need me.”
My temples started to throb. This was all too much to process. I needed time to think, and to talk to Trent about all of this. But Ivy had already succeeded in planting the seed in my brain. If she really could offer me all of this…
I momentarily closed my eyes and took a deep breath, the cold air burning my lungs. “Whoever I’m bonded to is the only one who can bite me,” I said softly, my stomach twisting with nerves.
Telling her this was either the dumbest thing I’d ever done, or the smartest. I had no idea which.
“If you transfer the bond to Trent, he’ll be the only one who can change me, but if we’re linked—”
“He’ll experience the transformation, too,” Ivy said, finally realizing what I’d known all this time.
“Yes.” I nodded. “That’s why I refused your offer, because if he tries to change me, he could die, and I’m not risking his life like that.”
“Well, that’s certainly unfortunate.” Ivy resumed pacing, her boots crunching loudly against the gravel. “Unless…” She hummed, her face scrunched in concentration. “I could unlink you at just the right moment.”
“What?” I said a little too loudly.
“He drinks first, correct? Until your heart slows, and then you drink, right?”
I nodded again.
“Well, if I unlink him from you at the exact moment your heart begins to slow, he’d be fine and could finish the transformation without any risk of death.”
“You can do that?” I asked, fighting to tamper the sudden hope that burst in my chest.
My heart thundered in my ears. If she wasn’t lying to me, and she really could unlink Trent at the exact moment, then we could take her offer. I could change and spend eternity with him. I swallowed hard.
“Yes. The timing will have to be precise, but it can be done. Lucky for you, I happen to know a vampire expert.” She smiled.
Macaih. So, he really was the one who’d been feeding her information about me and Trent. Did Sean know his friend had betrayed him like this?
“So, do we have a deal now?” she asked.
It was on the tip of my tongue to scream yes, but I needed to talk to Trent first. I would not make this decision without him. I doubted he’d say no—he was already willing to say yes—but this meant putting a lot of trust in Ivy, more so than we’d originally have to, and I wasn’t sure either of us were willing to do that.
“What about the baby offer? You’d really be willing to wait that long?” I asked.
“If I have your blood oath to break the curse, then yes. I will wait. You have my word,” she said, sincerity ringing in her tone.
“What are the consequences for that offer?” I asked, remembering how both Trent and Isach told me there were always costs for using magic.
“That is a conversation for another day, when we have more time.” She rubbed her hands together and moved toward the diner entrance. “But know that this offer will require an upfront payment.”
“Of course it does.” I sighed. “What?”
“I need your Zoya friend’s cooperation.” She paused with her hand on the front door.
“Isach?”
Exactly how much did Ivy know about my life? My friends and family? A shudder slid down my spine, and I hugged myself.
“Bring him with you, and we can discuss the details.” She walked into the diner.
I hung my head. There was no way Isach would agree to meet with Ivy, and I couldn’t ask him to. He’d done enough to help me; asking this of him was going too far.
The momentary dream of getting to have Trent’s baby was nice, but it was just that—a dream. I was much more willing to let that go in exchange for an eternity with him.
Weary, I got into my car and drove to Trent’s. I needed to tell him about Ivy’s solution to our problem. Should I also tell him about the baby? He might insist we ask Isach, and I really didn’t want to do that. The more involved he became, the more at risk he was. Abby, too, now that she was dating him, and I absolutely refused to let her get caught up in this mess.
CHAPTER TWENTY:
A Second Opinion
I’D BARELY GOTTEN THE CAR IN park when Trent opened the door. I scrambled out and straight into his arms.
He wrapped me in a tight hug and buried his face in my hair. “I was getting ready to organize a search party,” he mumbled.
“It took me longer at the diner than I expected.”
My stomach churned knowing I had to tell Trent about Ivy, but I couldn’t hide this from him. I’d learned my lesson the hard way about keeping secrets from Trent—it never worked out for us, and I wasn’t going to make those mistakes again.
Reluctantly, Trent released me. He grabbed my bag from the car, then took my hand. “Well, you’re here now, and that’s all that matters to me.”
“You’re in a good mood,” I said and glanced around. “Did you forget to tell me Whitney was having another party?”
There was at least one car here I didn’t recognize, and two I did—Luke’s jeep and Isach’s car. Luke was probably here to hang out with Whitney, but who else was here? And why would she plan a party on a Thursday night?
“Wait, is Abby here already?” I asked.
“No. She went home to get clothes and check on her mom. Luke is here to hang out with Whitney, and Isach is waiting for Abby to get back,” Trent said as he opened the front door.
I walked in. Whitney and Luke were snuggled up on the couch. Isach was in one of the chairs, staring at the TV as if he were going to die of boredom at any moment. Jax was nowhere to be found, and I let out a small sigh of relief.
As much as I loved staying here with Trent and Whitney, knowing Jax was here, too, made it that much harder to avoid him.
“Oh, good, you finally made it,” Whitney said, flashing me a smile.
“Oh, hey, Chloe,” Isach said.
“Hey,” I said to both of them.
I had no idea how long Abby had been gone or how soon she’d be back, but if I wanted to talk to Isach about Ivy’s offers, now would be the time. But I needed to tell Trent first. Trent headed straight for his room, and I followed. He tossed my bag onto his bed.
I closed his bedroom door and leaned against it. “We need to talk,” I said.
He stiffened for a fraction of a second before turning to face me. “This doesn’t sound good.”
“It’s not.” I pushed away from the door and sauntered toward him. “Or, I don’t know. Maybe it is.” I tilted my head with confusion. “I guess it depends on your reaction.”
He raised a brow but remained silent.
“I ran into Ivy at the diner,” I blurted.
Trent’s eyes darkened and narrowed, and he curled his h
ands into fists. “She didn’t hurt you, did she?”
“No,” I said quickly, shaking my head. “I’m fine. I promise. See?” I held my arms out to my sides so he could see there wasn’t anything physically wrong with me.
Reaching for me, he yanked me against his body, and his lips crashed down on mine in a hard, hungry kiss. I both loved and hated when he kissed me like that. I loved it because I knew he cared so much that he couldn’t not kiss me in a way that expressed all of his fears and desires. Yet, at the same time, I hated it because it meant something had happened to scare him.
I wrapped my arms around his neck and leaned into him, savoring his kiss, and soon, the desperation dissipated, replaced with undiluted need and desire. He lifted me off my feet, and I wrapped my legs around his waist. A second later, my bag dropped to the floor with an unceremonious thump, and then I was on the bed, Trent on top of me.
He dragged his mouth across my jaw and down to my neck, nipping and kissing. My skin tingled with anticipation, and I tilted my head. Everything inside of me screamed with need—the need for more, for Trent to claim me, to drink from me, to change me.
If Ivy really could unlink us at the right moment, Trent could do all of that. I groaned, and he responded with a low, sexy growl, his hand landing on my hip, pinning me in place. Man, I loved that sound, loved the way he always touched me.
“This isn’t exactly talking,” I said breathlessly.
“No, but it’s a lot more fun.” He pushed himself up on his arms and peered down at me.
My breath hitched at how his eyes seemed to dance between shades of blue—crisp and dark. I licked my lips and forced myself to focus on what I needed to tell him.
“Ivy wanted to know if we were going to take her offer,” I said.
Trent’s jaw clenched.
“And I told her about the flaw in her plan.”
In the blink of an eye, Trent was off me and standing across the room. “Why would you do that?” he asked, his voice tight.
“Because she wasn’t taking no for an answer. I needed to tell her something,” I said, sitting up and swinging my legs over the side of the bed.
Eternal Love: (The Cursed Series, Book 4) Page 15