Eternal Love: (The Cursed Series, Book 4)

by Kara Leigh Miller

  “I’m sorry.” Regret filled his eyes. “I can’t pay that price.” He spun on his heel and walked outside.

  My final shred of hope went up in flames. I raced after him, barely making it outside before he was in his car. “Isach! Just wait a minute.” I grabbed his arm. “I know going against your coven is bad—”

  “It’s suicide, Chloe. If they even knew I was here and helping you, they’d kill me without question.”

  Desperation filled my veins. “What about Abby?” I whispered. “You agreed to help me because you want me to change her, because you don’t want to lose her. Are you willing to just let her die now?”

  He cursed under his breath. “Fine.” He clutched my elbow and dragged me back inside.

  When we entered, Ivy was on the couch, not at all surprised to see we’d returned.

  “I give you my word that I will do everything in my power to keep my coven away from you, at least until the curse is broken. Then you’ll be strong enough to face them on your own,” Isach said.

  Ivy paused as if considering his offer. “And you’ll warn me if they do decide to make a move?”

  Isach scowled. “Yes.”

  “Very well.” She nodded. “We have a deal.”

  Fresh hope crashed over me, and I fought to contain my smile. I was going to owe Isach big time after this. I’d do anything he wanted. Well, almost anything. But I would never question his loyalties again.

  “Now, the consequences…” Ivy twisted the bracelets around her wrist and let out a heavy sigh. “Using magic this powerful can be unpredictable. There are no guarantees it will work.”

  “But if it does?” I whispered.

  CHAPTER FORTY-TWO:

  Magical Consequences

  SILENCE HUNG HEAVY IN THE AIR, and with each passing second, my dread intensified. Why wouldn’t she just tell me what the consequences were? Were they that bad?

  “The child is being conceived between a human and a vampire, but you’re no regular human, Chloe,” Ivy finally spoke. “You’re a descendant of the Zoya, and that means you have witch blood in your veins. Trent has been living under the curse of some extremely dark magic for decades—that’s affected him in ways none of us can imagine.” Her accusatory gaze sliced to Isach.

  I swallowed hard. “Okay, so… what? That means the baby will be half vampire?”

  Ivy chuckled. “No. A vampire can’t be born. It must be created from the blood of another vampire. The child will have Trent’s DNA, but it will not have his blood.” She shook her head, tsking as if I should already know all that.

  It wasn’t my fault I didn’t know anything about the biology behind conceiving a child with a vampire. I wanted to ask how she knew so much about all of this, but I kept my mouth shut. I assumed she got her information from Macaih. He was, after all, her vampire expert.

  “But it will be magical,” Isach said, his tone distant and shocked, like he was somewhere else trying to put all the mismatched pieces together.

  “Yes,” Ivy said. “The child will be magical, and very powerful.”

  Isach groaned. He rubbed his hands over his face and stood behind the chair, gripping the back so tightly his knuckles turned white.

  I whipped around, my gaze ping-ponging between Ivy and Isach. “How powerful?”

  “Powerful enough that every coven in the world will want to get their hands on the child, to train him or her in their ways.” Ivy stood, disappeared into another room, then returned a moment later.

  My throat was suddenly dry and scratchy. If I went through with this, I’d end up having a super powerful witch baby. That was just perfect. I smoothed my hands over my hair and inhaled deeply. Having a half-vampire baby seemed a lot easier.

  “Will the baby have good or dark magic?” I asked, the thought popping into my head. On top of everything else, the last thing anyone needed was a child with hordes of dark magic.

  “Dark magic is in your blood,” Isach said. “And it’s been shrouding Trent for a very long time.”

  I cupped my hand over my mouth so I wouldn’t gasp.

  “Of course, you are human, and you haven’t ever developed your magic,” Ivy said, shooting Isach a dirty look. “So, it’s possible the child will be born much like you were—with dormant magic.”

  “Yeah, but I wasn’t conceived with a magical baby making potion,” I snapped.

  Isach chuckled, and I scowled at him. There wasn’t anything funny about this.

  “No, but your humanity is strong, Chloe. It’s possible your natural tendencies could be passed on to the child, overriding any magic we use,” Isach said.

  “But neither of you know that for certain, right?” I crossed my arms, waiting for them to say what I already knew.

  “No.” Ivy sighed. “As I said, there are no guarantees when using this type of powerful magic.”

  Isach straightened, pushing away from the chair so hard he pushed it forward an inch or so. “What’re the risks to Chloe?”

  I whipped around to stare at him. Why would he ask that? Why did he care what the personal risks were to me? Probably because he knew Abby would be upset if anything happened to me, and he wanted to prevent her from that type of heartache.

  I had to give him credit—he really did love Abby. He reminded me so much of Trent and how Trent was always putting me and my feelings first.

  “I don’t know,” Ivy said.

  A moment later, a woman walked into the room carrying a tray with tea and sugar cookies. She set the tray on the coffee table and bowed slightly in Ivy’s direction.

  “Thank you, Heaven Leigh.” Ivy smiled.

  That was Heaven Leigh? I barely recognized her. I opened my mouth to say something, then snapped it shut. What was the appropriate thing to say in this situation? Hey, Heaven Leigh, thanks for being so nice to me while your leader had me locked up? Yeah, that would go over well. Instead, I offered her a small smile. She responded in kind, then scurried from the room.

  “The child will be human, right? Just with magical powers, so would it be like any other pregnancy?” I asked.

  “Possibly.” Ivy poured herself a cup of tea and took a dainty sip. “Please, help yourselves.” She motioned at the cookies.

  My stomach grumbled. I hadn’t eaten anything at lunch today because I’d been so upset about all the stupid rumors. I reached for a cookie and took a small bite. They were fresh from the oven and still warm.

  “So, let me get this straight.” I sat in the chair and set the cookie on my lap. “There’s no consequences from drinking the magic potion. We just take it, and then we can conceive?” I looked to Ivy, who nodded. “But we’ll end up having a baby with magical powers? Dark magic, probably, but maybe not because neither of you can say one way or another.”

  “Correct.” Ivy continued to sip from her tea.

  “And every coven in the world will come after the baby because they’ll want his or her power?” I asked.

  “Yes,” Isach said. “But what Ivy failed to tell you is that because you’re a descendant of the Zoya, your child will be, too, which means, per magical law, my coven has rights to the child.”

  “What?” I gasped and stood abruptly. My cookie fell to the floor. “Absolutely not.” I shook my head vigorously. “Sorry, Isach, but your coven is not getting their hands on my child.”

  “You don’t have a say in it. I’m sorry.” He gave me a sad, apologetic smile.

  “Wait.” I held up my hands to stop either of them from speaking. My thoughts were racing faster than my brain could comprehend them. “Using Ivy’s potion to conceive doesn’t have anything to do with my lineage, so if I were to get pregnant by a human, your coven would still have rights to my child?”

  Isach nodded. “Technically, they have rights to you.” He moved to sit on the ottoman positioned next to the chair I’d vacated. “The only reason they haven’t tried to claim you as a member of the coven is because they have no idea you exist.”

  I could feel the color drain
ing from my face. Stunned, I sat back down. “If they don’t know about me, then they won’t know about my baby, either.”

  God, I sounded insane—talking like I was already pregnant, like I had a child that needed my protection. A child who didn’t exist, who probably never would.

  “They will once you change and break the curse.” Isach rested his arms on his legs and glanced up at me. “Breaking the curse will negatively affect our powers. The entire coven will feel it, and it won’t take them long to figure out you’re the newest Halstead vampire.”

  My head ached, and mental exhaustion hung like an anchor around my neck. “So, no matter what, when I break the curse, your coven is coming after me?”

  “Yes,” he said softly, averting his gaze.

  Anger sparked deep in my gut and spread outward. I clenched my hands into fists and stood. “That would have been good information to have months ago,” I snapped.

  He’d known all along and hadn’t bothered to tell me. Not that the information would have changed my mind. I was determined to spend an eternity with Trent, and nothing was going to stop me.

  Did Trent know about this, though? What would happen when the Zoya came for me? Would I and Trent’s family be strong enough to stand against them?

  “I’m sorry, Chloe.” Isach met my gaze, and his expression was clouded with pain and regret.

  “They’ll kill me?” I asked, my voice low and terrified.

  Isach nodded, then hung his head.

  Tears pooled in my eyes, and I turned away from him. I needed to tell Trent about this. Maybe there was something he could do. Or Sean. Or, maybe, once I changed, we’d have to leave Keene Valley for good.

  “There is another option.” Ivy set her teacup on the tray.

  I slowly spun to face her.

  “You and your vampires align yourselves with me and my coven. Once the curse is broken, all of us together will be strong enough to offer you protection from the Zoya.” Ivy smiled sweetly.

  I highly doubted Trent and his family would accept her offer; though if Trent knew it was the only way to protect me, he’d do it, and he’d convince his family to do it, too.

  “It’s unheard of for witches and vampires to join forces like that,” Isach said. “Trent and his family will never agree.”

  He was probably right about that, but I’d worry about that later. Though, he was wrong about witches and vampires not joining forces—Macaih had worked with Ivy and several other covens to gain his freedom from Yolanda and Dante, so it could be done. But Trent and his family had to be willing, and I doubted they would be, especially Jax.

  “And what about Isach? What happens when his coven finds out he’s been helping me?” I asked.

  “My offer extends to him as well.” She sat forward and refilled her teacup. “He’s welcome to align himself with the Rose Coven should he so choose.”

  Isach’s head snapped up, and a moment later, he stood. “It’s also unheard of for a witch to leave one coven to align with another.”

  “It’s rare, yes, but it does happen.” She sipped her tea as if our conversation was perfectly normal, like we were three friends who’d gathered for a chat about the weather or something equally mundane.

  “If I align with you, and you manage to convince the Halstead vampires to align with you”—Isach rose, his presence intimidating—“you’ll be the most powerful coven in the world.”

  I swallowed the lump in my throat. “That’s what this is all about?” I asked, all the pieces finally clicking into place and making sense. “You just want to gather as much power as you can, don’t you?”

  Ivy lifted one shoulder in a shrug. “Someone needs to take some of the power away from the Zoya. Why not me and my coven?”

  My head spun. “This is all too much,” I mumbled and rubbed my hands over my face. “I need some time to think.” And I really needed to talk to Trent.

  “Of course.” Ivy set her teacup on the coffee table and stood. “I’m sure you can understand the need for discretion in this matter.” She raised a brow, and I nodded. “There’s also some urgency here, so don’t take too long to make your decision.”

  Isach gently took my arm and led me from the house. Once outside, the fresh air breezed over me, clearing my thoughts a bit.

  “Thank you,” I said, stopping near Isach’s car. “For even coming to this meeting and everything you did in there.” I shifted on my feet. “I don’t want anything bad to happen to you.”

  “I don’t want anything bad to happen to you, either.” He smiled faintly. “And I’m sorry I didn’t tell you my coven would come after you once you changed. When I said I’d look the other way, I’m meant it, but I planned to look the other way about everything. I just wanted to pretend I didn’t know anything.”

  “I had a feeling your coven would retaliate when I broke the curse, but take it from someone who knows, pretending things aren’t real only makes them worse.” I laughed bitterly. I’d learned that lesson the hard way when I tried to pretend I didn’t have feelings for Jax. “Why are you helping me? If you know your coven is going to come after you, too, why would you risk it?”

  “I hate my coven,” he said, his tone vehement. “I hate everything they stand for. I hate how they’re always trying to control me.” He spoke each word harder than the last, venom dripping from his voice. “I hate having to pretend I’m loyal to them when all I want is to be left alone.”

  My heart broke for him, for the pain he clearly felt. I couldn’t imagine what it must be like, to have to constantly act like he was one thing when he wasn’t. Deep down, Isach was good. I could see that now. But he was a victim of a coven that thrived on evil and dark magic.

  “There’s so much you don’t know. Rules and laws and politics…” He shook his head. “No matter what I do, I’m going to be in trouble with my coven. There’s no avoiding that any longer. I need a way out.”

  Hesitantly, I placed my hand on his arm. “You have a way out, Isach.”

  “What?”

  “You don’t want to be part of your coven anymore, and Ivy offered you the chance to align with her coven. Maybe you should do it. I’ll break the curse, which will make her coven more powerful. The entire Rose Coven, you, me, the Halstead vampires… We could stop the Zoya. All of us. Together.”

  Fear flashed behind his green eyes. “Regardless of how much I hate my coven, they’re my family, Chloe. My parents. My grandparents. My friends.”

  I sighed, and my shoulders sagged. After a moment, I said, “I guess we both have a lot to think about, huh?”

  “I guess so.” He sounded as weary and exhausted as I felt.

  “Well, thanks again.” I forced a smile, then got into my car and headed home.

  Everything I ever wanted was within my grasp, and all it would cost was my life. Isach’s life. Possibly Trent’s life, too, because I doubted the Zoya would let him live once they figured out he’d been the one to change me.

  No matter what decision I made about having a child, the Zoya were going to come after me. One way or another, I was going to have to face them, and the only way I’d survive was with Ivy’s help and protection.

  I needed to convince Trent to trust her, again, which would be impossible considering I didn’t even trust her. But could I face off against Isach? He’d quickly become a friend, and going against him meant going against Abby. How could I do that to her? She’d never forgive me.

  I pulled into the driveway, killed the engine, and rested my forehead on the steering wheel. What was I going to do?

  AFTER A VERY QUIET and tense family dinner, I locked myself in my room and called Whitney. She answered on the first ring.

  “What’s wrong?” she asked.

  “Uh, nothing. Why?” I stood at my window, staring outside.

  “Because you never call me like this unless something’s wrong,” she said.

  “Oh.” I laughed. She was right. I typically texted her. I had no idea why I didn’t this time. “Well
, this Saturday is Trent and Jax’s birthday, and I was thinking about throwing them a surprise party. What—”

  Her excited scream cut me off, and I had to hold the phone away from my ear she was so loud. “That’s a fantastic idea,” she said. “I’ll help you plan everything.”

  I grinned. That was exactly why I’d called her—because I knew she wouldn’t hesitate to help. Whitney loved to throw parties.

  “I’m thinking something small. Family and close friends,” I said. “I think Trent’s tired of all the huge parties you’ve been having.” I laughed.

  Whitney sighed. “Fine. Text me a list of who you want to invite. I’ll talk to Sean and make sure he’s cool with it.”

  “Thanks. He’ll need to get Trent and Jax out of the house for a while on Saturday, too, so we can decorate and then surprise them.” I moved away from my window and glanced around at my bare walls. I really should’ve decorated more.

  “Relax. I got this,” she said with an air of confidence I wasn’t sure I’d ever felt about myself. “You invite whoever you want. I’ll take care of everything else.”

  “Deal,” I said.

  Trent would never expect a party like this, and I couldn’t wait to see the look on his and Jax’s faces.

  CHAPTER FORTY-THREE:

  No Deal

  “ARE YOU SURE YOU’RE ALL RIGHT?” Trent asked for the millionth time.

  “I’m fine,” I answered for the millionth time. I stood from the bed and pulled my cell phone from my pocket. “Where is everyone?”

  Ellie, Abby, and Whitney were supposed to show up at Trent’s house an hour ago, but none of them had shown up yet. Normally, I wouldn’t care that they were late because it meant more time with Trent, but I was avoiding telling him about Ivy. Though, I couldn’t avoid it much longer—she was going to expect an answer soon, and if I didn’t give her one, any dreams I had of having a baby with Trent would disappear.

  Then again, if this really was nothing more than a way for her to gain as much power as possible, I had some bargaining power over her. She needed me to take this deal, because if I didn’t, then Isach wouldn’t, either. And she needed him—wanted him as part of her coven—more than anything else.