Eternal Love: (The Cursed Series, Book 4)

by Kara Leigh Miller

  “I appreciate you coming over,” Uncle Dean said to Trent. “Not many guys your age would have the guts.”

  “Thank you for hearing me out.” Trent shook Uncle Dean’s hand. “And again, I’m sorry.”

  “Will someone please tell me what’s going on?” I asked. The entire scene before me was surreal, and I wasn’t entirely positive I wasn’t dreaming.

  “Trent will explain,” Uncle Dean said to me with a smile. “Just don’t go anywhere, okay?”

  “Uh, okay,” I said, confused.

  “Let’s go outside and talk.” Trent shoved his hands into his pockets, and I nodded.

  We went onto the porch, and I immediately headed for the wooden swing when Trent said, “Let’s sit in my truck. It’s warmer.”

  I followed him to his truck and climbed in. He turned on the heat, and the initial blast of cool air sent a shiver through me.

  “Okay, tell me what’s going on. Why are you here? What were you talking to my aunt and uncle about?” I asked.

  He chuckled. “Always so many questions.”

  I sighed with fake annoyance.

  “I came here to apologize for not talking to them before I proposed to you. I explained that I’d gotten your father’s blessing and I thought that was enough, but then I realized I was wrong. I told them I meant no disrespect, and then I spent the rest of the time telling them how much I loved you and how I’d spend my life making sure you were happy,” he said.

  I sat there for a moment, letting his words sink in. He was always so thoughtful, always doing things like this for me because he knew what it meant to me. Still, despite what he’d just done, despite the fact I’d spent the past few hours planning our wedding, there was this crater-sized rift between us. He made no effort to pull me closer or kiss me, and I was rooted in my spot, unsure if I should make the first move to close this gaping hole that separated us.

  “How was the wedding planning?” he asked.

  “Fun.”

  I launched into what was probably a too long description of everything we talked about and decided. Trent listened without interruption, nodding and smiling at certain intervals. Everything inside of me ached to scoot across the seat and kiss him, but I couldn’t force my body to move.

  “Sounds like it’s going to be incredible,” he said.

  I gritted my teeth. How could sit there and talk about our wedding like he was some casual observer? Was he still that mad about the Ivy thing? I promised him I wouldn’t make the deal, so what was the problem?

  “I should probably get back inside.” I reached for the door handle.

  “Chloe, wait.” Trent clutched my arm.

  Slowly, I let go of the door handle and twisted around to face him. “What?” I whispered.

  He immediately released my arm, and my heart sank with dread. “Nothing. It’s not important,” he said.

  Huffing, I jerked the door open. “Thanks for talking to Aunt Beth and Uncle Dean.”

  He nodded, his gaze focused straight ahead.

  I slammed the truck door and stormed up the porch steps. Planning my wedding should be fun. I should be smiling and happy and have my head in the clouds. Instead, I was miserable and sad and all I could think about was all the things Trent didn’t say to me.

  Suddenly, Trent appeared in front of me, and I gasped. I hated when he snuck up on me like that.

  “You’re mad,” he said.

  “I’m fine,” I lied.

  He tilted his head, eyebrows raised. He didn’t need to say anything for me to know he didn’t believe me, and right now, I didn’t care. I just wanted to be left alone so I could wallow in grief and self-pity, just for a little while.

  “Whatever.” I sighed and attempted to step around him, but he blocked me. I glared at him. “What do you want, Trent?”

  “I want you to talk to me.”

  “Tried that. You barely said five words to me.” I crossed my arms. “And when you did speak, you acted like you couldn’t care less.”

  He rubbed the back of his neck. “I’m sorry. You dropped a lot of information on me today.”

  I snorted. “Oh, you mean the information you chose to ignore? The information I gave you that you couldn’t even acknowledge? That information? You know what, never mind.” I shook my head and attempted to step around him again, but in a flash, I was back in his truck and dizzy. “Don’t do that,” I snapped.

  “Sorry, but I couldn’t let you walk away. Not yet.” He ran his hands over the steering wheel as if he were nervous or didn’t know what to say. Trent was rarely ever at a loss for words. “We need to talk.”

  “Then talk,” I said.

  I angled my body so my back was against the door and crossed my arms. I’d done enough talking for twelve people today, and I wasn’t saying another word until he gave me some indication as to what he was thinking.

  “Hold on.” He snatched his phone from the dashboard, and his fingers flew across the screen. The phone buzzed, and he was once again typing something to someone. What on earth was he doing?

  “When I told you to talk, I meant talk to me. Not whoever you’re texting,” I said like a petulant child who wasn’t getting enough attention. That’s kinda what I felt like at the moment.

  The corner of Trent’s mouth lifted in a teasing, sexy smile. “There. Done.” He tossed his phone onto the dash. “Whitney’s calling your aunt right now, asking if you can come over. So, go back inside and act like you don’t know anything.”

  “I don’t know anything,” I pointed out. “Why do I need to come over? What’s wrong with talking right now, here?”

  “We need a lot more time than we have, and I’d like a bit of privacy,” he said.

  I couldn’t really argue with that. The stuff we needed to talk about wasn’t exactly normal, and we didn’t need anyone accidentally overhearing us. Not that anyone inside my house would be able to hear us when we were sitting in Trent’s truck, but he was right about needing time. Although…

  “You realize everyone in your house can hear whatever we say, right? We have more privacy right here than we will at your house,” I said.

  “Which is exactly why we’re not staying at my house.”

  I waited for him to explain, and when he didn’t, I sighed and said, “Fine. Guess I’ll see you soon, then.” I jerked open the truck door, and when I got out, I was greeted with Trent’s body. Him and his stupid vampire speed.

  Gently, he cradled my face in his hands and lowered his mouth over mine. My eyes fluttered closed, and I whimpered against his lips, clutching the front of his shirt as if that would somehow force him not to stop kissing me.

  “I love you,” he whispered, each word spoken with intensity.

  “Love you, too.” I released my hold on his shirt and smiled up at him. “See you soon.”

  CHAPTER FORTY-FIVE:

  Hopes and Dreams

  TWO HOURS LATER, I WAS SITTING in a hotel room in Lake Placid with Trent. He hadn’t been kidding when he said he wanted privacy. No one was going to interrupt or overhear us here.

  I had no idea how Whitney had convinced Aunt Beth to let me go to her house, but I wasn’t complaining. Sitting alone in my room tonight hadn’t even made it onto my list of things-I-want-to-do. My emotions were all over the place, running higher than ever.

  I wandered around the small room. There was a queen size bed in the middle, matching nightstands on either side, and a dresser with a TV on top. The bathroom was to the right, and situated in front of the windows was a small table with two chairs. The room wasn’t anything fancy, but we really didn’t need fancy. We needed private and quiet, and that’s what we had.

  Pulling back the heavy drapes, I peered outside. Our room was in the back of the building, so we had a view of a flat stretch of grass and trees. A wooden gazebo with a couple picnic tables stood in the middle of the yard.

  “You did all this so we could talk,” I said, letting the drape fall back into place and turning around to face Tr
ent. “Are you finally ready to talk?”

  He rubbed the back of his neck, the telltale sign he was nervous.

  I momentarily closed my eyes and blew out a breath. Nerves meant he was going to say stuff he knew I wouldn’t like, stuff that would upset me and more than likely cause an argument.

  “I know you’re not happy I talked to Ivy, and based on the way you’ve been completely avoiding the topic, I know you’re not happy about the reason I went to see her.” I crossed my arms. “So, just say it,” I said with a tired sigh.

  “Say what, exactly? That all I’ve been able to think about since you told me you saw Ivy was tonight could have turned out very differently? That she could have kidnapped you again? Held you hostage and forced me to change you right now, before you were ready?” He dragged his hand through his hair. “Did you ever once stop to consider that’s how things could’ve turned out?”

  The edge of terror in his tone had me rethinking every decision I’d made. “No,” I whispered, dropping my arms to my sides. “But I wasn’t alone. Isach was with me, and he wasn’t going to let anything happen.”

  Trent growled. “And why do you suddenly trust him so much?” He remained on the opposite side of the room, near the door, as if he were afraid to get too close to me.

  The physical distance between us was painful, but that was nothing compared to the emotional distance I felt growing between us. Had I really messed up that bad? Couldn’t we get past this?

  “Because he’s proven I can. With how he’s treating Abby. How he’s been honest with me. How he’s helped me. I don’t know.” I threw my hands in the air with frustration. “Maybe the fact he hasn’t told his coven I exist is enough for me to trust him. You obviously trusted him enough to ask for his help in rescuing me from Ivy.”

  Trent rubbed his hands over his face and moved away from the door, but he didn’t approach me. Instead, he walked over to the nightstand and emptied his pockets onto it—keys, phone, wallet.

  “I was desperate,” he said, his voice low, his gaze resting anywhere and everywhere but on me.

  Every second that passed that he kept his distance was another second my heart splintered.

  “So was I.” My shoulders drooped, and I hung my head. “I’m sorry. I thought I was okay with not having kids, but when I realized there might be a way… I had to know.” I stared down at my shoes, knowing if I looked at Trent, I’d end up crying. “But if I knew it was going to cause this rift between us, I never would have done it.”

  Trent was suddenly in front of me, his finger under my chin, gently lifting my head to meet his gaze. I expected his eyes to be dark like they normally were when he was angry, but they weren’t—they were just blue, sharp but full of agony.

  “There’s no rift between us,” he said.

  “Then why have you been avoiding me since I told you? You’ve barely touched me or kissed me, and you’re not saying anything about what I told you.”

  “What do you want me to say?” he asked.

  “I don’t know.” I shrugged. “That you’re happy.”

  “But I’m not happy,” he said, his tone gentle but firm.

  What was left of my heart shattered into a million pieces. I jerked away from his touch and crossed my arms, my fingernails digging painfully into my arms. Maybe if I focused on that pain, I could ignore the pain tearing through my chest.

  “I’m terrified, Chloe. More terrified than I was when I wiped your memories and thought I’d never see you again, and definitely a lot more terrified than I was when Ivy took you and I didn’t know where you were.”

  “Why?” I whispered. The thought of being a parent was scary, but I had a feeling there was more to it than that.

  “Because I want this to be real, more than you’ll ever know, but I can’t let myself get caught up in hoping that it is, because what if it’s not? What if Ivy’s lying to you just so she can get her hands on more power? I won’t be able to handle my own disappointment if this turns out to be some cruel joke, and I certainly won’t be able to handle what it will do to you.” He approached me again, his steps hesitant.

  My bottom lip trembled, and I stared up at the ceiling, willing myself not to cry. I didn’t think Ivy was lying, but how could I know for certain she was being truthful? Isach didn’t seem to think she was lying, either. At least, he hadn’t told me if he thought she was.

  Trent swept his hands along either side of my neck, but I couldn’t look at him. I pulled free from his hold and moved across the room.

  “She’s not lying,” I said, infusing as much confidence into my words as I could manage. “Isach is the one who told me there was a way, and I believe him. He’ll actually be helping Ivy with the magic.”

  “Okay, why don’t you start at the beginning. Tell me everything that happened with Ivy,” he said. He wasn’t exactly jumping on board with my crazy plan, but he was willing to let me explain, which was more than he’d done earlier.

  I took a deep breath and launched into the entire story, telling him how I’d talked to Ivy outside of the diner, how she said it would require an upfront payment—Isach. How I’d dismissed it because I didn’t want to drag Isach into this, but then how I asked him if this was possible. How he’d told me there was a spell but chances were Ivy wasn’t strong enough and that’s probably why she wanted him.

  I then explained how I’d texted Isach while we were at my dad’s and told him I wanted to talk to Ivy about all of this. Then, I attempted to explain how it worked, but I probably messed that up because I didn’t fully understand the mechanics behind all of it.

  Finally, I came clean about what it would cost me and Isach, what Isach wanted from me in return, and what the consequences would be if I accepted Ivy’s help, including the part about the Zoya coming after me regardless of what choice we made.

  Through it all, Trent listened, never once interrupting, though I could tell by the way he’d narrow his eyes and tilt his head that he had questions. A lot of them. When I finished talking, I sank down onto the bed and waited for Trent to say something, but he was quiet for a long while.

  I risked a glance at him—he was still leaning against the table, his expression unreadable. Why wasn’t he saying anything?

  “Okay,” he said, nodding. And that was all he said.

  I blinked, confused. “Okay?” What does he mean? “Okay what?”

  “Okay, I believe you.”

  My jaw dropped, and I stood, indignation thick in my veins. “Because you didn’t believe me earlier?” Frustration and anger warred inside of me. “Why did you bring me here, Trent? What’s the point if you’re not going to actually talk to me about this?” I balled my hands into fists and fought against heated tears.

  “If I say no to this, if I tell you I don’t want to make another deal with Ivy, are you going to be okay with that?” He raised a brow, still not moving from his spot near the table.

  All I wanted him to do was put his arms around me, give me one of those tender kisses on my forehead, and tell me everything would be all right. But he wasn’t budging, and I had no idea why, or what it meant for us.

  “I’d be upset, but yeah, I’d be okay. You’ve always respected my choices, and I’ll do the same for you.” I inhaled deeply, the air like razor blades. I sat back down, my legs shaky. “But… is the reason you don’t want to make a deal with Ivy because you don’t trust her and the consequences are too high? Or is it because you don’t want to have a baby with me?” My voice dropped as I spoke those final words.

  “Wait.” Finally, he moved. He straightened. “Is that what you think? That I don’t want to do this because I don’t want to have a baby with you?”

  I bit on my lip and nodded, refusing to even glance in his direction.

  “Chloe.” There was so much painful emotion in the way he said my name. He dropped to his knees in front of me and clutched my hands. “Honey, I want to have a baby with you more than anything.”

  He kissed my knuckles, and I fina
lly forced myself to look at him. Now, his eyes were dark and stormy, his gaze intense and tormented.

  “But there’s so much we have to consider, and I’m not sure the risks are worth it,” he said.

  From the moment I’d told him we had this opportunity and seeing his initial reaction, I knew clear to my soul he didn’t like the idea, but to hear him actually say it… All my hopes and dreams went up in flames.

  “No matter what, the Zoya are still coming after me, and we’re going to need help. Ivy’s willing to help, so why not get something we want first?” I asked.

  Frowning, he tilted his head and cupped the side of my face. “That’s exactly why we shouldn’t do this. Bringing a baby into the middle of a war with the Zoya… it’s dangerous. And selfish.”

  I cringed. Didn’t he realize everything I did was selfish? That every choice I’d made lately had been all about me and what I wanted?

  “Think about it,” he said softly. “Ivy said every coven in the world will want our child, and Isach said the Zoya have rights because of your lineage. They will do anything to get what they want. They’re ruthless. Nothing will stop them from killing you and taking the baby.”

  Tears slid down my cheeks, and I closed my eyes to block out the images flashing in my mind. Why did he have to be so logical all the time? Why couldn’t he let his heightened emotions take over, just for once?

  “You’re right,” I said, nearly choking on the words. I wiped my tears and sniffled. “Can you please take me home?”

  “What?” He stood. “You want to leave?”

  I nodded. “I just need to be alone for a little while.”

  He hesitated then, after a moment, he gathered his stuff from the nightstand. “C’mon.”

  The drive back to Trent’s was made in total silence, neither of us uttering a word. When we got there, I climbed out of his truck and into my car. Trent didn’t bother to say goodbye, and I was numb as I drove home through a haze of tears and heartbreak.

  By the time I made it home, it was well past midnight, and everyone was already in bed. I let myself inside and quietly made my way to my room, where I locked the door and hid beneath my covers.