Eternal Promise: (The Cursed Series, Book 5)

by Kara Leigh Miller

  “Did you kill him?” I asked, tears spilling down my cheeks faster than I could stop them.

  “No.” Dante stood. “But you won’t ever see him again.” He flung Trent over his shoulder and rushed out of the cabin.

  I slumped over and succumbed to the darkness.

  CHAPTER FORTY-TWO:

  Taken

  VIOLENT SHIVERS SHOOK MY BODY. I curled into the fetal position and wrapped my arms around my knees. Why was it so cold in here? Slowly, the events of earlier seeped into my consciousness.

  Trent!

  I jerked upright, and a sharp stab of pain shot through my temple. I winced and carefully got to my feet, steadying myself against the wall until the dizziness subsided enough that I could see somewhat straight. The door was still busted, and snow had drifted inside the cabin. I stumbled through the living room, almost tripping over Vivienne’s dead body.

  Gagging, I rushed outside. The rental truck was still parked where Trent had left it, but there was no sign of him or Dante.

  “Trent!” I shouted into the darkness, and I was greeted with deafening silence. “Trent,” I said softer, knowing in the pit of my stomach that he wasn’t anywhere nearby.

  Fear clutched my chest and squeezed the breath from my lungs. Where had Dante taken him? Maybe if I got in the truck and started driving, I could find them. Don’t be stupid. They were vampires with superhuman speed, and I’d been knocked unconscious for hours. There was no way I was going to find Trent. Numb, I went back inside and flopped down on the sofa.

  Trent was gone.

  And I was here alone.

  Panic choked me, and I hyperventilated. My shallow breaths were sharp and painful and made only more agonizing by the sobs now wracking my shoulders. I buried my face in my hands and cried.

  How had this happened? Why hadn’t I just taken Trent’s hand when he’d offered? If I had, maybe we would’ve been able to escape before Dante took him and left me for dead. Or maybe if I hadn’t wasted those few precious moments kissing him, we could’ve been gone before Dante barged in.

  Was that the last time I’d ever kiss my husband?

  I doubled over, the pain in my head intensifying to an excruciating level. I squeezed my eyes closed, but the pain persisted until I could feel the blood rushing to my head, the throbbing a dreadful staccato, mocking me for being weak. For not being able to fight back. For not being able to save Trent.

  “Oh God,” I whimpered.

  Bile rose in the back of my throat, and I barely made it to the bathroom before I threw up, violently, which did not help my headache.

  Closing the toilet lid, I rested my cheek against the cool ceramic, my tears coming harder and faster now. When I was positive I wasn’t going to vomit again, I stood, swaying on my feet. I gripped the edge of the sink and hung my head.

  After a moment, I splashed cool water on my face and then stared at my reflection. There was dried blood on the front of my shirt, remnants of Trent ripping Vivienne’s heart from her chest. My face was blotchy, and my eyes were droopy and bloodshot.

  A nasty lump protruded from my forehead. Gently, I touched it and winced. I probably had a concussion. It was then I realized I needed help. I couldn’t do this on my own. Not only was I in no condition physically to do anything, I had no idea where to even begin looking for Trent.

  But I knew someone who would.

  I raced back into the living room and searched for my cell phone—and then I called the only other person I trusted to deal with this situation.

  I’D TOSSED A BLANKET over Vivienne’s body and wrestled the busted door back in front of the frame, though it did little good. Snow still managed to swirl in around the cracks. Still, it made me feel slightly better than having gaping hole in the front of the cabin. Then, I’d started a fire to kill the chill permeating the interior, but that wasn’t working out so well, either.

  Exhausted, I curled up on the sofa beneath a blanket and waited, my gaze not moving from the door. What if Dante decided to come back for me? Sitting in plain view probably wasn’t the smartest idea.

  Gathering my blanket, I shuffled into the bedroom, but the French doors offered very little in the way of security, so I locked myself in the bathroom. And then I curled up in the hot tub.

  Sometime later, what remained of the front door creaked and then slammed against the floor. I jumped and slapped my hand over my mouth so I wouldn’t scream. Yanking the blanket over my head, as if somehow hiding beneath fabric would protect me, I stayed perfectly still, my heart drumming a terrified staccato.

  Please don’t let it be Dante. I closed my eyes, repeating my silent prayer. Please don’t let it be Dante.

  “Chloe?” His voice was frantic.

  I froze, and then instant relief flooded me. It wasn’t Dante. I stood and fought to get the blanket off me, nearly tripping and face planting on the tiled floor as I rushed to get out of the hot tub.

  “Chloe?” he repeated, his voice now in full-blown fear mode.

  Hands shaking, I fumbled to get the bathroom door unlocked. “Jax,” I said and flung myself into his arms just as he rounded the corner of the bed.

  He caught me, and I sobbed against his shoulder. He held me tightly, face buried in my hair, and whispered, “Shh. It’s okay. I’m here now.”

  I needed to let him go so I could tell him what happened, but I couldn’t make my body cooperate. I’d called him in hysterics, and he hadn’t hesitated to drop everything to run to my rescue.

  “You’re freezing,” he mumbled.

  Releasing me, he jerked the comforter off the bed and wrapped it around me; then he ran his hands up and down my arms as he studied my face. His eyes darkened, and he scowled.

  “Who hurt you?” he asked through clenched teeth. He reached up to touch my head, and I jerked away.

  “I’m fine,” I said, even though I wasn’t anywhere close to being fine. “He took Trent.”

  “Who took Trent?”

  I’d been crying so hard when I’d called Jax, all I managed to say coherently was, “Trent’s gone,” “I’m alone,” and “Please help me.” It had taken Jax a solid five minutes to get me to calm down enough to even tell him where I was. I imagined he was confused right now.

  “Dante,” I whispered.

  Jax’s eyes widened. “Dante?” he asked slowly. “Blue eyes, blond hair, baby face… looks like a choir boy but acts like the devil?”

  I nodded.

  Jax blew out a breath and muttered several curses. “Okay, tell me everything that happened.”

  I sank down on the edge of the bed and recounted everything that had happened from the moment Vivienne walked into the game room to the moment I woke up alone on the floor. I’d thought the day I’d taken my mother off life support had been the worst day of my life, but I’d been wrong. That pain had been devastating, but the pain I felt right now… that was completely debilitating.

  “So, Dante did that to you?” Jax asked, motioning at the lump on my head.

  “Yes.”

  Jax clenched his hands into fists. “I’m going to beat him to death,” he said, his voice deadly calm.

  Normally, I’d tell Jax to calm down, but not this time. I wanted Dante dead, and I wanted him to suffer for what he’d done.

  “Trent didn’t have the chance to tell me much, other than we needed to get away from Dante.” I fidgeted with the corner of the blanket. “I thought he was chasing Colt. Why does he want Trent?”

  Somewhere during my story, Jax had sat beside me, and now I turned to face him, hoping he had the answers I needed.

  Jax rubbed his hands over his face and stood. “Did Trent ever tell you we left Sean for a while?”

  “Yes.”

  “During that time, we met Dante. We thought he was a friend, until we realized he was a sadistic monster.”

  I swallowed hard. Great, and my husband was at the mercy of this madman. This day couldn’t possibly get any worse.

  “Did Trent ever tell you that the
re are vampires who change humans simply because they can?” Jax asked.

  I nodded. “Yeah, he said some vampires will create a personal army, or sometimes, they’ll just keep humans as pets, feeding on them whenever they want.”

  “Dante was created by a vampire who does both. She collects humans and feeds on them until she gets bored. Then, she either kills them or changes them. But she only changes the ones who are one hundred percent devoted to her,” Jax said as he paced at the foot of the bed.

  “He said something about a woman named Yolanda, that she’s wanted Trent for years,” I said, my muddled brain racing to catch up with my jumbled thoughts.

  “Yeah, she’s created her own personal harem.” Jax stopped pacing—thank God because he was making me even dizzier than I already was—and crossed his arms. “When Trent and I first met Dante, we had no idea about her, but he’d been out hunting for her, looking for men to do her bidding.”

  My stomach churned, and I forced back the urge to throw up again.

  “At first, we thought Dante was just one of us. He was a nice guy, and we had fun. But then he’d start disappearing for days at a time, and when he came back, he was… different. Happier but violent, like he was riding some sort of high. We’d ask him about it, and he’d blow us off. I couldn’t let it go, though, and I pushed him for answers.”

  “What does this have to do with him taking Trent?” I asked.

  “Everything,” Jax said, shaking his head as if he hated himself for whatever part he played in the situation all those years ago. “Eventually, Dante told us about Yolanda, but he made her sound wonderful. He said she was gorgeous and compassionate and that she could make all of our dreams come true. He said he told her all about us, and she was dying to meet us.”

  “And?” I asked, my patience wearing thin.

  Jax huffed. “She was the worst person I’d ever met in my life. She was forcing Dante to hunt men for her. He’d find guys down on their luck and bring them to her. In exchange, she’d look the other way while he did whatever he wanted, and he did some pretty heinous things to women.”

  I thought of how he’d treated Vivienne, like she was his personal pet. And how he’d abused Karina and her gifts for his own personal gain. He must’ve learned that from Yolanda.

  “As soon as she saw us, she wanted us to join her. Dante didn’t normally bring vampires home to her, so she was surprised. Trent and I were—are—still relatively young in vampire years, and she thought she could train us like she did Dante.” Jax resumed pacing, his agitation palpable.

  “Obviously, you two didn’t stick around, right?”

  Jax shook his head, and shock settled over me. They’d actually stayed with Yolanda. Why would they do that if she was as awful as he said?

  “We stayed for a little while—she didn’t really give us a choice. At her request, I became Dante’s wingman. I hated every second of it, but Trent… He became her pet.” Jax scowled, his hands once again curling into fists. “She doted on him something fierce, talking about making him her king.” He rolled his eyes. “But Trent refused every single advance she made, and eventually, she got angry.”

  I rubbed my temples, but even the slightest touch set off waves of piercing pain, so I dropped my hands back into my lap.

  “The longer Trent refused her, the meaner she became, and the more we saw of how she operated, how she let her guys bring women home, drink from them, beat them. Kill them… We left and never looked back.”

  “And she just left you alone?” I shrugged the blanket off and stood. “Dante made it sound like she’s been looking for Trent for years.”

  “Maybe she has,” he said, dragging his hand through his hair. “I honestly don’t know, but if Dante really did take him back to her, he’s in some serious trouble. There’s no way she’s going to let him walk away again.”

  My heart sank. I’d known the situation was bad, but I hadn’t realized it was this bad.

  “People—men—don’t say no to Yolanda,” Jax said. “But Trent did, and I can only imagine how badly that bruised her ego. She obviously still wants him, and now she has something to prove.”

  “Yeah, well, she can’t have him,” I snapped. I walked around the room in a daze, trying to figure out what to do next. My thoughts were still foggy, though, making it impossible to focus on anything.

  “I know,” he said.

  “What’re we supposed to do now, then?” I asked, desperation lacing my words.

  “Get your stuff,” Jax said, his tone gentle. “I’m taking you home.”

  “What?” I shouted. “No. We can’t go home. We need to find Trent.”

  “I know, and we will,” he said. “But—”

  I marched up to Jax, rage hot and thick in my veins. “No buts. We have to go find Trent. If I leave this room, it’s going to be because I’m out searching for my husband,” I said, curling my hands into fists so tight my fingernails bit into my palms.

  Jax’s eyes darkened as he stared down at me. The vein in his temple throbbed, and his jaw ticked with anger and fear and a whole host of other emotions I couldn’t deal with right now. But I couldn’t ignore the familiarity of the moment, of how we’d faced off like this so many times before.

  “We’re going home,” Jax repeated.

  “You can go wherever you want. I’m going to find Trent,” I said.

  He took a step closer, his towering presence only slightly intimidating. “No, you’re not.”

  “Yes, I am,” I said defiantly.

  Jax didn’t so much as flinch, and I knew, if he really wanted to, he could haul me out of this room and straight back to Keene Valley, and there wouldn’t be a thing I could do to stop him. I hoped he wouldn’t do that, but the hard expression on his face gave me pause.

  “I called you because I thought you’d help me.” I swallowed hard.

  If I couldn’t get him to do what I wanted by being nice, then I’d have to push him—and I was good at that.

  “Guess I should’ve called Isach or Whitney instead. Or maybe Colt,” I continued. “At least they’d be doing something right now other than demanding I go home.”

  Slowly, Jax crossed his arms over his chest, the movement so methodical I momentarily second-guessed my plan. Still, he remained silent.

  “You can’t just leave him with Dante and Yolanda.” My voice cracked, and I cleared my throat. “They’ll torture and kill him. You have to find him. He’s your brother, Jax,” I shouted and shoved him.

  Of course, he didn’t budge an inch.

  The last shred of control I had snapped, and I beat my fists against Jax’s arms and chest, screaming at him to find Trent. Through it all, Jax stood there and took whatever I threw at him, never once moving or telling me to stop. And I hit him until my arms and hands ached nearly as much as my heart.

  “Are you done?” he asked softly. Whatever anger he’d had moments earlier was gone.

  Exhausted, defeated, and utterly broken, I dropped my arms to my sides, rested my forehead on Jax’s folded arms, and cried. Tears trailed down my cheeks and dripped from my chin.

  “I can’t do this without him,” I said in between sobs. “You have to find him, Jax. Please.”

  He lifted my chin and peered into my eyes. “I will,” he said firmly. “But I can’t do it alone. Which is why we need to go home first. I need to talk to Sean and Colt and everyone else.”

  I nodded.

  “I promise you, Chloe. I will bring Trent home to you,” he said.

  My breath hitched at the sincerity in Jax’s tone. Despite everything that happened between us, the one thing that hadn’t ever changed was that he’d never once broken a promise to me.

  He placed a tender kiss to my forehead. “Now, please get your stuff so we can go.”

  At just like that, I was leaving my honeymoon and going home husband-less.

  KEEP READING

  for a sneak peek at

  ETERNAL LIFE (The Cursed Series, Book 6)

 
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

  This book wouldn’t be as gorgeous as it is without my wonderful cover artist and formatter, Laura Heritage. From the bottom of my heart, thank you for so perfectly capturing everything I wanted on the cover.

  For all my readers—THANK YOU! Thank you for taking a chance on a new author, for falling in love with Trent and Chloe and Jax as much as I have, and for sticking with me on this journey. I wouldn’t be able to do any of this without all of you. The response I’ve gotten from you has been humbling and overwhelming and has kept me going on the days when I questioned what the hell I was doing.

  And now, here’s a sneak peek at

  Eternal Life: The Cursed Series, Book 6…

  Coming February 9, 2021

  If you enjoyed Eternal Promise (The Cursed Series, Book 5), please consider leaving a review on Amazon or Goodreads.

  CHAPTER ONE:

  I’m Fine!

  August 2018…

  I SLEPT FITFULLY AGAINST JAX’S SHOULDER most of the way home, but he never once complained. He’d simply shifted positions so I’d be more comfortable. My honeymoon had come to an abrupt end because my husband had been kidnapped by a sadistic vampire and his psychopathic “queen.” How the hell did that happen? And how was I ever going to get him back?

  My mind and body were zombie-like as we left the airport and climbed into Jax’s car. I rested my head on the window and closed my eyes. The hum of the car’s engine lulled me into a somewhat peaceful sleep. Every so often, Jax’s voice would cut through my consciousness, but I couldn’t make out what he was saying.

  Eventually, the car stopped, and then I was in Jax’s arms. He carried me inside, up the stairs, and gently laid me on the bed—the same bed I shared with Trent on our wedding night. The blankets were still disheveled and smelled like him. Sudden, intense heartache clawed at me.

  I was back home. Alone. Surrounded by memories of Trent. I hugged his pillow and inhaled his scent as fresh tears filled my eyes.