Chapter 24

I sat back and watched as everyone ate breakfast. Conversation and laughter were plentiful, and I couldn’t keep the smile from my face. For the first time in longer than I could remember, everything felt right, like there wasn’t a single thing in the world that could harm us. No more curses or enemies plotting against us. No more impending wars or threats of death looming over us.

Had we finally found peace?

Poised on Chloe’s lap, Emma grabbed a fistful of pancake and let out an excited holler that caused everyone to laugh, even Sophie, who’d been rather quiet and reserved this morning. No doubt a result of our late-night conversation. Part of me wanted to pull her aside and demand more of an explanation, but I knew she wouldn’t give me one.

My plan to ask Isach wasn’t going all that great, either. I hadn’t had the chance to get him alone, and I didn’t want to disrupt a pleasant morning by asking to speak to him. Others would want to know why, and what would I tell them?

Piper had agreed to give me some answers tonight, so I’d see what she said before I went asking around behind her back. Well, more than I already had, anyway. Not that I’d been able to gather any real information about her or her sisters. Regardless, she deserved the chance to explain herself, and honestly, I wanted her to. I wanted to hear whatever she had to say.

“You’re going to end up turning these girls into food snobs,” Chloe said. Emma continued to reach for the plate of pancakes that Chloe had pushed just out of her reach.

I grinned. “Someone needs to teach them what good food tastes like.”

Chloe shook her head and rolled her eyes. Emma squirmed until she somehow managed to get her chubby hand on another pancake. She squished it in her hand, laughed, then launched it across the table. A few pieces landed in Piper’s hair.

Sarah giggled.

“Emma, no,” Chloe scolded. “I am so sorry, Piper.”

“It’s okay.” Piper smiled, picked the pancake crumbs from her hair, and held them in her palm. She blew gently across them, and they fluttered into the air before shifting into multi-colored flower petals. They floated gently to the table, and Emma let out a delighted shriek.

“Show off.” I caught Piper’s gaze and winked.

Her answering sly grin set my heart racing, and I had to fight every urge surging through me in that moment. I wanted to reach for her hand, to lace our fingers, to kiss her knuckles, to whisper how much I loved her… And I wanted everyone seated at this table to see my affection, to know that I was one hundred percent committed to Piper.

“Like you have any room to talk.” Trent laughed.

I resisted the urge to flip him the middle finger, but that probably wasn’t something I should be doing in front of Emma and Sarah. Teaching them bad habits would come when they were a little older.

“Well, now that we’ve had food and a show, it’s time for us to go.” Isach stood and carried his dirty dishes to the sink.

“Yeah, the pancakes were delicious, Jax. Thank you,” Abby said.

I gave her a small nod. “It was all Piper’s idea. Though I did do most of the cooking.”

Piper gave me a look that was a mixture between sarcasm and gratefulness. “He did salvage my botched attempt at breakfast. I clearly have no business being in the kitchen.” She laughed.

“Between us, that’s a good thing. Jax does not like it when people mess around in the kitchen when he’s cooking,” Chloe said. “He gets really grumpy.”

I watched the way Chloe spoke to Piper, almost as if they were sharing some major secret. I could easily see Chloe and Piper becoming good friends, maybe someday sisters-in-law, and I wanted that for both of them. Even if that meant they’d gang up on me from time to time.

“Yes, I’ve noticed,” Piper said, her gaze sliding toward me.

“That’s not a bad thing, though.” Chloe smirked at me. “What woman doesn’t want a man who can and will cook for her?”

“I’m feeling attacked right now,” Trent teased.

Piper laughed lightly.

Chloe leaned over to drop a kiss on Trent’s cheek before turning her attention to Abby and Isach. “So, when will you two be back?” She handed Emma to me, and I took her without question. Chloe stood and began to clear the table.

“In a week,” Abby answered. “And then I promise we’ll find a place of our own.”

“You know you’re welcome to stay as long as you need.” Chloe reached for my plate, made a silly face at Emma, then headed into the kitchen before returning a moment later to gather more dishes. “I like having Isach around to put the girls to bed.” She laughed.

“Why do you think she lets me hang around so much? I’m the one who cooks all the time,” I said. “We’re all her minions, here to do the stuff she doesn’t want to.”

Chloe shot me playful dirty look, then stuck her tongue out at me. Everyone laughed.

I bounced Emma on my knee. She jammed her fingers into her mouth and drooled. Hard to believe the twins would be a year old soon. I’d overheard Whitney and Chloe talking about planning a rather large birthday party for them, but I didn’t know any specifics. I wouldn’t dream of missing it, and I hoped Piper would be there, too. I wanted her to be part of this family.

Gently, I eased Emma’s fingers from her mouth and used a napkin to wipe them dry. She attempted to reach for the napkin, too, but I was much faster. “Not everything needs to go in your mouth, little girl,” I told her.

Emma wailed, and big, fat, crocodile tears spilled down her face. I frowned.

“She’s teething.” Chloe returned to gather more dirty dishes. “Anything she can get her hands on goes in her mouth lately. I’ve tried giving her cold teething rings, but she hates them.”

Trent appeared, Sarah propped on his hip, and handed Emma what looked like a chew toy. She sniffled but took it and shoved it into her mouth. Her crying stopped, but her cheeks were still wet from her tears. I wiped them away.

“I can make something to help ease their discomfort,” Piper said, her gaze continuously darting toward me. “It’s all natural and a lot better than anything you’ll find in the store.”

“Really? That would be great. Thank you,” Chloe said.

“Of course.” Piper reached over and rubbed Emma’s back, her fingers barely grazing mine, but the touch was enough to send my senses into overdrive. “We don’t want these precious babies suffering, do we?”

Someday, Piper would be a fantastic mother.

That thought stopped me cold. As long as she was with me, she’d never get the opportunity to have kids. Did she even want kids? What if she did? What did that mean for us and whatever future I hoped to have with her?

Trent had struggled with these same questions, too. He’d always known Chloe wanted kids, and because he didn’t think he’d be able to give that to her, he’d been willing to walk away, to give her the freedom to find someone who could give her all the things she’d wanted in life.

There was just one problem—I wasn’t my brother. I wasn’t strong enough to walk away from Piper again, not when she was clearly coming around to the idea of there being an “us.” No one, least of all me, would disagree that I was a hell of a lot more selfish than Trent.

Of course, if Piper told me having kids would make her happy, and I wasn’t physically able to do that for her, as my soulmate, I’d have no choice but to walk away so she could pursue true happiness.

I stood and handed Emma back to Chloe. She gave me a “what’s wrong” look, but I ignored her and stepped out onto the back porch. Maybe some fresh air would clear my head and untangle the knot squeezing tighter and tighter around my heart. Resting my arms on the porch railing, I clasped my hands and lowered my head.

A second later, the door slid open. I didn’t need to turn around to know Trent had followed me. He stood beside me. “You good?”

“No.” I laughed humorlessly. “I’m not good. I don’t think I’ll be good ever again.” I shook my head. “I don’t know how to do this.”

“Do what?”

“The whole soulmate thing.” I shifted so I was leaning with one arm propped on the railing, and I faced Trent. “How the hell did you do it? Everything in me is screaming to be with her, yet I’m constantly seconds away from giving up if it means she’ll be happier. I feel like I’m on the ledge, waiting for her to say the words that will either seal my fate or completely shatter me.”

Trent gave a sympathetic smile. “I remember those feelings all too well. There were so many times I was positive Chloe would choose a different life, one that didn’t include me.” He blew out a breath, turned to rest his arms on the railing, and stared out over the backyard. “It was torture.”

“How did you keep your shit together?” I once again adjusted and mimicked my brother’s stance. “Because I’m two seconds away from losing my damn mind.”

“I don’t know.”

I sliced him a dirty look. Was he trying to be unhelpful on purpose?

“I’m serious. I don’t know how I got through those moments, those days, when I thought I was losing her. When I didn’t know what would come out of her mouth next, whether she’d tell me to leave her alone or declare her undying love…” He glanced up. “I focused on the moments I did have with her, the ones when I knew things were good. I never took a single second for granted.”

“The difference is you knew Chloe loved you. Regardless of what she said or did, you knew that. I have no idea how Piper feels about me.”

“Yes, I did.” He nodded with agreement. “But what good was it to know that? With eternity constantly looming in front of us, knowing she loved me but didn’t want to be with me would’ve been worse torture than believing she never loved me in the first place.”

I never knew Trent felt that way. All this time, I’d assumed he’d been thrilled to know Chloe loved him. But I could understand his logic. Knowing she loved him but not enough to be with him… to know she’d be out there somewhere, living a life he couldn’t be a part of… I shook the depressing thoughts away.

“How did you convince her to give up everything for you?” I asked, unsure if I really wanted the answer.

“I didn’t. When she thought she no longer had a choice, she realized what she truly wanted.” He straightened and rubbed the back of his neck. “To be clear, I’m not suggesting you take Piper’s choice from her.”

“I’d never do that to her.” I rested one foot on the bottom part of the railing and adjusted my weight. “I never meant to do that to Chloe, either. You know that, right?”

“I do.” He nodded. “So does she.”

I had the sudden urge to apologize—again—for every awful thing I’d done to Chloe and Trent. I’d been such a selfish, jealous asshole back then. If I could take back every second of pain I caused them, I would.

“Hey.” Chloe peeked her head outside. “Isach and Abby are leaving if you want to say goodbye.”

I glanced at her over my shoulder and smiled. She returned the gesture, then disappeared inside.

Trent clapped me on the back. “All you can do is be patient. You have to give her the freedom to make this choice on her own. When she’s ready.”

“I was afraid you were going to say that.” I pushed away from the railing. “Thanks again for not being a total dick about this.” Lord knew that’s exactly what I deserved for how I’d reacted when Trent was going through all of this with Chloe.

“Don’t take my compassion for defeat. Payback’s coming.”

Laughing, I shoved Trent toward the door. “Get inside.”

We stepped inside, and my gaze instinctively sought out Piper. She was in the living room with Abby and Isach, who were getting ready to leave. Concern was etched across her face, and I gave her a reassuring smile.

Chloe hugged Isach, and something inside of me clicked into sharp focus. Chloe and Trent were able to have the twins because of a potion Ivy had made, a potion and spell that Isach helped with. Piper was a lot more powerful than Ivy, which meant maybe, just maybe, Piper could use the same potion to have kids with me, if that’s what she decided she wanted. A new sense of hope filled me.

This wasn’t over yet.

Abby hugged me, and I wrapped my arms around her. “Thank you, again, for all you’ve done for us,” she whispered.

“Any time.” I released her. “Have fun on your honeymoon, and don’t do anything I wouldn’t.”

Isach laughed. “Is there anything you won’t do?”

I shrugged and tucked my hands into my pockets. “I do have some limits.”

“No, he doesn’t,” Trent said around a laugh.

Isach grabbed two of the four suitcases—they were only going to be gone a week; how much had they packed? I grabbed the other two and followed him out of the house. He popped the trunk on his car and stacked the luggage inside.

“Piper’s hiding something,” I said and then cringed. I wasn’t going to ask Isach for any information until after Piper answered my questions tonight, but here I was.

He closed the trunk and faced me. “What?”

“Don’t play stupid. She’s hiding something, and we both know it. Or rather, I suspect you know what it is.” I crossed my arms.

“What makes you think I’d know?”

“Because you’ve spent time with them, and Piper seems to know quite a bit about vampires, and I’m guessing you’re the one who told her.”

He didn’t deny it. Blowing out a breath, he dragged his hand through his hair. “It’s not my place to tell you. She will when she’s ready.”

I growled. I’d known Isach wasn’t going to be much help, but I’d hoped for a little more from him. Not for the first time, I questioned where his loyalties lied—with me and my family, or with Piper and hers.

“Look, think about what you do know. The Pendragons were once royalty among the witches. There’s a lot of responsibility that comes with that status.” He gave me a sad but encouraging smile, then patted my shoulder. “She will tell you. I know she will.”

I narrowed my eyes. If the entire supernatural world thought the Pendragons were extinct, what status could they possibly still hold? Before I could say anything more, Abby bounded out of the house, her yellow aura shining brighter than the sun. My face relaxed into a smile.

“Give her time,” Isach said as he moved around me to open the car door for Abby.

That was easier said than done when she was set to leave in nine days, and when her sister was adamant that there was no way Piper could—or would—stay behind. I could only hope she finally opened up to me tonight.