Chapter 26 – Playing Human

When I reached Chloe’s house, all the lights were off. I slowed and pulled over to the side of the road. Then I listened. Two distinct heartbeats upstairs—Chloe’s aunt and uncle—but no other sounds, which meant Abby wasn’t home.

Shit. I smacked my hands on the steering wheel. Chloe would never forgive herself if something happened to Abby. Nor would she forgive me, especially when she’d been adamant about warning Abby, and I’d convinced her not to. I needed to find Abby and make sure she was okay. Where the hell could she be, though?

I eased away from the shoulder of the road when I heard a car engine coming my way. Headlights shone faintly in my rearview mirror. I sped away, far enough so I wouldn’t be seen lurking near Chloe’s house, but still close enough that I could see and hear whoever was driving down the road this late at night.

A moment later, a car pulled into the driveway. Whoever was driving didn’t bother to shut off the engine. Abby got out of the car, followed by Isach. I scowled. At least he’d brought her home, but where had they been all this time? Better yet, what had he been doing to her?

Abby’s light laughter carried in the night air, followed by Isach’s deep chuckle. I clenched my hands into fists. If he did anything to her… I momentarily closed my eyes and blew out a breath.

The distinct sound of kissing drew my attention, and my eyes snapped open. If this wasn’t creepy, perverted behavior, I didn’t know what was. I wanted to look away, but the potential risk to Abby’s well-being kept me focused on them. Isach cupped her cheek, smiled, then climbed back in his car.

Abby walked inside, and I heard the door lock click in place. I let out a sigh of relief. She was home and as far as I could tell, unharmed. Of course, just because she was physically safe didn’t mean Isach hadn’t messed with her mind. That seemed to be his favorite trick.

I waited a few moments, then made a U-turn and followed a safe distance behind Isach. He drove out of town and straight to a small, non-descript house set several feet back from the road. I drove past so as not to alert him that I was following him, but then I turned around and drove by the house again.

Everything looked normal.

Short of pounding on Isach’s door and demanding answers about his involvement with Abby, there wasn’t much I could do. So, I headed back to Bushnell Falls to see if Jax had had any luck locating more Zoya.

When I arrived, the party had thinned out considerably, and that made finding my brother a lot easier. I approached, brow raised, and he gave a small shake of his head. Defeat crashed down around me. Not finding more Zoya was a good thing, but then who had played the mind trick on Chloe? Was Isach powerful enough to make her hallucinate when he wasn’t anywhere near her? If so, she was in a hell of a lot more danger than I thought.

“Ready to go?” I asked.

Jax nodded, and we walked in silence to my truck.

Once we were headed toward home, I said, “Abby’s home safe and sound, as far as I can tell, but she and Isach didn’t go straight there.”

“How do you know that?”

“Because he showed up to drop her off after I was already there. I stayed until I knew she was inside, then I followed Isach. I know where he’s staying now.” I shrugged. “You didn’t find any witches at the party?”

“Nope. Other than us and Isach, every single person there was one hundred percent human.” He drummed his fingers on his leg. “You’re absolutely positive someone messed with Chloe’s head?”

I nodded. “Yeah, I have no idea what she saw, but she was definitely seeing something that wasn’t real.”

I’d wanted to ask her what she’d seen, but that wasn’t a question I could’ve asked in front of her friends. They were probably already demanding answers from Chloe about me and her meltdown. I only hoped she came up with an explanation that would appease them while keeping my true identity a secret.

“So, how did Chloe handle the news about our curse?” Jax asked.

What was with his sudden interest in Chloe? Up to this point, all he’d done was tease and harass me. “She was confused and scared, rightfully so. But I think she handled it well, all things considered.”

“Hmm.” He turned to stare out the window.

I sliced a look at him. “Hmm what?” My tone was harsh.

He lifted his shoulder in a lazy shrug. “Nothing. I just figured she’d take off when she learned the truth. I guess I’m surprised she stuck around.”

I scowled. While Jax hadn’t found his soulmate, he knew how the whole thing worked, and the fact that he seemed disappointed that Chloe hadn’t walked out of my life grated on every last nerve in my body. Did he want me to be miserable and lonely for eternity? I flexed my hands around the steering wheel.

“What’s your problem with Chloe?” I asked, equal parts curious and furious.

“She’s human.” The disgust in his tone had me seething.

“Newsflash, Jaxon. There is a hell of a lot more humans than vampires in this world. The odds favor finding a human soulmate.” I shot him an annoyed look. “I know you don’t like her, but I do. So, for my sake, can you stop being so hostile toward her?”

He laughed. “Easy, killer.” He held his hands up in surrender. “I don’t hate Chloe. I just think she can be… dangerous.”

This time, I laughed. “Dangerous? Are you serious?”

Jax nodded. “You’ll do absolutely anything for her, Trent. Including sacrificing yourself if needed, and I’m sorry but nothing you say will ever make me be okay with that.”

I sighed but didn’t say anything further. What could I say? I’d probably feel the same way if I knew my brother was willing to sacrifice himself for someone he barely knew. We’d already lost one brother, and neither of us were too keen on losing another. Maybe I should cut Jax a little slack and not be so hard on him.

“Fair enough,” I said after several moments. “But can you try to be civil toward her when she’s around?”

“If that’ll shut you up, sure.” He shrugged.

I rolled my eyes. A moment later, I pulled into our driveway and killed the engine. When I walked inside, I found Sean sitting in the living room, staring out the large bay window. He rarely sat upstairs like that. I glanced at Jax, who looked as concerned as I felt.

“Dad?” I rounded the back of the couch and eased down next to him. “Everything alright?”

“Huh?” He shook his head as if clearing his mind. “Yeah, everything’s fine. Why?”

“No reason.” Jax stood near the fireplace, arms crossed.

Sean’s gaze darted from me to Jax. “I should be asking you two if everything’s okay. What happened tonight?”

I rubbed the back of my neck and took a deep breath. Then I explained how Isach mind-controlled Chloe and tried to kiss her; how I kissed her instead and she got an up close and personal glimpse at my gift; how I told her about our family curse and her reaction; how she had another hallucination; and finally, how I’d tracked Isach and now knew where he was staying.

“Isach is getting bolder,” Sean said with a weary sigh.

“Which makes him entirely too dangerous,” Jax said. “We need to deal with him. Now. Tonight.”

“No.” Sean shook his head and stood. “I told you. We’re not attacking Isach until or unless he makes the first move against us.”

My jaw dropped, and I pushed to my feet, my hands balled into fists. “So we’re just supposed to let him keep messing with Chloe? He’s probably doing the same thing to Abby, too, and God only knows who else.”

“I’m sorry, Trent.” Sean rested his hand on my shoulder and gave me a sympathetic smile. “I know what Chloe means to you, but all you can do right now is keep being honest with her and make sure she stays away from Isach.”

I yanked away from Sean’s touch, muttered a curse, and stormed outside. Not that I had anywhere to go, but I couldn’t stand to be inside that house with them a second longer. I rushed down the porch steps and walked a few feet toward the tree line. Neither of them truly understood how I felt about Chloe, or how important she was to me. If anything happened to her… Just thinking about that possibility had my chest tightening with fear.

“If you really want to protect her, you know what you have to do.” Jax stood on the back porch.

I whipped around and narrowed my eyes. Then, in a blink, I was on the porch with him. “Did you seriously just suggest that I wipe her memories of me?” My tone was lethal, and my vision darkened as my eyes shifted from blue to black.

“Do you have a better idea?” He shoved his hands into his pockets. “You erase yourself from her memories, we leave town, and Isach will follow. It’s the only way to guarantee she’ll be safe.”

I hated that Jax was right, but I refused to listen to reason. Chloe had come around to the idea that I was a vampire, and she hadn’t freaked out when I told her I was cursed. All that meant I stood a good chance of having a future with her, no matter how short. How could my own brother suggest I walk away from that?

“And what happens if Isach doesn’t follow?” I pinned Jax with an unwavering stare. “He knows Chloe is important to me. If I erase her memories, she won’t know that he’s dangerous. If anything, she’ll be even more vulnerable.”

Jax shook his head. “Then what the hell are you going to do? We can’t spend every spare moment babysitting this girl.”

“You can’t, but I will.”

He threw his hands in the air with frustration. “This girl is making you stupid, you know that?”

I snarled.

“This situation doesn’t affect just you, you know. If this blows up, Dad and I are going to get hurt, too. Remember that when you’re playing human.” Jax spun on his heel and stormed back inside. He slammed the sliding door hard enough to make the glass rattle.

Was that really what Jax thought, that I was playing human for Chloe’s sake? Maybe when I first met her I had been, but not now. Now I was in the process of telling her the truth about who and what I was. By Monday, she’d know everything about me and vampires in general.

I supposed part of me wished I was human for her sake—that would certainly make things a lot easier. But a bigger part of me wanted her to love me for me—the good, the bad, and everything in between. Was that possible? I honestly had no idea, but I wasn’t going to give up until I knew for certain. If there was any moment when I thought Chloe wouldn’t be able to accept me, to accept the only life I could offer her, then I’d give her the freedom to move on. Without me. I’d do whatever she wanted if I knew it would make her happy.

I only hoped I would make her happy.