Chapter 31 – Confrontations

At exactly seven twenty-five, I walked Chloe to her front door. I wasn’t ready to say goodbye yet—I never would be—but she was on a strict curfew, and I didn’t want to upset her aunt and uncle.

“I’m early,” she teased. “Uncle Dean will be pleased.”

“Oh, you’re not walking through that door until seven-thirty on the dot.” I wrapped her in my arms and brushed my lips over hers, desperate to spend every last second with her that I could. “We need a few minutes to say a proper goodbye.”

Laughing, she draped her arms around my neck and pulled me to her for a kiss.

In that moment, it hit me just how close I’d come to losing her today. “Thank you for not giving up on us,” I said.

She stared at me for a few moments, and I’d give anything to know what was going on in her head. Unless, of course, she was thinking things that didn’t bode well for me or us; then I didn’t want to know. She opened her mouth to speak, but I put my finger to her lips.

“You’ve changed so many things for me, Chloe. You have no idea. I don’t know how this will work out, but we can take it one day at a time,” I said.

She nodded. “One day at a time.”

I hugged her and buried my face against her neck. Relief flooded my senses, quickly replaced by the sweet, intoxicating scent of her. Of her blood. I inhaled deeply, and she hugged me back just as tight. We stood there for a few moments, neither of us speaking or moving.

“It’s time to come inside, Chloe.” Her uncle’s voice carried through the closed door as clear as if he’d been standing beside us.

I suppressed a groan. Time to say goodbye. At least for tonight, anyway. I’d see her tomorrow in school, and that was the only thing making it possible for me to leave her.

Reluctantly, she released me. “I had a great time today,” she said.

“Me too.”

“I’ll see you in school tomorrow?”

“Wouldn’t dream of missing it.” I forced myself to walk down the porch steps, but I kept glancing back at her.

She stayed on the porch until I climbed into my truck and left. From the rearview mirror, I saw her finally turn to go inside.

The smile never left my face as I drove home and walked into the house. Dad and Jax were sitting on the floor, each of them on opposite sides of the coffee table, a game of checkers spread between them. I tossed my keys on the table and wandered into the living room.

I flopped down on the couch, right behind where Jax sat. “Who’s winning?”

“I am.” Dad glanced up and grinned.

“Only because he’s cheating,” Jax grumbled.

“Don’t be a sore loser, Jax,” Dad said.

Jax scowled.

I laughed and slapped Jax on the back. “When are you going to learn? Neither of us has ever beaten Dad at a game of checkers. And we probably never will. I don’t know why you keep trying.”

“Because I’m not a quitter.” Jax glanced at me and smirked. “Did you deliver your precious Chloe home safe and sound?”

I frowned. “Seriously, what is your problem with Chloe?”

The three of us had fun today, and I thought we’d managed to get past whatever issues Jax had. Then again, he had been mean to her right before we’d left. Was all that laughing and teasing while we’d been on the four-wheelers nothing more than an act?

“She’s human,” Jax said, his attention focused on the game and his next move. “Humans don’t do well in our world. But if you want to ruin her…” He shrugged.

I curled my hands into fists and stood, fighting the urge to punch my brother in the back of his big, fat head. I clenched my jaw, took a few deep breaths. “You’re totally incapable of being happy for me, aren’t you?”

Jax whipped around, eyes blazing. Slowly, he stood, and we faced off. “Why should I be happy when I know where this is headed?”

“Alright, that’s enough.” Dad was between us in an instant, shoving us away from each other.

With one last dirty look, I stormed out of the living room and into my bedroom. I slammed the door. Jax acted like he thought I was stupid, that I didn’t know how difficult and dangerous being with Chloe was. But I did. That was all I thought about. And then I thought about all the things I needed to do to ensure I never hurt her the way I’d hurt Hannah. I was determined to make a relationship with Chloe work.

***

Thanks to Jax, I was later getting to school than I wanted, and the halls were crowded. Gathering every shred of patience I had, I pushed my way through the throng of students toward Chloe’s locker. I couldn’t wait to see her again.

As I approached, I caught a glimpse of Isach. What the hell was he doing near Chloe’s locker? Instant hatred filled me, and I quickened my pace. Unease spread through my veins, and no matter how fast I moved, I felt like I was in slow motion.

“You can’t do anything to me, Chloe.” Isach laughed, then leaned over, his face much too close to hers. Oh, hell no! I saw red! “Oh, I see. You’re going to send your beloved vampire after me.”

Chloe wouldn’t have to send me after him. I was already on him. In a flash, I grabbed Isach by the throat and pinned him against the locker. “Leave. Her. Alone.”

My fangs were barely contained, and my vision was dark, tunneled in on him. Everything else around me vanished, and I seethed with a burning rage. How dare he get that close to Chloe and threaten her like that? I was going to kill him for real this time, and I didn’t give a shit what Sean said about it.

I tightened my fingers around his neck. Isach’s laughter was cut off abruptly, and his face turned crimson. Good. I wanted to enjoy listening to him gasp for breath as the life slowly left his body. Strangulation was too merciful for him, and if I wasn’t in a public place, I’d make his death a lot slower and more painful.

“Trent!” Chloe grabbed my arm, and while I heard her, I didn’t fully acknowledge her. I was too lost in my murderous bloodlust. “Stop. Let him go,” she said.

When I didn’t respond, Chloe squeezed herself between me and Isach. Her breath caught. “Trent,” she said. “You’re going to kill him.” She cupped my cheeks with her hands and forced me to focus on her. “Please stop.”

The feel of her soft, delicate hands on my face snapped me out of my daze. I blinked a few times, and my eyes returned to their normal color. I hadn’t meant for Chloe to see me like that. All I could do now was hope I hadn’t frightened her too badly. Slowly, I released my hold on Isach’s throat. “I will kill you if you ever put your hands on Chloe again.”

Isach gasped for breath and rubbed at his neck. Then he looked at Chloe as if expecting something from her. I narrowed my eyes. If he so much as uttered her name right now, nothing would be able to stop me from snapping his neck right here in front of everyone.

“C’mon,” Chloe said, tugging on my hand.

I finally walked away from Isach, and Chloe and I headed to Algebra, but instead of going into the room, I ushered her away from the door. “Did he hurt you?” I asked.

“He didn’t even touch me.” She took a deep breath. “I… threatened him.”

“What?” I said much too loudly, garnering curious looks from other students. I had to have misheard her. Chloe wasn’t dumb. She knew the truth about Isach—no way would she have instigated a fight with him.

“Abby picked him up for school this morning, so I was stuck in the car with him. The way he acted and the things he said… He’s manipulating her and coming between us. I got angry and told him to leave her alone.”

“Chloe.” I groaned and rubbed the back of my neck. “You shouldn’t have done that.”

And I shouldn’t have reacted the way I did, either. Granted, I hadn’t known Chloe provoked him, but considering all he’d done to her, messing with her mind, causing trouble in her relationship with Abby, he had deserved a little payback.

“He just makes me so mad.” She curled her hands into fists.

“He’s doing it on purpose. That’s what he does. He wanted to provoke you, and I’m certain he did it so he’d get a reaction from me, too.”

“I know.” She hung her head. “I’m sorry. It was stupid.”

I frowned at how sad and defeated she appeared in that moment. And I hated even more that I was partly responsible.

“Hey.” I put my finger under her chin and tilted her head back. Her brown eyes were deep pools of conflicting emotions, and that only made me feel worse for what I’d done. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to sound like I was scolding you. That’s the thing about the Zoya—they mess with your mind, and that ends up messing with your emotions. You can’t let him get to you.”

She nodded.

I pulled her in for a hug and kissed her forehead. “I need to go get my books. I’ll be right back, okay?”

“I’ll save you a seat.” She turned to go into the room, and I pivoted to go back to my locker.

I needed to make it quick, just in case Isach decided to retaliate against Chloe for me for nearly killing him. He was slimy enough to do something like that. He could’ve easily used his magic against me, defended himself. But he hadn’t. He’d maintained total control while I’d teetered on the edge. If not for Chloe intervening, I wouldn’t snapped. Isach wasn’t just dangerous to Chloe, he was dangerous to me, too. I needed to stay composed around him.

When I approached my locker, Isach was there. His neck was red from where my fingers had dug into his skin. He straightened when he saw me.

I snarled. “You waiting for me to finish what I started?”

He smirked, and fresh rage ignited in my chest. “It’s cute that you think you could, but we both know I’m a lot more powerful than you.”

I ignored him, refusing to let him goad me into another loss of control. I yanked open my locker door, snatched my books, then slammed the door shut and faced Isach. “Leave Chloe alone, Zoya. I mean it.”

His smile grew. “Now why would I do that? It’s been a very long time since any Halstead has shown this much interest in a woman. And, well, you know what that means.” He leaned closer. “Wouldn’t want you to find any real happiness, now would we?” He narrowed his eyes, his expression menacing. “See ya around, Trent.” Then he sauntered off, whistling.

I glared at his back, debating if I could reach him and tear his heart from his chest before he blasted me with his magic. If only I wasn’t in school… Shoving all thoughts of Isach out of my mind, I rushed toward class, slipping into the room right as the last bell rang.

Chloe’s face was pale, and she looked distracted. I eased into my seat next to her. “You okay?” I whispered.

She nodded, forced a smile, but I knew her well enough to know she was anything but okay. Now that she’d had a few minutes to calm down and reflect on what happened, she was probably realizing how dangerous I was. Had my actions with Isach terrified her that much? I wanted to kick myself for reacting like I had. Would I—we—be able to recover from this?