I turned back around and slouched against the couch cushions. I had the power to make it so that never happened, but I couldn’t force myself to take that leap. No matter how much I thought about it or how much I loved Trent, I wasn’t ready to become immortal. I’m not sure I ever would be.
“Excuse me.” I stood and ran upstairs, needing a minute alone to compose myself.
I locked myself in the bathroom and splashed water over my face, the shock of the cold snapping me from the spiral I was headed down. “Get a grip, Chloe,” I mumbled at my reflection.
Trent knew I knew something. He wasn’t going to just let me keep it a secret forever. And I didn’t want to, not when it was causing me so much stress and anxiety.
Drying my face, I left the bathroom and headed down the stairs. Angry voices carried from the living room, and I stopped on the last step, straining to hear what was going on.
“What’re you doing bringing the twins here, Trent?” Jax asked, his voice bordering on a hiss.
Who are the twins? I moved to go greet him when his voice made me pause.
“She knows something, Jax, and she refuses to tell me,” Trent answered in an equally furious tone. “I need to know what she knows. Otherwise, there’s no way I can keep her safe.” Desperation laced his words. “This is the only way I know how to protect her.”
“By bringing two vampires here who can read minds? Are you even going to tell her that’s why they’re here?” Jax asked.
Mind-reading vampires? I could feel the color slowly draining from my face as bile rose up the back of my throat.
“No,” Trent snapped. “And neither are you.”
I scowled. How dare he invade my mind like that? Well, if that’s how he wanted to handle this situation, I’d play his game, but he wouldn’t like what was going to be on my mind. I’d make sure of that.
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT:
Mind Games
TAKING A DEEP BREATH, I ENTERED the living room and plastered a smile on my face. I needed to be careful about every thought that I allowed to enter my mind—I couldn’t risk the twins hearing something they shouldn’t.
“Hey,” I said.
Trent crossed the room and wrapped me in a hug. “I’m sorry I left so abruptly this morning,” he whispered.
I returned his hug. “It’s okay.” Pulling back, I looked up into his eyes. “Where did you go?”
“I brought reinforcements.” He smiled.
As if on cue, two people walked in—one guy and one girl—each appeared to be in their late teens, and they were so similar in looks it was eerie. More so than the resemblance between Trent and Jax.
“This is Wyatt and Whitney,” Trent said, nodding to each in turn.
The girl had light brown hair that hung to the middle of her back with matching brown eyes. Her round face and button nose were perfectly symmetrical and flawless. She was slightly taller than me, and she was dressed from head to toe in black.
“Chloe.” Whitney approached and threw her arms around me. I stumbled back from the force of her embrace. “I have heard so much about you.”
Great. She’s another Abby. “Uh, okay,” I said.
“Chill, Whitney.” Wyatt pried his sister away from me. “Sorry about her. She gets excited around humans.” He had the same color eyes and hair, his stopping just above his shoulders.
Whitney gave him a dirty look, to which Wyatt replied with a grin. Then, they both laughed. Yeah, that wasn’t going to get annoying fast.
I turned to Trent. “Why do we need reinforcements?”
“Yeah, Trent. Explain why we need reinforcements.” Jax crossed his arms, staring daggers at his brother.
“Eventually, we’re going to have to feed, and I refuse to leave Chloe here alone,” Trent said.
I nodded slowly, letting his explanation sink in. “Can’t Sean babysit me while you two… feed?” God, I hated even thinking about Trent drinking blood. I suppressed a shudder.
Whitney subtly lifted a brow, a hint of concern etched across her face.
“He usually goes with us.” Trent wrapped his arm around my shoulders, and I leaned into him. “Don’t worry. You can trust Wyatt and Whitney. Promise.” He kissed my forehead.
“Okay.”
Jax’s eyes narrowed, and his gaze zeroed in on me. “You’re rather agreeable.”
I shrugged. “Do I really have any other options?”
With a grunt, Jax stomped out of the room.
“Same old Jax, huh?” Whitney laughed.
“It’s not exactly an ideal situation for any of us,” Trent said, pulling me closer.
“Well, we’re here now.” Whitney smiled. “We’ll figure this out and make sure Chloe’s safe.” She glanced at me, her expression hopeful.
“Can we get settled first?” Wyatt laughed. “Where are our rooms?”
“End of the hall.” Trent nodded at the small hallway that extended past the living room. “Figured you two could share that room. It has two twin beds. If not, one of you will have to sleep on the couch.” He laughed, then released me. “C’mon, I’ll show you.”
I returned to my spot on the couch and resumed flipping through the channels, finally settling on a movie I’d seen a million times, but it was funny, and I could use funny right about now. A moment later, Trent appeared and sat next to me, our legs touching.
He put his arm around my shoulders and pulled me toward him. I didn’t resist, because even though I was mad at him for bringing the twins here, I still wanted to be close to him.
“What do we do now?” I asked.
“What do you want to do?”
I smiled at how we so easily fell back into our habit of answering a question with another question. “I don’t know, but it’s going to get really boring sitting around watching TV all the time.”
“I know this sucks, but it’ll be over soon.” Lifting my chin, he placed a tender kiss to my lips.
Sighing, I leaned into him, eager for a deeper kiss, but he broke away.
“I’m not sure having you here like this is
