herself directly in front of Trent. She placed her hand on his chest, and he seemed to immediately calm down.

I narrowed my eyes, the rage from earlier resurfacing with a vengeance.

“Knock it off,” Whitney said calmly, then glanced over her shoulder at Jax. “Both of you.”

Jax jerked out of Wyatt’s hold and wiped his nose with the back of his hand. His knuckles came away bloody, but his nose had already healed from the beating. Without a word, Jax stormed out of the cabin, slamming the door behind him.

“Tend to your girlfriend.” Whitney patted Trent’s chest, letting her hand trail down his torso before finally pulling away.

Tend to your girlfriend? Who does this chick think she is?

“Despite what everyone here thinks, I’m not some helpless damsel in distress.” I threw the ice pack on the floor and stood. The pain intensified, but I focused on my anger instead. “I’m fine. And believe it or not, I am capable of making my own decisions, too.”

I half walked, half hobbled toward the stairs, each step more excruciating than the last. I gritted my teeth, refusing to let anyone see my weakness, and I climbed the steps to my room.

Once inside, I bit down on my lip to stifle my cry. It hurt so much I couldn’t see straight. I hopped toward the bed and sat, sighing at the immediate relief in my ankle. As gently as possible, I removed my shoe and sock to reveal a nasty looking bruise that was clearly swollen. That was just great.

“Chloe?” Trent entered the room.

I grabbed the nearest pillow and heaved it at him. “What is wrong with you?”

He caught the pillow mid-air. “What’s wrong with me? What were you thinking today? Something could have happened to you.”

“I was thinking how my boyfriend ditched me for the second day in a row without so much as a goodbye or explanation and how you put your brother in charge of babysitting me while you were off doing God knows what.” I heaved a deep breath. “And rather than ask for my input or let me help, you’re trying to keep me locked up in this stupid cabin!”

Trent scowled. “Yeah, well, lesson learned.”

“What lesson is that, Trent?”

“Don’t turn this around on me.” He pointed at his chest. “You think I don’t see the way he’s been looking at you lately. Or the way you tease each other. I’m not blind, Chloe.” He closed the distance between us in a few long strides. “I can see how close you two are getting.”

My jaw dropped. “Are you for real? You’re the one who keeps leaving me with him!”

I could not believe he was standing there accusing me of… I didn’t know what, when it was his fault I was spending so much time with Jax. It’s not like it was my choice.

“I’m trying to figure out what’s going on so I can protect you,” he said defensively.

Okay, that’s it.

“How, Trent? By taking off to meet with Isach freaking Zoya?” I stood, bringing myself flush with Trent’s chest, careful to keep as much weight off my ankle as possible. “Or by bringing your mind-reading BFF vampires here to poke around in my thoughts?”

His expression went from anger to disbelief to understanding all within the matter of a second. “Jax tell you that?”

“He told me about Isach, but I overheard you and him arguing about the twins. How could you?” I asked, hurt weakening my raging anger. “You’re willing to violate my privacy just so you can find out what I know? Do you realize how twisted that is?”

“See, that’s the problem. You don’t get it. There is an entire coven of very powerful witches looking for you, and I have no idea why. You won’t tell me what you know. Every lead Sean has turns out to be another dead end. I’m desperate. I will do anything to keep you safe, Chloe. Anything.” He snarled that last word.

My breath caught. This must be the bloodlust he’d told me about. Arguing with him triggered it. I still didn’t think he’d ever hurt me, but I wasn’t backing down. Not about this.

“I’m sorry I lied, but I am not sorry for doing what’s necessary to keep you safe. I will never apologize for that,” he said.

All I could do was stare at him. The desperation was evident in his expression, in every word he spoke. And in that moment, I wanted to spill my guts, to take away his fear and pain and helplessness. But I couldn’t force the words past my lips.

“And meeting with Isach? How do you justify that?” I crossed my arms, gritting my teeth against the constant throbbing in my ankle. I wasn’t sure how much longer I could stand here.

Trent paced away from me, rubbing the back of his neck.

“After what he did to me, how could you even think about talking to him? Or believing anything he might have told you?” Unable to handle the pain a second longer, I sat on the bed.

“Chloe.” His voice was tormented. He dropped to his knees in front of me, his gaze pleading. He took my hands into his. “I’m so sorry. I just… I don’t know what to do. The mere thought of anything happening to you, of losing you.” He pressed my hands to his chest, directly over his heart. “I won’t survive it.”

I inhaled a shaky breath. “You won’t lose me again,” I whispered, stopping short of adding, I promise, because I knew it wasn’t a promise I could make.

“Then tell me what you know. Please,” he begged.

“I told you I’d talk when I was ready.”

“And when are you going to be ready?”

“Soon.” I hung my head.

“Do you realize how frustrating it is that you don’t see how serious this is? I have no idea what’s going on. Sean doesn’t know anything more about the coven. They could literally be on our door any second, and I won’t know how to protect you.”

I lifted my head, meeting

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