“I’m sorry.” I frowned. Tears burned my eyes, and I blinked against them. “I’m just so mad right now. How could he do this after everything he’s done to be with you?”
She shrugged.
“There has to be a reason, something we don’t know. I mean, he was fine all weekend, right? You two were getting along?” I glanced at her.
She nodded and sniffled. “Yeah. I even told him I forgave him for everything, and that I’d change.”
“What?” I whipped my head toward her, and in the process, I jerked the steering wheel. My heart jackhammered, and I righted the wheel, my pulse pounding in my ears. “You told him you’d become a vampire?”
“Yes,” she whispered. “Maybe that’s why he broke up with me.” Her voice wavered. “Maybe I scared him off.”
“Abby, no.” I shook my head. “He wants you to change so you two can be together. I know he does. None of this makes sense.”
My thoughts were racing a mile a minute, and I couldn’t concentrate on any one thing. I pulled into the next place I found—a small, rickety diner that didn’t have a name on the building and had plywood nailed across one of the front windows. Was this place even open? There were five cars in the lot, so it must be.
I parked, killed the engine, and unhooked my seat belt. Then I gave Abby another hug, an awkward one because of the console between us, but she hugged me back regardless.
“I just don’t understand,” she mumbled.
“Me either.” Releasing her, I sat back.
Nothing about today made any sense. I told her about what happened with Trent and Jax and Whitney and how they were all acting really weird.
“I swear, everyone has lost their minds. What’re the chances all of them would…” I froze as an unexpected thought slammed into me.
“What?” Abby asked.
“It all makes perfect sense,” I said as if in a daze.
“It does?”
“It has to be the Zoya. They can mess with people’s minds, make them see things and feel things. Maybe the Zoya did something to them?” My heart raced faster as the idea took root in my mind. That was the only thing that made any sense.
“But Isach? Why would the Zoya do something to him? As far as they know, he’s still loyal to them.” Abby fidgeted with her hands, her eyes downcast. “I just have to face it. He doesn’t love me like I love him.” Her voice cracked. “God, to think I was willing to become a vampire for him.” She laughed bitterly. “I am so dumb.”
“You are not dumb, Abby. Don’t ever say that,” I said vehemently. “If anyone’s dumb, it’s Isach. He has no idea what he’s given up.”
We fell silent.
Abby continued to fidget with her hands, and I stared out the windshield, trying to make sense of the senseless. I needed to call Isach myself and find out what the heck was going on. He owed me an explanation, and I was going to get one.
“I don’t know what this place is, but want to go eat our feelings?” I asked.
Abby let out a small laugh. “Yeah, and hopefully, we won’t get food poisoning.”
Laughing, I got out of the car. We headed inside, and I was greeted with the smell of bacon, fryer grease, and fresh apple pie. A strange combination, but it made my mouth water.
“Sit wherever you’d like,” said a woman in an apron as she rushed past us, balancing several plates of food.
Abby picked a table near the boarded-up window, and I wasn’t complaining. It offered a certain sense of privacy. We sat and pulled the menus from behind the napkin dispenser. The choices were pretty much the same as every other diner I’d been to—breakfast foods, burgers, fried fish, French fries, soups, and a rather impressive selection of desserts.
“I’m skipping regular food and just getting pie,” I said.
Abby glanced up, smiled, then nodded. “Me too.”
When the waitress finally made it to our table, I ordered a glass of water and three different desserts: apple pie with ice cream, triple chocolate cake, and cheesecake.
Abby ordered water, a slice of carrot cake, banana cream pie, and walnut fudge brownies. The waitress gave us a strange look but didn’t comment.
“Figured we can share.” Abby shrugged.
I grinned. “Good idea.”
“Thanks for doing this.” Abby unrolled her silverware. “There was no way I could stay at school today and have to see him.”
I reached across the table and stilled her fidgeting hand. “I know. I remember what it was like when Trent broke up with me. Just thinking his name hurt.” I frowned. “I have no idea why any of this happened, but I know it’s not because he doesn’t love you. He does. I know he does,” I said emphatically. “There’s something else going on, and we’re going to figure it out. I promise.”
She gave me a genuine smile. “I hope you’re right.”
“I am,” I said with a lot more confidence than I actually felt.
What if Isach switched sides again? What if he decided he didn’t want to betray his coven? But why break up with Abby? She literally had nothing to do with the feud between the Zoya and the Halsteads. If anything, Isach should’ve come after me. I really needed to talk to him. And Trent—he’d know what to do; he always did.
I pushed the thoughts from my mind. Right now, I was going to focus on Abby and helping her mend her broken heart. The rest could wait a few hours.
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN:
Frantic
BY THE TIME WE WALKED OUT of the no-name diner, Abby was smiling and laughing. Even though I knew she was still upset, at least she wasn’t crying anymore. I was more determined than ever to find out what was going on with Isach, because I knew he loved Abby.
I climbed into my SUV and hesitated. A muffled ringing noise sounded from the backseat. I’d left my cell phone in my backpack. I twisted around and finagled my cell
