Chapter 8: Cranky Vampire

**Jax**

My body tensed. No way in h*ll I wanted her out of my bed. But I wasn't telling her that. "No." I shook my head. "You can stay. If you tell me why Isach's here."

"Why do you think he's here?" She stood and sauntered toward me.

I straightened and pressed tighter against the dresser. Not that I was afraid of Piper. She was half my size, but that didn't mean she wasn't dangerous. Who knew what sort of magic she could unleash on me? But more than that, I was horrified of what I might do if she came any closer.

I shrugged, fighting to exude an air of confidence I wasn't feeling at the moment. "I don't know, but if he came here to hurt Abby, I will kill him."

Piper stopped and tilted her head. "Why would he hurt her? He loves her."

"Have you not been following along?" I crossed my arms and shifted my weight. "He faked his death, left her, then when she finds him, he tells her to go home. To go on with her life. Without him. That's not love. That's him being a coward."

"I disagree."

"Of course you do." I rolled my eyes.

"Isach made a sacrifice for those he loved. That's the ultimate act of love, isn't it?"

"No, it's not." I pushed away from the dresser. "If he truly loved her, he'd fight for her. For them. He'd move heaven, h*ll, and earth just to be with her." I took a step closer, then another, until there was very little space left between us. "You don't run and hide from the people you love."

"You're telling me you'd risk the lives of everyone you loved just to be with someone?"

"I'm saying I'd stay and fight."

"That's good to know."

My instincts were telling me there was a whole lot she wasn't saying right now. And I wanted to pry, to demand answers, but my thoughts were a jumbled mess. And I had a feeling that demanding anything from her would be as productive as ramming my head into a brick wall.

"You really should lighten up." Piper turned on her heel and strode toward the painting on the far wall. "All that anger and distrust you carry around can't be good for you."

I scowled and curled my hands into fists. "Yeah, well, my distrust of your kind is warranted."

"Not my kind," she said, glancing over her shoulder at me. "I've done nothing to you."

"Yet," I grumbled, and she laughed in response.

"You know, I have no reason not to trust you." She turned to look at me, one brow raised, a challenge playing across her features. "You really should afford me the same courtesy. Y'know, that whole idea of trusting someone until they give you a reason not to." She shrugged.

"Doing that only leads to trouble. I much more of a "I'll trust you when you give me a reason to" sort of guy." I grinned.

"And I haven't given you any reason to trust me?"

"Nope."

She let out a soft hmm that was deadlier than any retort known to man. My insides became instantly electrified, and every nerve twitched with the need to touch her. But, before either of us could say anything else, a knock sounded on the door. I didn't need to open it to know Abby stood on the other side.

I zipped across the room and swung open the door. "About time," I snapped.

Abby's aura was a blinding yellow, and I squinted. "You got him back, didn't you?"

She smiled. "I got him back."

"Good for you." I hugged her, and she laughed with pure joy. At least I wouldn't have to kill Isach now. "Does this mean I don't have to witch-sit anymore?"

Stepping back, she shoved her hands into her pockets and rocked on her heels. "Yeah, about that. . . we need to talk."

I scowled. "I'm not going to like this, am I?"

"No, probably not."

Piper appeared behind me. I felt her there, every inch of her calling to me like a siren. I remained in place, refusing to turn around and acknowledge her.

"The vampire is very cranky."

"The vampire has a name," I snapped. "Use it, or I'll rip out your tongue so you can't say anything ever again."

"See?" she said to Abby as she stepped around me. Her shoulder grazed mine, and my entire arm tingled. I bit back a groan. She moved into the hallway. "Cranky."

She had no idea what cranky was. I moved to go after her, to show her what the consequences were for poking at a vampire, or maybe I just wanted to kiss the daylights out of her so she'd be too breathless to keep taking jabs at me, but Abby put her hand on my chest to stop me and shook her head. I glowered at Piper, then at Abby, though my ire wasn't quite as strong toward her.

"Can you two please knock it off long enough to come to my room so we can talk?" Abby turned to Piper and held out her room key. "Can you give us a second?"

Piper took Abby's card, unlocked the room, and disappeared inside without any further snarky comments. As soon as Piper was out of my sight, my body relaxed a little. But then, just as quickly, I was a bundle of tightly wound nerves. Not having Piper close was both a relief and pure torment. She drove me insane and got under my skin, but the longing to have her near me was all-consuming.

"What the h*ll is going on Abby?"

"I'm not sure. Isach hasn't told me much, but he did say these witches are very powerful and that we need them as allies against Ivy."

I muttered under my breath. Isach kept alluding to the fact that these witches were powerful, but he had yet to offer any real proof. Or explanations.

"I can see you don't like her, and that's fine. Whatever. But I need you to be nice until we figure out what's going on and how we're going to stop Ivy," she said.

If only Abby knew how wrong she was. I didn't dislike Piper. Just the opposite, actually. But I wasn't the one she needed to lecture about being nice. Piper was as snarky as I was, maybe more so.

Sighing heavily, I raked my fingers through my hair with frustration. "Fine, but only because Ivy deserves whatever she gets, but once we're done with her. . . no promises."

"Deal."

"Let's go, then." I motioned her out the door, knowing whatever hopes I had about leaving New Orleans - and Piper - behind were about to be dashed.