Chapter 4: The Vampire's Last Nerve

**Jax**

When I stepped into the living room, all four of the girls were seated on the couch, and all four of them watched me with varying levels of wariness - expect for the one who'd done something witchy to me outside. She watched me with rapt interest.

Sophie waved at an empty chair that looked as uncomfortable as it was ugly. "Please, sit," she said with a kind smile.

Steps slow and purposeful, I lowered myself into the chair, which I was positive had, at one time, been used as some sort of medieval torture. I ran my palms along the arm rests. "Your hospitality is as gracious as ever, Sophie."

Her eye twitched with barely contained contempt. Score one for me. Sophie turned to the girl on her right. "Piper, please fetch our guest a drink."

So, the girl messing with me was Piper. Good to know.

"Why do I have to wait on the vampire?" Piper honest to God whined.

And dammit, something stirred inside me at the sound of her voice. "You don't." I refused to meet her gaze and be caught up in her spell again. "I don't want any of your witches' brew."

One of the other girls huffed, the one I'd been ready to kill. "You have the manners of a heathen."

My brows rose. "Excuse me?"

"Sabella," Sophie scolded.

"What?" Sabella lifted her head and looked down her nose at me. "He's rude and unappreciative, and he nearly killed me. Not that he could have, but he was going to try. And not once has he apologized."

I snorted. "There's no trying involved. I would've succeeded."

"If you say so." Sabella waved me away like she was utterly bored, then stared at her fingernails.

"You should apologize." Piper's melodic voice wiggled its way into my chest and squeezed my heart. "It's the polite thing to do."

I remained silent, careful not to allow myself to so much as glance at Piper. I had no idea what game she was playing, but if she didn't knock it off, she'd find out exactly who she was messing with.

"It's okay, Jaxon. When you're done being cranky, you can apologize to Sabella." Piper crossed her legs and folded her hands on her knee.

The sound of my name on Piper's lips had everything inside of me tightening and twisting. My fingers curled around the ends of the arm rests so tightly my knuckles blanched, and I half expected to hear the bones crack. She thought I was cranky? She had no idea how cranky I could be.

Turning slightly to face Sabella, I settled my steely gaze on her. "I'm sorry I didn't kill you." I smirked. "I mean, I'm sorry I tried to kill you."

Sophie sighed and shook her head. Sabella rolled her eyes, and Piper giggled. And just like that, the twisting and tightening returned with a vengeance. What the h*ll was she doing to me? I risked a glance at her, and the way her eyes lit up with pure mischief had me smiling despite my foul mood.

"What coven did you say you were from?" I asked.

"We didn't," Sophie said.

"Do us all a favor and shut your stupid vampire mouth." Sabella pinned me with what could only be described as a death glare.

I narrowed my eyes. I'd never met a witch who wasn't willing to name their coven. What was going on here?

Peyton sat on the far end of the couch, staring off. She hadn't said a word to anyone about anything. Piper, though, kept her gaze steadily on me, and I squirmed in my seat. Actually friggin' squirmed. I hated it here. I glanced at the front door. Where the h*ll was Abby? I stood to go check on her.

"Leaving so soon?" Sabella asked, brow raised. A smug smile curled her lips.

"And deny you the pleasure of being in my presence?" I infused as much snark and disinterest into my voice as I could muster.

"We certainly wouldn't want that, would we?" Piper's entire expression offered one h*ll of a challenge, and if I wasn't already so unsettled by her, I'd answer whatever unspoken challenge she'd just thrown down in front of me. Because there was no mistaking that she'd intended that for me and me alone.

Instead, I headed out the front door. Abby and Isach were still in the same spot they'd been when I left them. "Hey, if you two are done kissing and making up, it's time to get in here. These witches are already on my last nerve."

"See? Lack of manners." Sabella's haughty tone frayed my final nerve.

Piper tsked. "That's no way to talk about your hostesses."

I cursed, spun on my heel, marched back into the living room, and plopped down in the torture device they called a chair. I was not going to let these witches get the best of me. All four of them now stared at me, and I had a new appreciation for how people in a freak show must feel. Tension swirled through the room.

A second later, Abby and Isach walked into the room. About d*mn time. Maybe now we could get the h*ll out of here.

"Everything alright?" I asked.

Abby nodded, her gaze not straying too far from the girls.

Isach approached from the doorway. He rested his hand on Abby's lower back. "Sit with me." He nodded toward a loveseat.

I did a double take. Where had that come from? It wasn't there a second ago. I narrowed my eyes at the witches. The only one who bothered to acknowledge me was Piper, because of course she did, with a lift of her eyebrow and a barely noticed shrug.

Abby sat next to Isach on the end of the loveseat that was closest to me. "Start at the beginning," she said, her voice firm. "From the moment the war started with your coven. What happened?"

Isach took a deep breath, his body sagging when he exhaled. "All of this started long before then."

My instincts kicked into high gear, and I gave Isach my full attention.

"The day Chloe and I went to talk to Ivy about doing the spell that would let Chloe get pregnant, Ivy said I needed to swear a blood oath to her, that I needed to align myself with her coven once the magical balance was restored and my coven was dealt with."

"I remember," Abby said.

"I took her deal, and I swore the blood oath," Isach said.

"I know all of that," she said, confused. "We talked about it quite a bit. We - "

Isach held up his hand. "Please, let me finish."

She nodded for him to continue.

He shifted so he could look at me now, and I nodded for him to keep talking. "What you and everyone else don't know is that I had never intended to fully align myself with Ivy. I was going to swear the blood oath, fight my coven, and stay with Ivy just long enough for Abby and I to get married and start a family." He gave Abby a sad smile before returning his attention to me. "Then, I was going to permanently hide my magic so no one could ever get to it, and Abby and I were going to become vampires."

I leaned forward in the chair, arms propped on my knees. "Would've served her right. Despite everything, I still don't trust that woman. But how did you go from all of that to this?" I straightened and waved my arms around to indicate Isach's current situation.

"The day I made the blood oath with Ivy, I gave her a small boost of power so she could make the potion for Chloe and Trent. But she took more from me than she should have."

"She siphoned from you?" I asked, my tone incredulous.

Isach nodded. "I didn't say anything to her because I didn't want to cause trouble when our alliance with her was already so tenuous. At the time, we needed her help, so I kept my mouth shut, but I was on alert."

My blood boiled. How many times had I told Chloe and Trent and everyone else that Ivy couldn't be trusted? They hadn't wanted to listen, and now here we were. When we got home, I was going to kill Ivy myself, and I didn't care if I pissed off Chloe. She'd get over it eventually.