Chapter 6: A New Threat

Sienna

My blood froze.

It was Kendra.

Her voice was cheerful and way too loud, it tore through the air like a fire alarm. It didn’t belong here, not in this fragile little bubble Jaxon and I had built. We both whipped our heads toward the sound. My lips were still parted, the words “yes” and “no” trapped inside my mouth, choking me.

And there she was.

Kendra stood on the lawn, her smile bright and curious…but her eyes… her eyes were sharp. Too sharp. They clung to us, narrowed ever so slightly, as if she had walked in on a scene that didn’t fit.

She had seen something. I knew it. She had seen or heard too much.

“What are you guys doing out here?” she asked, taking slow, confident steps toward us. Her voice carried that fake innocence she used whenever she smelled gossip. Every footstep sounded like a death sentence.

Jaxon was the first to move. Of course he was. He always knew how to keep his mask on. His hands slid casually into his pockets. His body stiffened, but his face was unreadable. He shifted a little, stepping away from me, breaking the closeness we had been drowning in just seconds before.

“Just talking,” he said. His voice was steady, calm, perfect. Like nothing at all had happened.

Kendra’s lips stretched wider, but her eyes were daggers. “Just talking?” she repeated, tasting the words like poison. She flicked her gaze between me and Jaxon. “That’s what you call it when you’re cornering my best friend by the woods?”

The word cornering hit like a slap.

My heart slammed against my ribs, rattling like a bird desperate to escape its cage. The air left my lungs. Had she seen the look on my face? The way Jaxon had leaned in? The closeness that wasn’t just “talking”?

“I…” I tried to speak, but my throat was dry, locked tight.

“Sienna and I were just hashing something out,” Jaxon cut in smoothly, moving another half step away, as though distance could erase what had just happened.

Kendra tilted her head. “Hmm.” Her eyes stayed glued to me. “You look upset, Si.”

“I’m not,” I croaked. My mouth felt like sand. “I’m fine.”

“You’re a terrible liar.” The smile faded from her lips. Now her face was serious, calculating. “You two have been acting so weird lately. First that kiss at the party, and now this? What’s the deal?”

The ground tilted under me. My mind scrambled, searching for an excuse, any excuse, but all I found was static.

I wanted to run. I wanted to disappear.

Jaxon shifted forward, placing himself between me and her. He was my shield, blocking her piercing gaze.

“There’s no deal,” he said, his tone flat, unyielding. “We’re step-siblings. We fight. You know that.”

Kendra let out a short laugh, but it wasn’t light. It was sharp, mocking. “Yeah, you fight,” she said slowly. “But you fight like you want to kill each other. Or like you want to screw each other. I can’t tell which.”

The words sliced through me like glass.

My breath caught. Jaxon’s jaw twitched. I knew that look, he wanted to lash out, to silence her. But he couldn’t. Not here. Not now.

“That’s messed up, Kendra,” Jaxon growled, his voice low, warning.

“Is it?” she shot back, stepping closer, her eyes burning holes through me over his shoulder. “You kissed her at a party. You drag her out of the house. Don’t play innocent, Carter. I’m not blind.”

Her meaning was clear: she wasn’t going to drop this.

Not now. Not ever.

She was going to keep poking, keep watching. And one slip would destroy us.

“Look, we’re done here,” Jaxon said, his tone suddenly sharp, final. “We’re tired. We’re going inside. We’ll talk later.”

He grabbed my arm firmly and pulled me toward the house. I didn’t fight it. I couldn’t. My legs felt like they belonged to someone else.

Behind us, I could still feel Kendra’s eyes on me, like icy fingers running down my spine.

When we stepped inside, Jaxon didn’t let go. He dragged me straight to the laundry room and shut the door behind us. The soft click of the latch sounded louder than a gunshot.

The small room was dark, lit only by the faint gray glow from a window above the dryer. The smell of detergent clung to the air.

“That was close,” Jaxon muttered, his breath rough.

“She knows,” I whispered. My voice cracked.

“No, she doesn’t.” His hands gripped my shoulders, his eyes searching mine in the dim light. “She’s guessing. She’s trying to push us.”

“She’s not stupid,” I shot back, panic rising like a flood inside me. “She knows. And now she’s going to watch us like a hawk. She’s going to wait until we mess up.”

“Let her.” His jaw was set, his voice low and dangerous. “We won’t mess up. We’ll be careful. Smarter. This is just another challenge. We can handle it.”

I shook my head, tears burning in my eyes. “I can’t do this, Jaxon. I can’t. It’s too much.”

For the first time, his mask cracked. His eyes softened, his face folding with something raw and unguarded. He pulled me into him, wrapping his arms around me. His chest was solid, his heartbeat frantic against my ear.

I clung to him like I was drowning. For one stolen moment, I let myself pretend this wasn’t a secret, wasn’t wrong. Pretend we were just two people in love.

But reality pressed down like iron chains.

“We’ll figure it out,” he whispered into my hair. “We just have to stay ahead. Kendra’s a threat. So is anyone else who even suspects.”

“What do we do?” My voice was a broken whisper.

He pulled back, his eyes glowing in the dark. There was something terrifying and beautiful in his gaze. A fire I both craved and feared.

“We run,” he said softly. “We go somewhere no one can find us. The lake house. My family’s. An hour away. Empty this time of year.”

The lake house.

The words were poison and honey. A dangerous escape, a tempting promise.

My entire body screamed yes. My brain screamed no.

“I can’t,” I whispered, shaking. “It’s insane. It’s too risky.”

He leaned in, eyes locked on mine, his voice a low challenge. “Then say it. Say no, Sienna. Say you don’t want me. Say you don’t want to go. Say it, and I’ll let you go forever.”

The air between us burned. My lips parted, but the word wouldn’t come. I couldn’t say no.

Before I could answer, the laundry room door creaked open.

My dad stood there. A basket of clean clothes in his hands. His eyes flicked from me, to Jaxon, then back again. His face hardened.

“What’s going on?” he asked, his voice even but edged with suspicion. “Why are you two in here with the door closed?”