Page 10 of Kingdom of Chaos (Creatures of Chaos #2)

Six

Even though Talon said he’d show us to guest rooms, his cousin convinces him to go shower to “wash the stink off,” so it’s Imogen who ends up getting us settled.

She puts Ensley and me in a room with two giant beds, and Titus in the one across the hall.

She gives us directions to the kitchen and main hall and makes it clear those are the only areas we’re allowed to go without an escort.

I resist the urge to roll my eyes when she adds a dramatic, “Or else,” before flouncing off, hopefully to put on more clothes.

“This place gives me the creeps,” Ensley says, running a hand over the blood-red duvet on one of the four-poster beds.

Besides the beds, the only furniture is a massive mahogany armoire in the corner and a single vanity with a mirror.

No nightstands. No lamps. The red-and-black woven rug does nothing to fight off the early morning chill.

The castle seems to absorb cold and moisture and trap it.

It’s definitely colder in here than it was outside.

There’s a fireplace opposite the beds, but it’s unlit and empty.

I have to boost myself up just to sit on the bed. The duvet on mine is black, and when I peek under it, I find matching sheets.

I thought Drake’s place was creepy, but Talon’s castle takes the cake.

“So, what do you think?” Ensley asks from her spot on the bed across the room.

“I think you’re right. This place is crawling with creepy vibes.” I glance toward the one window, but the warped, grimy glass makes it almost impossible to see out.

“No, I mean about Talon. Was it the right move to give him this time? Or did we just hand him a chance to string us along?”

I sigh. Who really knew with Talon? If I could read him correctly, we might never have gotten into this mess to begin with.

I spend a few minutes recounting everything from my conversation with him before they arrived. By the time I finish, Ensley looks deflated.

“So we’re probably just wasting our time?”

“I don’t know,” I say, thinking back to the way Talon reacted to my pendant.

There was something in that look. “I think part of him wants to help.” At least, I hope so.

“Talon’s the only chance we’ve got right now.

I’m not ready to give up on him. Let’s wait out the next twenty-four hours and reassess. ”

Despite insisting she’s not tired, Ensley is out cold the moment her head hits the pillow.

What sleep I got in the car wasn’t exactly quality, but now that I’m lying down, I feel wide awake.

After an hour of tossing, turning, and mentally spiraling about how all this with Talon might play out, I finally give up and slide out of bed.

Moving quietly so I don’t wake Ensley, I slip on my shoes and tiptoe out of the room.

I have no real plan as I step into the hall.

I remember Imogen’s directions to the kitchen—down to the left, right at the end of the hallway, left at the end of the next, and then keep going until I get there—but I’m not hungry.

Even so, I probably should eat, to keep up my strength if nothing else since I’ve hardly eaten since losing Becks.

Outside the room, I head left, like Imogen said. The long hallway is lined with a red-and-black runner.

I’m sensing a theme here.

When I reach the end of the hall, I’m supposed to turn right, but muffled voices sound from the left, piquing my interest.

It has to be Talon and Imogen. And there’s no way I’m passing up the chance to eavesdrop.

Staying tucked against the wall, keeping my footsteps light, I pass several closed doors before reaching one that’s slightly ajar. Talon and Imogen’s voices are coming clearly from inside, and I take a chance to peek through the opening.

My eyes go wide at the splendor of the two-story space.

Lit with buttery faelights, the room is half library, half museum.

Floor-to-ceiling shelves line the walls, with glass containers holding relics and artifacts interspersed between rows of thick, leather-bound books.

At the far end of the room, a full suit of armor stands encased in glass.

Imogen and Talon are on opposite sides of a long table that stretches nearly the full length of the room. Talon stands with his hands braced on the tabletop, his head bent over a massive tome. From this angle, I can’t see what he’s reading, but the pages are clearly yellowed with age.

Imogen is sitting atop the table across from him, one foot resting on the tabletop, the other on the chair below. She’s finally changed into a long-sleeved, off-the-shoulder shirt and black jeans, wearing a pair of killer black boots Ensley would be drooling over.

But that’s hardly the point.

“This is dangerous,” she says, her mouth turned down in a frown.

“Don’t worry. I’ll tell my mom you had nothing to do with it,” Talon replies, not looking up from the text in front of him.

“You know it’s not Aunt Jade I’m talking about. These are things you shouldn’t be messing with.”

He glances up at her. “You can go. I never asked for your help.”

“This isn’t a joke, Talon.”

“I know it’s not a joke. I’m not acting like it is,” he replies, his tone even as he goes back to reading the book in front of him.

But Imogen isn’t thwarted. “This is a mistake and you know it,” she says. “Those three are trouble. They know about the Arcane Society.”

Talon sighs. “Calm down, Imogen. They only know the name because Uncle Drake let it slip. They don’t know anything. Not really.”

She lets out a loud, frustrated huff, and I can practically feel the heat of her annoyance from my hiding spot outside the room.

When Talon doesn’t respond, she slams her palm on the table, but he doesn’t flinch.

“You should have sent those three packing the minute they showed up.” She cocks her head as if considering something before adding, “Well, the girls for sure. I suppose I could learn to put up with that white-haired fae. He’s a snack.”

Talon snorts, and Imogen shakes her head like she’s trying to clear Titus from her mind.

“No, I take it back. He needs to go too,” she says. “If I’d known you were inviting them for a sleepover, I would’ve kicked them out the second they woke me up.”

“Then why didn’t you?” Talon asks, flipping a page without looking up. He doesn’t sound even mildly curious.

“Because I thought you were going to and I didn’t want to deal with the fuss they’d make. Honestly, I thought it would be entertaining watching you handle them. I never imagined you’d actually placate them. What, have you lost your edge or something?”

Talon glances up from the book and gives his cousin a chilly glare before bending back over the page.

“This whole thing is a horrible idea. I don’t know what’s gotten into you,” Imogen complains. “You’re supposed to be the levelheaded one in the family.”

Talon lets out a half laugh at that.

“Okay, maybe not level-headed ,” she concedes, “but motivated and loyal to the cause. It’s like you’ve turned into someone else entirely. Is it because of your magic?”

What’s wrong with his magic? I wonder, as the muscles in Talon’s arm tense. He goes completely still. I swear the temperature drops a few degrees. When he looks up and glares at her again, Imogen lifts her hands like she realizes she’s crossed a line.

“Fine, I won’t go there. But you’re going to be disappointed if you think I’m just going to let you go off and?—”

“I found it,” he interrupts, still bent over the book.

Imogen leans in, trying to read the page upside down. “What?”

Talon points to a passage in the text and Imogen grabs the book, spinning it around so she can read it properly. Her eyes scan the passage, then lift to meet his, wide and full of fear.

She shakes her head. “No, Talon. You don’t even know if that’s actually lunacite around her neck.”

My hand goes straight to the pendant dangling below the hollow of my throat.

Are they talking about the gem pendant?

I can still see the way Talon’s gaze flared when he noticed it. He looked almost spooked, and I’m sure he was about to ask me about it before Imogen and the others interrupted us.

“I’d be willing to bet a great deal that it is,” he says. “It’s too much of a coincidence to not be. She’s a human. If anyone is going to have a lunacite gemstone, it would be her.”

“Okay, fine. Let’s say it is lunacite, even though it probably isn’t, because that gem isn’t supposed to exist in our world.

But let’s set that aside and pretend for a second that she really is carrying around some mythical stone from another world capable of opening gates.

It’s completely insane to even think about using it. ”

I have to put a hand over my mouth to stifle my gasp. Luckily, Imogen’s heated words are loud enough to cover the small intake of breath.

Mythical stone from another world capable of opening gates.

I remember what my parents said about the gemstone, how even the jeweler couldn’t identify it.

Could that be because it’s not from our creature world, but from the human one? The same world Becks is trapped in, the one Kerrim plans to conquer?

What if it’s not just from the human world, but the item we need to get there, now that we don’t have Shadow Striker to open a portal?

It’s possible. Someone did leave the pendant for me on purpose. And like Talon said, I’m human. If anyone’s going to be carrying something from the human world, it would make sense that it’s me.

“Thanks for your opinion,” Talon says coldly, “but I’m not asking for your advice, let alone your permission.”

Imogen’s mouth flattens into a hard line. Even from this distance I can see her nostrils flare.

She’s pissed.

It’s clear Talon’s cousin isn’t any more of a pushover than he is, and even though she’s trying to talk him out of helping us, I can’t help but find some humor in that and respect for her.

“This isn’t a joke,” she snaps. “Those gates were closed for a reason. We were never meant to mingle with those creatures. Those humans .”

She says “humans” like it leaves a bad taste in her mouth, and the teaspoon of fondness I had for her evaporates like mist.

“Locklyn is a human,” Talon says, his voice just shy of a growl.

“My point exactly,” she shoots back. “Look at how you’ve already lost your head over her. You sacrificed the dagger because of her?—”

“That’s not what?—”

“Don’t even try to tell me you wouldn’t have gotten it back if it wasn’t for her,” she says, pointing an accusatory finger at his face.

“You’re a lot of things, Talon. Ruthless, driven, and not just goal-oriented but goal-obsessed top the list. You fought the hardest out of all of us to win the blade, and every single member of the family or Society will admit it was well fought for and deserved.

Having it stolen by that hawk shifter was a fluke.

We’d gotten complacent over the years, believing we’d snuffed out all traces of its existence, so we didn’t need to be vigilant.

We were wrong. But from the moment we learned it was missing, I never doubted you would bring it back.

So no, I don’t believe for a minute that you wouldn’t have recovered Shadow Striker if you hadn’t been distracted by her. ”

My stomach drops to my gut, because she’s probably right. If it wasn’t for me, Talon may have been able to get the dagger from Kerrim. I didn’t put myself at the center of this drama, but that doesn’t mean I wasn’t there.

“You don’t know anything,” he says darkly.

Imogen crosses her arms over her chest, a smug look on her face. “I know more than you’d like me to. Even if I only suspected that was the reason before, I saw the way you looked at her this morning. You can stand here and lie to me all you want, but there’s only so long you can lie to yourself.”

A muscle jumps in Talon’s jaw, making me think he’s clenching his teeth.

“This conversation is over.” He slams the book shut, and the thud echoes throughout the cavernous room. He stares at his cousin like he’s daring her to defy him.

It’s silent for a moment as they glare at each other. My heart beats wildly, feeling the tension between them as if it’s a living thing, ready to open its mouth and consume them both.

Talon picks up the tome, presumably to return it, but when his back is turned, Imogen says, “You open a gate and travel to the other world with her, you might not survive.”

What does that mean?

He freezes. His back tenses.

“One way or another, she’s going to get you killed,” she adds when Talon doesn’t respond.

He glances over his shoulder. I can only see his profile, but his jaw is hard, and there’s fire in his blue-gray eyes.

“Then so be it.”