Page 24 of Kingdom of Chaos (Creatures of Chaos #2)

Fifteen

A sharp prod jabs me in the ribs and I jolt awake to find myself sprawled across an unconscious Talon. To my left, Titus and Ensley lie in a crumpled heap, both still out cold. A groan rises from my right, and I glance over to see Imogen beginning to stir.

I roll off of Talon and gasp when I see a guy and a purple-haired girl standing over us. The girl is holding a stick that I think she just used to nudge me awake.

“I’m telling you, they came through the gate,” the purple-haired girl says.

“There’s no way,” the guy next to her replies, eyeing us suspiciously. He’s tall and broad, built like Becks. He has shaggy brown hair and caramel-colored skin.

I’m wary of the pair, but I need to know if it worked. I need to know if we made it to the human world.

“Where are we?” I rasp, my voice rough and scratchy, more croak than words.

I sense Talon shifting next to me, but I don’t take my gaze off the pair.

“Where do you think you are?” the brown-haired guy asks, his eyes narrowing.

“The swamplands,” I answer.

He and the girl exchange a look.

“You mean the Everglades?” the purple-haired girl asks. When I just stare at her blankly, she adds, “In Florida.”

“Flur-e-da,” I say, testing the word in my mouth.

Never heard of it. That’s a good sign though.

“Are you human?” I tentatively ask, my hopes rising.

The girl’s eyes widen. “I knew it.” She’s practically vibrating with excitement. “See, Noah?” she says to the shaggy-haired guy. “I told you.”

With effort, I push to my feet and take a wobbly step forward. Noah hastily backs away, like he’s afraid to get too close. When the purple-haired girl doesn’t move, he grabs her arm and pulls her back with him.

“Is Central Park close?” I ask, taking another step forward.

Alarm flashes across Noah’s face. He reaches behind him and pulls out some kind of device, pointing it directly at me.

I’ve never seen anything like it. It’s shaped like an L; he grips the short end while the longer end is aimed at me.

The longer piece looks hollow, and something about the way he holds it, tense, steady, screams weapon. I instinctively take a step back.

Then he pulls on a part near the top. It jerks back with a sharp metallic click, then snaps forward again.

“If you want to leave this swamp with all your appendages still attached, you’ll put that down.” Talon’s voice is icy, and when I glance over my shoulder he’s standing right behind me.

I give him a once-over, making sure he’s unharmed. As far as I can tell, he is, and relief makes my muscles a little weak.

Off to the side, Imogen shoves to her feet with a scowl, and Titus and Ensley are slowly waking as well.

Noah’s nervous gaze swivels from one of us to the other, but he keeps the weapon pointed at me.

“You don’t want to push me right now,” Talon says. “It’s been a crap day and my patience is worn pretty thin.” Suddenly, the air chills several degrees as Talon flexes some of his power.

Noah’s and the girl’s mouths drop open and twin puffs of white condensation float in the air in front of them. The purple-haired girl recovers the fastest, pushing down Noah’s arm so he isn’t aiming the weapon at us anymore. She raises her hands, palms out, in a universal gesture of peace.

“Let’s all just bring it down a notch,” she says, but the temperature doesn’t warm. “I’m Violet,” she says, and then points to Noah and introduces us to him as well.

The difference between the pair couldn’t be clearer. Violet looks like she’s trying to hold back a million questions, whereas Noah looks downright spooked. Especially when Ensley and Titus lumber to their feet to join us, making it five to two.

“That was trippy,” Ensley says as she comes to stand next to me, rubbing her eyes. Titus isn’t far behind her, but his teal gaze scans the area cautiously.

From a quick look around, it doesn’t seem like we traveled to a new world.

The sun has almost set, so there’s not as much natural light, but it looks like we’re all on the same round patch of grass.

There’s a swampy lake around us, and marshlands beyond that.

But, thankfully, no murder-bunny in sight.

Aside from Noah’s strange weapon and the name of this unfamiliar place, everything else feels normal. But if we want answers, they’re the only ones who can give them, and it’s obvious they need a little time to warm up to us.

“I’m Locklyn,” I say, then introduce the others one by one.

Imogen and Talon both glare as I say their names, but Talon at least reins in his magic, letting the air thaw a few degrees. Ensley and Titus make an effort to appear open, even friendly.

Violet’s gaze skims over the group, then snags on Titus.

She inhales sharply when she sees his pointed ears.

I’m guessing humans all have rounded ones like mine.

His could be a problem. Ensley’s are smaller and hidden by her hair, but she might be able to use glamour to hide them and Titus’ as well once we get out of this swamp.

“You mentioned a gate,” I prod, trying to prompt Violet to talk.

She takes a deep breath and glances over at Noah. His lips are smashed into a straight line, but he gives her a curt nod.

“You’re not from around here, are you?” she asks, and Talon snorts a laugh.

“If you mean Florida, then no,” I answer for all of us.

“That’s not what I meant.” Excitement sparks in Violet’s eyes, but I get the impression she’s trying to contain it. She takes a step closer to us. Noah tries to pull her back again, but she swats him away. “You’re from there, aren’t you? The other world.”

Ensley and I exchange a look. She shrugs, and so I nod. They already know our world exists, so why hide it?

Violet squeals, startling me. “I knew it! They always said the gates were sealed, but there had to be a reason we kept patrolling them. I can’t believe this is actually happening. What kind of creature are you?” she asks me directly.

“Well, actually?—”

“Violet,” Noah snaps, a scowl pulling down his features. “We don’t even know if this is true. They could be messing with us. What if?—?”

“Didn’t you feel the temperature drop? Have you looked at his ears?” she says, pointing to Titus, and Noah smashes his lips together. “We both saw the flash of light, that’s what brought us over here,” Violet goes on. “What more proof do you want?”

“Oh, I’m happy to give you some proof,” Imogen says, stepping forward with a wicked smile. It’s the first thing she’s said, and honestly, I’m shocked she’s stayed quiet this long.

“Imogen,” Talon warns, shooting his cousin a look that says “behave.”

“What?” she says, smirking impishly. “With a little push of my magic I can make him cluck like a chicken while jumping on one foot. It’s been a long day. I could use the laugh.”

“Don’t,” is all he says.

Imogen rolls her eyes and mumbles that he’s no fun.

Light flares next to me, and when I look over a buttery soft ball of faelight hovers over Ensley’s palms. She holds her hands in front of her for Violet and Noah to see.

“How’s this for proof?” she asks.

Noah’s mouth drops open, but then he snaps it shut again. His gaze moves from the ball of faelight up to Ensley’s face. His eyes go wide with awe, or fear. I can’t exactly tell which.

“How is this possible?” he asks.

Ensley extinguishes her faelight and shrugs.

Talon crosses his arms. “We’ll answer your questions if you tell us how you know about the gates and our world.”

Violet straightens, her voice steady. “We’re part of a group called the Silent Order.

We’re not a huge group, but we are widespread.

Most of us were born into it. We have units all over the world, keeping an eye on the gates.

We’re the only humans on Earth who know the truth, that there’s another world out there and that the supernatural exists, and we’ve done what we can to keep it that way. ”

“A secret society,” I say thoughtfully, looking up at Talon, who glances back at me with an arched brow.

I’m sure he’s thinking the same thing I am. A secret group who protects the gates and the world from knowing about creatures and our world. Sounds an awful lot like the Arcane Society to me.

“For two thousand years, members of the Order have been watching and waiting for this day,” Violet says, her voice filled with awe.

“You mean dreading it,” Noah cuts in with a frown.

“Dreading?” I ask, my gaze bouncing between the two of them as I try to pick up any silent communication passing between them.

“Just a prophecy warning the worlds will be destroyed if they ever mix,” Noah says, shooting us a pointed look.

Another prophecy. Maybe it ties into the one Talon mentioned, but I don’t bring it up. Talon and Imogen stay silent, faces unreadable. I file it away to ask later.

“The prophecy is vague, at best,” Violet says. “But the general warning is clear, that our worlds should remain separate.”

“Agreed,” Talon says with a nod.

“If you agree, then what are you doing here?” Noah asks with a frown.

“We had to come,” Ensley says. “My brother is trapped here. We need to find him and then we can all go home. Can you help?”

“Your brother is here?” Violet asks with a scrunched brow. “How? We have surveillance on all eight gates. None of the units have reported any activity.”

“He didn’t come through a gate,” I say, and I feel Talon stiffen next to me.

Being as secretive as he is, I’m sure Talon doesn’t want to give these two any more information than is absolutely necessary, but we have to tell them some things to get them to trust us.