Page 38 of Kingdom of Chaos (Creatures of Chaos #2)

Twenty-Three

My head pounds, my body aches, and someone is shouting my name, making it feel like I’m being stabbed in the skull with an icepick. I want nothing more than to slip into oblivion again, but an errant thought runs through my mind, snapping me back into full awareness.

Becks.

My eyes snap open with a gasp, and I find myself bound to a cold metal chair.

“Thank the Creator,” Talon’s voice comes from nearby. I turn to see him tied up as well.

Ropes are looped tightly around his chest, his arms secured behind the chair, each ankle lashed to a leg. One cheekbone is bruised, and a trail of dried blood runs from his split lip down his chin. His shirt is torn, and his bloodshot eyes meet mine.

The sight of him beaten and restrained sends a surge of fury through me.

“Are you all right?” Talon asks, his gaze sweeping over me.

“Am I all right? You look like you’ve been trampled in a stampede.”

He grimaces. “I look that good, huh?”

“Worse.”

“Well, you should see the other guy,” he says with a flash of his signature smirk, but it falters when the movement reopens the cut on his lip, sending a fresh trickle of blood down his chin.

“If you look like this, I can’t imagine the other guy is still alive,” I say, meaning it.

“Unfortunately, he is,” Talon says, sounding put out. “But listen, we need to get out of here,” he says, casting a glance at the door.

Besides a single unoccupied chair in front of us, the room is completely bare. No windows. No other doors. Just stark concrete block walls and a drain set into the center of the floor. It’s obviously an interrogation room, and I shudder to think what the drain is for.

“I can’t use my magic,” Talon says, and a spike of fear shoots through me. “They put some kind of device on my wrists. A gold cuff that disrupts my powers. But they think you’re human, so they didn’t bother with you. You’ll have to use your fire magic to burn through the ropes.”

My stomach drops. I’ve practiced more with my shadow magic than fire; fire still scares me. I’m afraid of losing control and accidentally hurting someone.

“You can do this, Freckles,” Talon says, easily reading the apprehension on my face.

I nod, even as tendrils of doubt put my heart in a chokehold.

“Concentrate like I taught you. Close your eyes and imagine the source of your magic deep inside, and use it to stoke your power.”

I’m just about to close my eyes and try when the door swings open. A large, objectively handsome man steps inside. He looks to be in his late twenties or early thirties, with deep brown skin, black eyes, chin-length locs, and muscles stacked on top of muscles.

He’s built like a bear shifter, like my dad, but the look of pure disgust he throws Talon tells me he’s definitely human.

“You sent three of my men to the ER tonight,” he says, his voice deep and laced with authority.

Talon lifts his chin and smirks. “Must have been an off night for me if it was only three.”

The male narrows his eyes, and for a moment I brace myself, thinking he’s about to strike Talon.

But then his gaze shifts to me. There’s no open hostility in his expression, but the way he studies me makes my skin crawl.

It’s like he’s trying to peel back my layers, searching for secrets I haven’t even admitted to myself.

For a wild second, I second-guess my assumption that he’s human, worried instead that he’s a creature with some kind of truth-sensing magic.

The male grabs the empty metal chair, turns it around, and straddles it, planting his feet wide as he rests his arms across the back. He stares us down, unreadable, and the silence stretches, heavy with tension.

“A creature and a human break into an Order headquarters. I guess we should start with the obvious question. Who sent you?”

Talon and I keep our mouths closed.

“Are you part of the Sinclaire or Murphy clan? Or are you part of the new player’s group?”

I have no idea what he’s talking about, so I don’t say anything.

He leans forward, his arm muscles bulging. “Are you sure this is the way you want to play it?” he asks. “This is me asking nicely, but I can guarantee you’re not going to like it when my patience runs out.”

“We’re not telling you—” Talon begins, but I cut him off. “Where’s Becks?”

The male’s gaze flicks to me, his eyebrows lifting in surprise.

Sinclaire? Murphy? Someone new? It’s clear there’s more going on in this world than we understand. But we’re not part of any of it.

Talon lets out a low groan, and I know that if his hands were free, he’d be dragging one down his face in frustration. But I’m not in the mood for games.

“We know you have our friend somewhere,” I accuse. “We saw him on your monitor. We just want him back and then we’ll be on our way. You’ll never have to see us again.”

“You’re here for the dragon shifter?” he asks, his gaze assessing.

I nod. “Yes. He’s my, um, friend,” I say, stumbling over the words. “He’s important to us.”

The male stands and circles the chair, then crouches in front of me.

The tension in the room spikes, climbing from ten to ten thousand.

Talon lets out a quiet rumble of warning beside me, but the male doesn’t acknowledge it.

Now that he’s closer, I can see I was wrong about his eyes.

They aren’t black after all, just an intense, deep shade of brown.

“You need to back up. Now,” Talon warns, his voice low and hard.

The male doesn’t even glance his way. His full attention is locked on me.

“I just need to know one thing,” he says calmly. “Then we can talk about your dragon shifter.” He leans in slightly. “Are you the human who opened the portal to our world?”

“Don’t tell him anything,” Talon snaps.

I nod, hoping I’m not making a huge mistake confessing, and Talon cusses under his breath. I glance at him out of the corner of my eye, and the glare he’s sending the male is nothing short of murderous.

“Well,” the male says, a grin spreading over his face. “That changes things.”

Someone knocks on the door and the male barks for them to enter.

Straightening, he glances over his shoulder as a brown-haired male smaller in both height and body mass opens the door. The newcomer’s green eyes land on me first, then shift to Talon and stay there.

“What is it, Kai?” the dark-skinned male asks, startling the other.

“Right. Sorry, Kade,” he replies quickly.

So now we have a name for our interrogator. Kade .

“You asked to be updated,” Kai continues. “Sam and Ryder were just discharged from the hospital. They’re keeping Pete overnight for observation because of the concussion, but they expect to release him in the morning.”

Kade nods, and Kai shoots a scowl in Talon’s direction.

Talon just stares back, a small smirk playing on his lips, one that clearly gets under Kai’s skin when his jaw tightens and his nostrils flare.

“Do me a favor,” Kade says, turning to Kai. “Go get Ares.”

Kai’s head snaps toward him, eyes wide. “Are you serious?”

Kade lets out a dry, self-deprecating chuckle. “Looks like those Floridians might not be as crazy as we thought. But I want to be sure.”

My stomach drops into my belly and I exchange a wary glance with Talon.

What did the members of the Florida Silent Order tell the humans about us? Nothing good, I imagine.

“You don’t mean . . . ?” Kai gazes at me with wide eyes, looking almost spooked.

“Like I said, I want to be sure. I’ll need Ares for that.”

Why? I wonder. Is Ares some sort of master torturer?

This situation is going from bad to worse, and as my heart rate spikes, so does my body temperature. Heat prickles beneath my skin, and the familiar tingle of fire magic sparks at my fingertips. Unlike the time I accidentally burned Talon, I don’t push it away—I embrace it.

Kai sniffs the air, his nose wrinkling. “What’s that smell?”

Kade’s head whips in my direction so fast his locs slap him in the face. But it’s too late, I’m already burning through the ropes wrapped around my wrists, seconds away from freeing my hands.

“Quick, get a cuff before she burns this place to the ground!” Kade shouts.

Kai bolts from the room, slamming the door shut behind him.

Kade lunges for me, but Talon throws his weight sideways, somehow dragging his chair into the path. He slams into Kade, knocking them both to the ground.

Still bound, Talon shouts, “Free yourself and run!”

Kade struggles beneath him, trying to push up, but I’ve already burned through the rope at my wrists.

By the time Kade manages to roll halfway upright, I’m on my feet, fire curling over my fingers as I raise my hand and level it at him.

“Move to the corner of the room. Slowly,” I order.

Kade’s gaze travels from my hand to my face and then back again, before he slowly stands and shuffles toward the corner.

I glance down at Talon, heart still pounding, fire flickering over my hand. “Are you okay?” I ask, unsure how to help him while my fingers are still ablaze.

He nods and then glances at my hand. “Just do it,” he says, wanting me to burn through his bindings, but I shake my head.

If I grab the rope with the hand that’s on fire, it might catch him on fire as well.

“Freckles,” he growls. “I can take it.”

“I’m not hurting you on purpose.”

“Here,” Kade says, and to my surprise he pulls a pocket knife out of his boot and slides it across the floor to us.

I blink at him in surprise. Why would he help us?

I reach down with the hand that isn’t on fire, grab the knife, and start sawing through the ropes binding Talon while keeping a wary eye on Kade. As soon as I cut through one, Talon twists free and is on his feet in an instant.

“Come on,” he says, and grabs my hand.

“Wait,” Kade calls. I glance over my shoulder to find him holding both hands up in a gesture of surrender. “You want your dragon shifter back? I’ll give him to you. After you’ve cleaned up the mess you made in our world.”

“What are you talking about?” I demand, just as the door slams open and Kai bursts in, a shimmering gold cuff clutched in his hand.