Page 40 of Kingdom of Chaos (Creatures of Chaos #2)

Twenty-Four

After agreeing to his terms, we follow Kade out of the interrogation room and down the hall to a freight elevator, one of those ones with a large platform and a collapsible metal grate you’d typically see in warehouses or lofts.

When we enter the elevator, Kade pushes an unmarked button and it groans, making my stomach bottom out, before starting to move.

There aren’t any distinctive floors as we descend.

The elevator just keeps going down, down, down, until finally jerking to a stop.

Talon watches Kade with a wary eye as he pulls open the scissor gate and we step into a poorly lit hallway of some sublevel underneath the building.

“He’s being held at the end of the hall,” Kade says, pointing in the direction.

When we get to the door, Kade tells Talon this is where he’ll have to wait, and then asks for my wrist to put the magic-blocking cuff on.

I’m suddenly very apprehensive to put on the shiny piece of metal. It has a slight rose gold tint, is roughly two inches wide, and opens and shuts like a manacle.

“What is it?” I ask.

“Manacite,” Kade says. “It was discovered to disrupt magical pathways, making it impossible to channel magic. No one knows why, but it works. It’s very rare here in the human world.”

“It doesn’t exist at all in our world,” Talon says, glaring at the cuff.

Taking a deep breath, I hold out my arm, reminding myself that Becks is worth it. I’d trade all this new magic to have him back. Gladly. So what’s the big deal if I muffle my abilities for a little while?

The moment the cuff snaps shut around my wrist, the magic within me falls quiet. The change is instant, like someone’s flipped a switch and shut off a part of me I hadn’t even known was fully awake until now.

It’s not painful, but it’s deeply unsettling. A hollow sensation spreads through my chest, as if a vital connection has been severed. I hadn’t realized how quickly I’d gotten used to the thrum of magic beneath my skin, how natural it had started to feel.

Now, its absence leaves me unmoored, empty in a way that feels more emotional than physical.

“Let’s go,” I say to Kade, doing my best to suppress my anxiety.

Talon catches my hand right before I go through the door.

“I’ll be right here the whole time,” he promises. “If anything goes wrong, just scream. I’ll be through that door in seconds. Nothing will be able to stop me.”

I nod, my throat suddenly dry at the thought of seeing Becks.

Becks, who I’ve been secretly worried was dead because of me since the moment I watched Shadow Striker punch through his chest.

Becks, my oldest and dearest friend who I care so much about and who I have the most jumbled mess of emotions for.

Becks, who thinks I betrayed him by choosing to be with Talon instead of him.

Becks, who I’m suddenly and inexplicably so nervous to see my palms are sweating and I hope Talon doesn’t notice.

“Tell your princeling I said ‘Hey,’” he says. After giving my hand a quick squeeze, he lets go, his fingers brushing lightly across my palm as he does.

I let out a nervous laugh. “Don’t take this the wrong way, but I’m not sure Becks is going to want to hear anything about you.”

“Good point,” he says.

With a small smile, I step through the door after Kade, casting one last glance over my shoulder just as it begins to close. Talon is watching me, his eyes locked on mine, and there’s something in his expression that tugs at my chest. Something I can’t unpack right now.

Because Becks. I’m about to see Becks.

The door Kade takes me through leads to a small outer room. He tells me I have thirty minutes with Becks, and that’s it, then nods at the only other door in the room.

“Go ahead,” he says.

“He’s just on the other side of that door?” I ask, a swarm of butterflies flapping like hell-bats in my gut.

“Yep.”

I push through my nerves and rush to the door, shoving it open before I can psych myself out. The moment I cross the threshold, I freeze. What the surveillance feed didn’t show was that Becks is in a cell. A surprisingly nice one, sure, but it’s still a cell, one wall made entirely of metal bars.

Becks sits on the edge of a twin bed, shirtless, wearing only green scrub pants.

A large bandage is wrapped across his upper torso, leaving the lower half of his abs exposed.

He looks like he might have lost a little weight, and he has a layer of scruff on his face I’m not used to seeing.

But his coloring looks good and he’s not holding himself like he’s in pain.

“Just leave the tray on the ground and go,” he snaps, irritation ringing from each word.

I go to say his name, but a sob rips from my throat instead.

Becks lifts his head, his green eyes flashing when he spots me.

Jumping to his feet, he stumble-runs toward the bars in his haste to reach me.

“Locklyn,” he says, his voice clogged with emotion.

I press my hand over his where he grips one of the bars, then reach my free arm through the gap to embrace him as best I can with the cold metal between us.

I wish I still had access to my fire magic.

I’d melt the blasted bars if I could, because touching him like this, knowing with my own hands that he’s alive and real, is not enough, Not nearly enough.

Tears slip down my cheeks, and when they dampen his neck, he pulls back just far enough to meet my eyes.

“What are you doing here?” he asks, voice rough. “How did you even get here?”

“In this room, or to this world?” I ask with a shaky laugh, my eyes still filled with tears.

“Either. Both.” He reaches out and cups the side of my face, his palm warm and steady.

The tenderness in his gaze, so open and full of love, breaks me all over again. Fresh tears spill down my cheeks.

“Are you real?” he whispers. “Is this really happening? Because every night I dream you’re here, but every morning I wake up alone.”

I place my hand over his, savoring the warmth of his palm against my cheek. “It’s me. I’m here. I came to find you and bring you home. Well, we did.”

“We?” he asks.

I nod. “Ensley’s here too. Not in this building, but back at the hotel. She’s going to flip when I tell her I found you.”

His brow furrows sharply. “Wait. You and Ensley came here alone?”

I shake my head quickly. “No, not alone. Titus is with us too. And . . . also Talon.”

“Talon?” he repeats, the word landing like a blow. His expression darkens instantly. He takes a step back, hands dropping from me. The warmth he’d given a moment ago vanishes and cold tension fills the space between us.

I wrap my hands around the bars, leaning in as close to him as I can.

“He was the only one who knew how to get to the human world. Without him, I’d still be stuck in the creature realm, wondering if you were dead or alive, not knowing where you were or how to reach you, maybe never finding you at all. ”

“Oh yes. Talon is ever so helpful,” Becks says, voice dripping with sarcasm. “I’m sure he’s not expecting anything in return.”

I bristle at the accusation. “It’s not like that. Talon gave up everything to get me here.”

“Like what, exactly?” he challenges.

I press my lips together, heart pounding. It’s not my story to share. “I don’t want to talk about Talon right now.”

A bitter half laugh rumbles from Becks’ chest, an unfamiliar, unsettling sound. “I see. So you don’t want to talk about your new boyfriend to your old one.”

I flinch, and he notices. His expression shifts, the sharpness in his eyes dulling with regret. He drags a hand through his hair and exhales heavily.

“I’m sorry, Lock. That wasn’t fair. If Talon’s the reason you’re here, then I’m grateful. Truly. It’s just . . .” He trails off, shaking his head, and when his gaze finally rises to meet mine, there’s no anger, only sadness.

I swore I’d never tell him the truth. But so much has happened since the day I made that bargain with Drake, it doesn’t feel like a secret I should keep anymore.

“I need to tell you something,” I say, my voice low.

I draw in a steadying breath, bracing myself.

“I tricked you,” I confess quietly.

His brow furrows. “What do you mean?”

Where do I even start?

“It’s a long story, and I can explain it all to you later, but basically, I’m not with Talon. I never was.” Guilt twists in my chest at the admission, but I push the feeling down, unwilling to unpack it now. “I convinced Talon to pretend to be with me so you would let me go. So you would move on.”

Confusion darkens Becks’ green eyes. “Why would you do that? If you didn’t want to be with me anymore, you could have just told me.”

“If I had come to you and said that suddenly my feelings had changed, that I didn’t want to be with you anymore, would you have believed me? Would you have let me go?”

He steps closer, curling his fingers around the bar just above mine. “So that was the truth? You didn’t want to be with me, but thought I wouldn’t move on unless you were with someone else?”

I flinch, just slightly, but enough that my hands slip from the bars. “That wasn’t the truth. But it was what I had to make you believe because . . .”

“Why?” Becks prompts gently when I can’t make myself go on.

I take a deep breath, knowing that there’s a chance the truth might shatter what we have just as effectively as the lie.

“Because that’s the deal I made with Drake Brayden. To break up with you and convince you there would never be any chance for us.”

“You made a deal with Talon’s uncle?” Confusion is clear on Becks’ face and I can understand why.