Page 45 of Kingdom of Chaos (Creatures of Chaos #2)

Twenty-Seven

Dropping the birth certificate, I shove away from the table and stand. My body temperature spikes, and I’m sure flames are about to burst from my fingers.

Before that can happen, Talon jumps up and grabs my hands, cooling them instantly with whatever magic he’s using. A moment later, shadows swirl around the room, and Ensley gasps. My vision flickers, and suddenly everyone but Kade has a glowing aura.

I slam my eyes shut, overwhelmed. I want to curl up on the floor and disappear. It’s too much. The magic surging through me, this impossible story Kade and Ares expect me to believe. I just can’t.

“Everyone, out,” Talon barks.

Chairs scrape back from the table, and I think the others are actually listening and leaving until I hear Ensley’s tentative voice asking if I’m okay.

I don’t even know how to answer her. Am I okay?

Yes. No. Maybe.

All I want is to go back a few months to when I was just a girl without powers, hopelessly in love with her best friend. Life wasn’t perfect then, but it was a lot simpler.

“Just give me a second to help her control her magic,” Talon says gently. I’m grateful he didn’t snap at her.

I hear a sigh, then Ensley says she’ll be right outside with the others. As soon as the door clicks shut behind her, Talon releases my hands and places his on my shoulders.

“You can open your eyes now, Freckles.”

I shake my head.

“It’s okay. You’re safe. Just take a few deep breaths like I taught you. Look inside for that core of magic.”

I follow his instruction, locating the knotted ball of threads easier than before.

“There you go,” he says quietly. “It’s your magic. You’re in control.”

I take another deep breath and open my eyes to find the room dim, cloaked in the shadows I’ve accidentally summoned. The delicate silver and gold threads are twisted around the two of us again. Talon’s aura casts a soft glow across his features as he stares down at me.

“I’ve got you,” he says, and even if it’s not true, the words calm me.

I nod at him, believing him, until a sudden rush of unfamiliar magic surges through me, and some of the brightness in Talon’s aura dims.

“Did I just take more magic from you?” I ask, horrified.

The shadows around us twist and whip erratically, and heat blooms across my skin.

“Don’t worry about any of that right now,” Talon says, his hands gliding up and down my arms in a soothing rhythm. “Just focus on breathing, on taking control of your magic and reining it back in.”

“Don’t you mean your magic?” I ask, looking away. I can’t hold Talon’s gaze, too ashamed that I keep stealing from him.

“Listen to me,” he says firmly. “You’re not taking anything from me that was mine to begin with. So stop feeling guilty.”

I press my lips together, not sure I can do that. No matter what he says, it still feels like I’m stealing a piece of who he is.

A cool hand presses against the side of my face, then his fingers slip beneath my chin, gently tipping my head up and forcing me to meet his gaze.

“If I had the ability to give you this magic,” he says softly, “I would anyway.”

“You would? But . . . why?”

Talon’s blue-gray gaze softens. “How have you not figured it out by now?”

The shadows around us slow to a stop, creating a cocoon around us. Talon’s aura and the silver and gold threads cast a glow over the both of us.

“Figure what out?” I ask, my voice barely above a whisper.

“That I would give anything, do anything, for you.”

The breath catches in my throat because the truth is there, plain as day. Shining from his eyes. Staring me right in the face.

“You can do this,” he says as he brushes the pad of this thumb lightly over my bottom lip, making me shiver. “The magic doesn’t control you. You control the magic. Now pull it back into yourself.”

I don’t break his stare as I find that place inside me where the magic lives, and do as he says, tugging it back inside me. The room starts to lighten as the shadows dissipate. Talon’s aura disappears; even the thin threads connecting us fade into nothing.

“Well done,” he says with a soft smile, and because for once I’m not thinking about yesterday or tomorrow, I rise up on my toes and press my lips to the very corner of his mouth.

It’s not a real kiss, barely more than a brush of contact, and our lips hardly touch before I’m already pulling away. But it rocks me to my core.

“Freckles,” Talon starts, but then the conference room door opens behind him and Imogen pokes her head in.

“I drew the short straw to check if it’s safe to come back or not? Or are you still having a prepubescent magic meltdown?” she asks. Noticing how close we are, she arches a brow. “Oh, looks like I’m interrupting something very interesting.”

Turning her head, she says to everyone waiting in the hall for us. “I think they may need another few minutes to, ah . . . finish.”

Imogen!

Pulling away from Talon, I rush to the door and throw it open, finding everyone loitering just outside.

“I’m sorry. I’ve got control again. You can all come back in.”

Ensley gives me a strange look, but I can’t hold her gaze. Ducking my head, I retreat into the room and take my seat. Talon resumes his place beside me without a word, but even without looking at him, his presence is suddenly all-consuming.

I do my best to pretend it isn’t. I shove down whatever just happened between us, locking it away in the deepest part of myself. It’s not something I have the capacity to deal with right now.

Once Kade, Ares, and the others are seated again, I pick up the birth certificate still lying on the table. I study the photo, trying to recognize any part of me in the tiny, scrunched-up face in the corner. But honestly, it’s impossible to tell. All babies look so similar when they’re born.

Looking up, I catch Kade’s eye. “Okay, I’m ready, tell me everything.”

“Are you sure?” he asks.

I let out a sharp laugh. “No, but tell me anyway.”

He nods. “Fair enough.” Leaning forward, he steeples his hands on the table in front of him. “We believe that you’re Rose Emilie Velgrave. Daughter of Colin and Sophia Velgrave.”

“And why do you believe that?”

“Because Colin was Lucian’s last living descendant, which would make Rose one as well.”

“Was?” I ask, picking up on Kade’s use of the past tense.

“Sadly, after Rose was born, the whole family was attacked. The bodies were never found, but there was a lot of blood. Up until now, we presumed everyone had been killed.”

I give him a doubtful look. “It’s a bit of a leap to assume I’m this missing baby. And it still doesn’t account for how I ended up in the creature world.”

“There is a sector of creatures here in the human world who know about the prophecy,” Kade explains.

“Over the years, the Order has done their best to hide the identities of Lucian’s line because we never wanted anyone to be exploited because of it.

But a week before the break-in, a group of creatures managed to get their hands on some computer data that included the true identity of the Velgrave family.

“The leader of the Order at the time was trying to hide the family after the data breach. They were in a safe house when they were attacked. Our theory is that creatures killed your parents and took you. We believe they removed your parents’ bodies to make it look like you were killed too, then smuggled you into the creature world so you could fulfill the prophecy. ”

“Why would they want to fulfill the prophecy?” Ensley asks.

“Not all creatures are happy here in the human world,” Kade says. “Some believe they are superior to the human race, and so they see the fulfillment of the prophecy, essentially the end of the human race, as a good thing. They see whoever is coming to take over almost as a savior-figure.”

“But that creature is supposed to destroy the creature world too,” Talon says.

Kade’s gaze shifts to him. “They believe the human world will fall first, and that this figure will lead them back to the creature world, where he’ll ultimately rule.”

“Well, that’s messed up,” Imogen mutters in disgust.

“I don’t disagree,” Kade replies.

Now that the shock has passed, I’m able to think more clearly.

“Okay, so there’s a motive,” I say. “But how would they have gotten me to the creature world if all the gates were sealed and guarded?”

Kade leans forward, resting his forearms on the table. “About eighteen years ago, a small group of creatures breached one of the gates. Apparently, they had a piece of tamalite that had been passed down through generations, originating from one of the first creatures to travel to the human world.”

At the mention of the stone, my gaze flicks to the tamalite ring on Talon’s finger before bouncing back to Kade.

“They slaughtered a dozen Order members guarding the gate,” Kade continues, his voice grim. “And were never seen again. The assumption was that they went through the gate. We think that’s how you ended up in the creature world.”

“Okay, then if I’m a descendant of Lucian like you claim, how am I human?”

“That’s easily explained,” Kade says. “Creatures trapped in the human world have been mating and producing offspring with humans for over two thousand years. Lucian was no different. In fact, his bride was human. As far as we know, his bloodline has continued to mix with humans over generations, gradually diluting the creature magic.”

Every question we ask him, he seems to have an answer for. But there are still a million more.

I fall silent, turning it all over in my mind.

“I don’t know that I fully buy it,” I say at last. “You’re making a lot of leaps and assumptions. You’re basing everything on the fact that I opened a portal. It feels like you reverse-engineered this theory just to make me fit the prophecy.”

“I can see how it would look that way, but there’s more evidence than what I’ve told you,” Kade says, glancing over at Ares.

“Right,” Ares says, straightening slightly. “I guess that’s my cue. I have a very specific type of magic. I can detect bloodlines, specifically in creatures. I can also tell whether someone is human or creature, and if they’re a creature, what species they belong to.”

Talon shifts in his seat beside me, and Ares’ gaze slides over to him.

“Speaking of, you’re very rare, my friend.”

“You know what kind of creature he is?” Imogen gasps, her wide-eyed gaze bouncing between Talon and Ares.

Talon tenses, and Ares chuckles. “Don’t worry, your secret is safe with me.” He turns his attention back to me. “As for you, if you have creature genes, I’ll admit they’re very faint. But I am picking up Lucian’s line in your blood.”

It’s my turn to steal a glance at Titus. He’s watching Ares with a look of intense concentration, but as if sensing my gaze, he turns to meet my eyes.

He doesn’t smile, just gives me a small nod, letting me know that Ares is telling the truth. Or at least that he believes he is.

I blow out a slow breath, feeling like my entire world is shifting on its axis. Ensley chews on her bottom lip as she watches me, waiting for my reaction. Talon is a silent sentinel next to me, letting me work through this on my own while also being close should I need him.

“Let’s say all of this is true,” I start. “That I was stolen as a baby and brought to the creature world. I’m a descendant of Lucian, the Vampire King’s one and only son. I accidentally fulfilled some ancient prophecy handed down through generations of Order members.”

My hands come up in a half shrug, frustration and confusion tangling in my chest. “I’ve already screwed up and let Shadow Striker into the human world.

What could you possibly need me for now?

” I lean forward, pinning Kade with a stare.

“Because right now, all that really matters to me is getting Becks back. And there’s something you want from me before you’ll let him go, so I’d like to just get to the point. ”

Kade leans forward as well, his locs brushing against his cheeks as he does. “We need you to take down Kerrim, because if the prophecy is right, you’re the only one who can.”