Page 69 of Kingdom of Chaos (Creatures of Chaos #2)

It’s the same wrongness I felt before. The same tightening in my chest, the same panic clawing at my throat as I watched him collapse that night, powerless to stop it.

No. Not again.

“Talon,” I whisper, my voice cracking, but he doesn’t meet my gaze. His shoulders hunch, tense and trembling, his breathing grows harsher, and I know he’s trying to hold himself together, but I feel it.

He’s slipping. He’s pouring too much of himself into me.

And it’s killing him.

A surge of strength born of panic, love, and sheer determination pulses through me and I lurch upright, forcing the healer to pause. There’s still a sharp ache in my gut where Shadow Striker cut into me, but I know without looking that the wound isn’t bleeding anymore.

I may not be fully healed, but it’s enough. It has to be. Talon can’t give me any more.

I grab his face in both hands, tilting it toward mine. His breath hitches. His blue-gray eyes strained, rimmed in silver, pass over my face as he assures himself I’m well before dropping down to my lips, then back to my eyes.

“Stop,” I whisper, desperate, my thumb brushing over his cheekbone.

Then I kiss him. Hard. Fierce. Like I can pour all my thanks, all my hope, all my everything into him and somehow save us both.

For a breathless moment, it’s just us, his lips moving against mine, his hands braced on my waist like he’s the only thing keeping me from breaking apart entirely.

I pull back, gasping, my forehead resting against his.

“I’m fine. I’m okay, I’m alive,” I repeat over and over again, knowing he needs that reassurance.

A shudder runs through him as his hands move up my arms to cup my face as the torrent of magic he’s trying to force into me ceases.

He leans back, gaze sweeping over me like he’s desperate to memorize every detail, every breath, every trace of life in my eyes.

His chest heaves. “I almost lost you,” he whispers, the words raw and frayed as they spill out. His thumb brushes gently over my cheek. A silent promise that he won’t let it happen again.

“But you didn’t,” I murmur.

A flutter of motion at the edge of my vision draws my attention, reminding me we’re not alone.

I catch Becks’ gaze first. His face is a mix of relief and sadness as he stares down at me in Talon’s arms, and my heart pinches. I never want to hurt him, but I know seeing me with Talon will always sting.

Beside him, Imogen stands with her arms crossed and a scowl on her face, reminding me of her concern and warnings for Talon.

I glance back at him, still kneeling beside me.

He looks drained, pale, and exhausted, but his gaze is steady, and the tension in his shoulders eases just enough for me to believe he’ll be okay.

Kade and the healer are there too. I thank her softly, and she gives me a quick nod of acknowledgement before saying she needs to check on the others. Kade thanks her as well, then she’s gone.

I push up to my feet with Talon’s help, feeling the lingering ache in my body but grateful for the strength to stand just as Ensley and Titus come hobbling toward us, slow but steady. Titus still looks rough, but he can move with Ensley’s support, giving me hope that with time he’ll recover.

When they reach us, Ensley glances at me, her face weary and tight. “Is it over?” she asks.

I glance around, taking it all in. The crumpled body of Kerrim lying motionless nearby, the shattered remnants of Shadow Striker lying in the grass, gleaming faintly in the moonlight, and the strange, skeletal figure still slumped on the ground, barely breathing.

“I . . . I think so,” I say, my voice raw.

Becks follows my gaze to the prone figure. “Who is that?” he asks.

I swallow hard, the memory of the black smoke pouring out of Shadow Striker flashing in my mind.

“After Kerrim died the blade cracked, then shattered. There was an explosion of black smoke and, it felt wrong. Like it had been trapped in the blade,” I say, feeling a little silly voicing something so out there. “And then he appeared.” I nod toward the figure. “I don’t know who he is.”

Imogen’s eyes narrow, her posture tense as she takes a step closer, scrutinizing the gaunt, pale figure. “That’s no ordinary creature.” Her gaze sharpens, a glint of realization flashing in her eyes. “If I had to guess, that’s the Vampire King. The first one. Shadow Striker’s first wielder.”

A stunned silence settles over the group, broken only by the distant shouts of the retreating Order forces.

“Is that even possible?” I ask. “He would be over two thousand years old.”

Kade looks thoughtful. “No one ever knew what happened to the first Vampire King. He was never seen after his love sacrificed herself. The assumption was that he went off on his own in his grief, but what if he’s been somehow trapped in that blade ever since then?”

The thought of that sends a cold chill through me. To have been trapped for that long . . . a mind would break under those conditions. Even the strongest one.

“Tonight’s been long enough. We can take him back to headquarters and get answers later,” Kade says.

There’s a round of nods of agreement. Kade asks Becks to help him get the figure upright, but before they even reach him, Talon staggers beside me, a low groan tearing from his throat.

His grip on my arm slips and I spin toward him in alarm.

The silver and gold threads flare back to life, weaving through the air between us, and a sharp, gut-wrenching ache twists in my chest.

“Talon!” I cry, catching him as he collapses to his knees. His skin is pale, almost ashen; his breath comes in ragged gasps.

The threads shimmer and pulse, and I know in my gut what’s happening.

“No. No, no, no,” I whisper, panic surging as I drop to my knees beside him.

My hands shake as I reach for him, but I don’t know how to stop it. It’s starting all over again, just like the first time the dagger bonded to me, just like I feared when I was being healed. I’m stealing his life away.

The others rush forward, but I barely hear them over the roar of blood in my ears. All I can see is Talon slipping away right in front of me.

“Quick!” Imogen snaps. “Find all the pieces of the dagger.”

“What? Why?” I ask, my head snapping toward her as she digs through the grass, searching for Shadow Striker’s shards.

Becks and Kade join her without asking why, and together they start gathering the sharp pieces. Even Ensley helps Titus to the ground and starts looking.

“We need to use it to create a portal and get you back to the creature world,” she says without looking up.

Talon shudders in my arms, a low groan escaping him. When I look down, his skin has gone gray and clammy. His breathing is ragged, his body trembling so hard I can barely hold him.

“I knew this would happen,” Imogen snaps. “I told him.”

“Told him what?” I yell back, terrified as I feel Talon slipping away in my arms.

She pauses, glancing at me with a gaze full of fury.

“You’re still tethered from when you first bonded with the blade.

Separating Talon from the blade is what saved his life before, but there was always a risk that coming here, with you, would reopen that connection.

It’s been killing him slowly since the moment he arrived in this world.

Saving your life sped it up and may have just sealed his fate. ”

I shake my head in denial. No. That can’t be true. I don’t want to believe it.

“But the blade is destroyed,” I say, still not understanding.

“But the connection between you two isn’t . The magic is still trying to complete the transfer. Every time your magic connected, it was a risk to his life. The only way to stop it is to sever the connection between you.”

“How are we going to do that?” I ask, desperate.

“Shadow Striker created a portal here. You’re going to use what’s left of it to open a portal home. And then you’re going to go there, and Talon is going to stay here.”

“What? No,” I say, shaking my head, struggling to grasp everything she’s saying, not wanting to believe that in order to save his life I have to leave him.

That can’t be the only way. It’s too cruel. We just found each other. I can’t lose him now.

“There has to be another way to sever the connection.”

Imogen starts to respond, but then cuts herself off. Pressing her lips together, she shakes her head. “There’s not,” she says, but the flash of hesitation in her eyes makes me doubt her.

“What is it?”

She shakes her head again. “There may be another way to sever the connection, but we don’t have time to figure it out. Talon may only have minutes left. Right now, if you want to save him, this is the only way.”

My heart feels like it’s being shredded. I’d do anything to save Talon, including leaving him forever, but the thought of that is almost too painful to consider. But I can’t just let him die.

“Freckles,” Talon says, his voice weak and hollow.

I look down at him, my vision blurred with unshed tears.

“It’s going to be okay,” he assures me, and I know that’s a lie.

If I have to leave him, or he dies, it will never be okay again.

“You’ll have your family and friends. And you’ll have him,” he says, nodding over to where Becks is collecting pieces of Shadow Striker.

I shake my head, too wrecked to even voice my denial.

I don’t want Becks, not like I used to. I want him .

Talon lifts a shaky hand and gently brushes my hair behind my ear, his fingers grazing the shell in the way he always does, bringing a fresh ache to my chest.

“You still have feelings for him. Don’t deny it.”

I open my mouth to do just that, but he’s right. Becks is still in my heart. I’ve loved him for so long, it’s confusing to separate romantic love from the deep care and affection I have for him. In truth, regardless of what happens in the future, Becks will probably always be a part of me.