Page 73 of Kingdom of Chaos (Creatures of Chaos #2)

LOCKLYN / ONE YEAR LATER

A year.

It’s been a whole year since I left everything behind. My friends, my family, the creature world, and chose to stay here, in the human world, with Talon.

It’s been the best decision of my life.

Well, the second-best decision, after the one we made not quite a month ago: getting married.

It was right after a late-night patrol when we stumbled upon a human couple being attacked by vampires. We fought the vampires off, but they ultimately got away. One of the humans almost didn’t make it, but after we got them to safety, Talon turned to me and asked me to marry him.

I was completely taken off guard, but he told me that life was too short to put anything on pause. He didn’t want to waste another minute where I wasn’t his in every sense of the word.

I know I’m young, and marriage is a big step, but there wasn’t a single part of me that disagreed with him.

So I said, “Yes,” and a day later we were married.

It was rash and impulsive, born out of the need we both felt to be connected in every way possible.

Simply put, it was us. And it was perfect. I haven’t regretted a single moment since I said, “I do.”

If I have any regrets, it’s that I didn’t do it sooner, because I quickly learned how much I loved living with Talon and having twenty-four-seven access to him, and all the perks that come with it.

Now we live in a cozy loft tucked high in an old brick building in downtown New York. It’s nothing fancy. Creaky floors, an old radiator that rattles, and a fire escape that’s seen better days. But it’s ours.

The space feels like home in a way no other place ever could. It’s cluttered with books, half-empty mugs, and the scent of Talon’s coffee in the mornings. It’s filled with laughter, shared secrets, and a love that neither of us ever saw coming.

And sure, we’ve had our challenges. Missing friends and loved ones and adjusting to human life after everything we’ve been through hasn’t exactly been easy, but we’ve made it work. Together.

Which is why mornings like this, lazy, quiet, wrapped in sheets and each other, feel like stolen treasures.

Talon’s warm body is pressed against mine, his arm heavy around my waist, the steady rise and fall of his chest lulling me into that hazy, half-asleep state where time doesn’t exist. His breath brushes my temple and I smile, content and full in a way I never thought possible.

At least, until someone starts banging on the front door like the world’s about to end.

I groan and burrow deeper into the blankets. Talon mutters a curse under his breath, his voice thick with sleep.

“I’ll tell whoever it is to sod off,” he says, and then gives me a kiss on the nose and rolls out of bed, the cool morning air making me shiver in his absence.

I chuckle, feeling sorry for whoever’s on the other side of the door. They’re about to come face-to-face with a very grumpy ice dragon.

As Talon pads across the floor in his bare feet, I slip from the bed and head to the kitchen. Now that I’m up, I know I won’t be able to fall back asleep. I might as well make myself a cup of coffee.

Before Talon even reaches the door, whoever is on the other side starts banging again, louder this time.

“I swear to the Creator,” I hear my husband grumble, “I’m going to turn whoever interrupted our morning into a giant ice sculpture if they don’t?—”

His words cut off abruptly, and the sudden silence makes my skin prickle.

When I don’t hear anything else, I pop my head around the corner, curiosity and unease tangling in my gut.

Talon stands in front of the open door, his body tense, posture rigid. It immediately puts me on edge.

Something’s wrong.

“Talon, who’s—?” My own words freeze in my throat as Talon steps aside, revealing the person who had been pounding on our door.

The empty coffee mug slips from my fingers, crashing to the floor and shattering on impact. I hardly notice.

It’s been a year, and in that time my best friend has changed. His hair is longer, falling in loose waves around his face. A faint stubble dusts his jaw, accentuating the sharper angles that have erased the last traces of boyishness.

But even with the changes, I would never mistake him for anyone else.

“Becks,” I whisper, my heart hammering in my chest.

He stares at me, and I wouldn’t call the look in his eyes hard, exactly, but it’s not soft or welcoming either.

“Can I come in?” he asks, his gaze cutting to Talon.

Talon steps aside without a word, letting him in.

I watch Becks standing almost awkwardly in our loft, a strange mixture of familiarity and disbelief tugging at my chest.

My mind whirls as I try to piece together how he’s here—in the human world. When I left the creature world, there was no other known lunacite capable of opening a gate. But he must have found a way, somehow, because he’s standing not ten feet away from me.

“Hey, Lock,” he says, dipping his head a little, a small half smile tugging at his lips. One that makes my heart ache.

Without thinking, I leap over the shattered ceramic at my feet and crash into him, wrapping my arms around his middle in a hug so tight I can feel the steady thrum of his heartbeat beneath my cheek.

He catches me easily, his arms winding around my back, absorbing the full weight of my body without hesitation. The familiar warmth of his skin, that signature fire-dragon heat, sinks into me, a reminder of home and the comfort I didn’t know I’d missed until now.

“Okay, okay,” he says on a chuckle, the gentle rumble of it wrapping around me like a blanket. “Squeeze any tighter and you’re going to crack a rib.”

“Good thing you’re a fast healer, then,” I reply with a grin, though I force myself to loosen my grip and step back.

When I glance up at him, the lighthearted curve of his mouth fades, and something tightens in my chest. The shift in his expression to serious and determined sends a pit of dread curling in my stomach.

“We need to talk,” he says, his gaze darting briefly to Talon as if to make it clear this isn’t just for me, but for both of us.

I nod, swallowing down the nerves tightening my throat, and gesture to the small seating area off to the side. Talon settles next to me on the loveseat, a silent wall of support at my side, while Becks lowers himself into the armchair across from us.

Talon reaches for my hand and rests it on his knee, giving it a light squeeze. A subtle reminder. I’m here. I’ve got you.

I don’t know what Becks is about to say, but the weight in his eyes tells me this is just the beginning.

His gaze drops to our clasped hands, lingering on the gold band on my left ring finger, before flicking back up to my face.

His expression is utterly unreadable in a way that makes my heart ache.

Becks never used to hide his feelings from me. But that was then. Things are different now, and as much as I hate it, I have to accept it. The most important thing right now is that it’s clear he’s here for a reason, and we need to know what that is.

“What are you doing here?” I ask. I almost add, How are you here? but the look on his face tells me the how isn’t the most important question right now.

Becks takes a slow, steadying breath before he says, “We have a problem.”

I glance at Talon beside me, and he squeezes my hand again.

“What’s wrong?” I ask.

“That’s just it,” Becks says. “We were wrong. About the prophecy. About you.” His gaze holds mine. “About a lot of things.”

“What do you mean?” Talon asks, his voice sharp as he leans forward.

Becks’ gaze shifts to Talon, then back to me. “The prophecy wasn’t about Kerrim like we thought. It was about the demon.”

A cold prickle races down my spine. My pulse stutters.

“What demon?” I ask, my stomach dropping like a stone.

“The one who created Shadow Striker,” Becks answers.

“We didn’t know it, but the demon had been trapped in the dagger, along with the Vampire King, since Lucian defeated it two millennia ago.

That is, until the night you went up against Kerrim.

Your sacrifice, your blood, it released both of them from their prison.

The Vampire King . . . and the demon he made a bargain with all that time ago. ”

I gasp as the memory crashes back—the black smoke erupting from Shadow Striker, the way it twisted and spiraled into the night, leaving behind an oppressive, dark energy that seeped into my bones.

“How do you know all this?” Talon asks, his tone clipped, as I struggle to catch my breath.

Becks hesitates, a flash of emotion crosses his face, guilt maybe, or something else, before he wipes it away. “The Vampire King told me,” he says.

“He’s talking?” I ask, my voice tight with disbelief.

When we brought the Vampire King’s emaciated body back to the creature world, he was barely clinging to life.

The Society took custody of him, but in the months I spent searching for a way to sever the tether between Talon and me before leaving the creature world, he hadn’t improved much.

He was half comatose most of the time, and when he did speak, it was nonsense at best. Whatever power he’d once held, years trapped in the dagger had stripped it away.

The last time I saw him, he’d been a shell of the creature he once was.

Becks nods, running a hand through his hair. A familiar tell when he’s nervous.

“That, and more,” he says.

I lean forward, dread coiling tight in my chest. “What else is it?”

Becks draws in a breath, and the words he says next hit like a wrecking ball.

“The demon isn’t just free, it’s hunting for the one mentioned in the prophecy.”

Talon’s grip tightens on my hand, the air around us dropping a few degrees as his protective instincts flare to life.

But Becks isn’t finished. The next words he speaks change everything.

“And that’s not you. The demon’s looking for your sister. It’s looking for your twin.”