Page 119 of Creatures of Chaos

It’s clear Becks is struggling, but my foggy brain can’t make sense of it at first. Becks is one of the most powerful shifters alive, yet he’s getting pushed back by Kerrim’s attacks. But then I notice the objects in Kerrim’s hands. In one fist he grips Shadow Striker, and in the other he holds another enhancer, identical to the one still lying useless in the cage Talon was trapped in. As a hawk shifter, he has an affinity for wind, and he keeps sending massive gusts of air at Becks, which keeps him at bay.

I realize too late what Kerrim is doing. I try to pop to my feet, but the world goes sideways, and I put a hand on the wall to steady myself. Closing my eyes, I swallow down a wave of nausea, but I force them open again in time to watch my worst nightmare.

With a yell of fury, Kerrim sends a wind power blast at Becks’ chest. He tries to block it with one of his wings, but the force of the hit sends him sailing backward right into and through the portal.

“No!” I scream, and Kerrim’s head whips in my direction.

He’s standing right in front of the portal, dagger in hand. There’s nothing to stop him from walking right through to the human world.

“It didn’t have to be this way,” he says. He then takes two steps and disappears into the glowing ring that I just watched him push Becks through. The moment he passes through with Shadow Striker, the portal starts to shrink.

I take off, my steps unsteady. I can see Becks in the rapidly shrinking portal. He’s shifted back into his non-dragon form and his back is to me. I scream his name and I hobble forward.

Becks’ head swings in my direction, his gaze filled with confusion.

The portal is hardly big enough for a creature, no more than a three-foot ring. I’m too far away and I’m not moving fast enough. I won’t get there in time.

“Get out of there before the portal closes,” I yell, and he turns toward me and starts running.

I almost cry in relief.He’s going to make it, I tell myself, but when he’s just feet from the portal Kerrim appears behind him almost as if out of thin air. He raises Shadow Striker over his head preparing to strike.

“Behind you!” I scream in warning, but it’s too late.

I stumble forward as the portal contracts to the size of a basketball, watching in horror as the blade punches through Becks’ chest. His eyes widen in shock, and the last thing I see before the light ring collapses is him mouthing my name as a trickle of blood leaks from the corner of his mouth.

I fall to my knees in the exact spot that the portal opened, digging my nails into the dirt beneath me, my mind and body numbed from shock.

No.No no no. That did not just happen. Becks did not just get stabbed. He’s not trapped in another world.

No, it didn’t happen. Becks is safe. Becks is okay. Becks is here.

I repeat the lies over and over in my head as if that will make it true.

A hand lands on my shoulder and I jolt, scrambling back, but when I look up Talon’s standing above me, pity and regret in his gaze. He still looks weak, but some of his coloring has returned, and he was able to get over here without my assistance. There also aren’t any more silver or gold threads connecting the two of us.

That’s when it really sinks in. Kerrim took Shadow Striker to the human world, exactly what we were trying to prevent him from doing, but it separated Talon from the blade, saving his life.

“Freckles, I’m so sorry,” he says, sounding almost like he understands what I’ve just lost.

“We have to go after him.”

Talon shakes his head, but I won’t accept that Becks is lost forever.

I get to my feet, and when I wobble Talon steadies me. I pull out of his grasp, his touch reminding me of how I betrayed Becks, about how even thinking I had chosen Talon over him he found a way to reach me, and now he was in another world and might never know the truth.

I was never with Talon. I’ve always loved Becks.

“You said there were gateways. Gateways that had been sealed. We’ll open one and go after him.”

“Freckles—”

“Don’t call me that,” I snap, and Talon flinches.

“I never meant for this to happen.”

I hold up my hand, stopping his apologies. I can’t hear them right now. “After everything, after the lies you told and the ways you deceived me time and time again over the last several weeks, you owe me.”

Talon looks at me like he wants to pull me into his arms, but he wisely keeps them at his side. “Frec—Locklyn, even if we could get to the human world, we wouldn’t even know where to start looking for him. That world is as big as ours. He could be anywhere.”

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