Page 66 of Creatures of Chaos

“My brother didn’t even know I existed back there. You guys totally kissed. Just admit it already.”

My cheeks heat, and Ensley, the sly little mind reader that she is, notices and gasps. “You didn’t just kiss, you full-on made out, didn’t you?”

Unable to hold back any longer, I crumble.

“Okay, fine. We kissed.”

The squeal Ensley releases is piercing and makes me question if she’s part banshee. I cover my ears until she stops.

“Finally,” she says. “I was getting so sick of watching the two of you dance around each other. It was like a bad sitcom at times.”

“Hey,” I protest, but Ensley keeps going.

“So tell me everything! Where was it? How did it happen? And most importantly, was it good? Everyone probably thinks Becks is a fantastic kisser, but is it bad that I’m kinda hoping he’s sloppy so I can tease him about it forever?”

I scrunch my nose at her.

“Ew. It’s your brother. How can you ask that?”

She waves me off. “Whatever. I’m over it, so you should be too.”

I put my hands over my face. “I seriously can’t talk about this with you.”

Just then the warning bell rings and Ensley groans. “Horrible timing.”

Awesome timing.

“Don’t think you’re worming your way out of this,” she says with a reproachful finger pointed in my direction. “We’re picking this up at lunch.”

Not if I can avoid it.

I make a noncommittal sound, but the gleam in Ensley’s eyes tells me she isn’t going to drop this, and so I know come lunchtime I’ll be spilling my guts.

Twenty-Three

The waysmy life has changed over the last month are hard to grasp. I used to walk the academy halls with my head down, eyes on the floor so that I wouldn’t accidentally make eye contact with anyone. Now I can’t get from one class to the other without someone calling my name or coming up beside me to walk through the halls. It’s a lot to get used to, but I’m not complaining.

Classmates have asked to see my hand and want to know how I broke through the compulsion, but I make it through the first half of the day without anyone else bringing up my confession from the night before. No one seems to really care like I thought they would. Or if they do they keep it to themselves. So I’m not as jumpy or paranoid as I walk to meet up with Ensley for lunch, even though it’s something I’ve been dreading all day long. But there’s a good chance we won’t be eating lunch alone, so I figure that will put off the inquisition for a couple more hours. Ensley is a lot of things, but I know she won’t embarrass me in front of Shayla and the others.

My mind is on Becks when someone grabs my arm and pulls me into an empty room. My brain doesn’t process that it’s Talonuntil he’s turning to lock the door behind us. He twists back to me, and when I look into his blue-gray eyes something inside gives a little flip, but I tell myself it’s the lingering effects of the compulsion and nothing more.

“Talon, I don’t?—”

“You’re not answering your phone,” he says, and the look on his face brings me up short. I’m used to his easy smile, the teasing light in his eyes, but for the first time since I met him Talon’s gaze is shuttered from me—completely blank and cold.

I lift my bandaged hand. “My parents took it away when I came home like this without a good enough excuse. I’m basically under house arrest and cut off from the world for the next couple weeks.”

Talon nods and shoves his hands in his pockets. “Yeah, that tracks. My parents would probably flip too.”

I knit my brow, trying to figure out what’s going on here. “Did you need something?”

“You need to fail out of the next trial,” Talon says without a lead up, and it’s so unexpected it takes a few moments to find my words.

“Wait . . . what?”

Talon shifts uncomfortably. His gaze is lasered over my shoulder rather than my face.

“Where is this coming from?” I ask.

---