Page 75 of Creatures of Chaos

He has no idea.

I haveto wait until the next day at school to talk to Talon, because besides being under house arrest for the next two weeks, my parents have my phone and are monitoring my computer, so I don’t have a way to reach out to him. Despite what I told Becks, Talon and I don’t actually have any classes together—hopefully that’s a little tidbit Becks doesn’t figure out on his own—so I’m stuck stalking his locker the next morning, hoping to catch him before classes start. Much to my annoyance, Talon doesn’t come swaggering up to his locker until moments before the final bell, so by then there’s hardly any time to talk to him.

“Freckles. To what do I owe the pleasure?” he says, a flirtatious smile on his face that I recognize now for what it is. A mask.

“Lunch, meet me in the tower,” I say, not bothering with the pleasantries. “I have a proposition for you.”

His brows shoot up and his smile turns lazy. “A proposition? Call me intrigued.”

I internally groan. Wrong use of words. “Not like that.”

“Not like what?” he says with false innocence.

“I’ve thought about what we talked about yesterday,” I say quickly, knowing we’re running out of time, and this isn’t the place to speak freely.

Talon sobers immediately and he steps closer, his eyes devoid of any lighthearted flirtation from before. “And . . .” he prompts.

“And meet me in the tower later so we can talk about it,” I say, not letting him intimidate me. Then I turn on a heel, and just as I reach the end of the hall the final bell rings, signaling the start of the period and I groan. Another tardy.

Add it to the list.

Twenty-Six

Talon is pacingwhen I climb the last step and reach the tower landing that overlooks Nightlark Academy. He stops when he spots me, and I can’t help but remember the last time I was up here with Becks. I wish I’d thought of a different place for us to meet, because the tower feels like Becks’ and my place. Seeing Talon in this space is weird.

We stare at each other in silence as I cross the space to reach him.

“Do you agree to fail out of the next trial?” he asks bluntly, not wasting a moment of time.

“That depends,” I hedge.

“On what?”

“On you.”

Arching a brow, he waits for me to elaborate.

“I need you to do something for me. If you can, then yes, I’ll purposefully fail out of the next trial as soon as an opportunity presents itself.”

He folds his arms over his chest, his eyes taking on a glint of suspicion. “What do you need me to do?”

I suck in a deep breath, holding it in my chest for a moment longer than necessary. Becks’ warning about Talon being untrustworthy rings in my mind. Once I say the words there’s no taking them back. Talon will have the power to go to his uncle and destroy Becks’ chances of getting out from under this arranged life-mating. And in doing so, he’ll also have the power to shatter my chances of ever truly being with Becks.

I was so sure Talon would agree to this plan, but now I’m not as confident.Am I wrong to place this much trust in him?

I’m sure Talon reads the hesitation on my face and body language, but he stays silent, affording me the time I need to work through my fears before making this leap of faith. But really, is there any decision to make? Besides winning Shadow Striker, which considering what Talon divulged yesterday about my life being in danger makes it even more unattainable than I realized, this is the only chance we have to free Becks—we have to take it.

“I need you to find something out about your uncle that I can use to blackmail him.”

Talon’s face doesn’t hide his shock, but he recovers quickly and then chuckles out a half-laugh. “You must be kidding. That was a good one.”

He waits for me to crack a smile or agree with him, but I remain stone-faced.

The smile slips from his face. “You’re not kidding.”

I shake my head, and he rubs a hand over his mouth. “Why do you need to blackmail him?”

“It doesn’t matter.”

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