Page 101 of Creatures of Chaos

“It’s getting late. I gotta go,” Titus says as he gets to his feet and stretches. “We may not know how everything is going to play out, but at least we know we have each other’s backs when it all goes down. That seems like the best we can hope for at this point.”

Talon doesn’t look pleased with that, but he nods in agreement.

I check the time on my phone and realize it’s already past eight. I missed two texts from my parents and quickly shoot one back letting them know I’ll be home soon. I just got my phone back that morning, I don’t want to give them an excuse to take it away again.

“Need a ride?” Ensley asks me, and without meaning to my gaze goes to Becks, who’s talking to Talon. “He drove his truck over,” she says, correctly reading my face.

I nod. “Yeah, a ride would be great.” It’s not that I’m avoiding Becks, but our argument is still fresh. I need time right now to figure things out. Besides, with the last Chaos trial looming, what’s going on between us needs to take a back seat anyway.

We tell the guys, who are now talking in a circle about who knows what, that we’re taking off, and then head out. After only two wrong turns, Ensley and I make it back to the foyer. It’s not until we have descended the staircase that Ensley realizes she left her purse back in the game room.

She groans. “This place is a maze. I’ll go get it, but if I don’t make it back in ten minutes, send a search party.”

“You got it,” I say on a laugh, and she takes off, jogging back up the stairs.

With nothing else to do while I wait, I inspect the giant dragon statue in the middle of the foyer. It’s carved from some sort of black stone, and as I move closer I realize just how macabre the scene is. The dragon is standing on the bones of various animals and creatures, crushing vampire skulls beneath its feet. Bits of flesh are in between its teeth as it throws its head back in a silent roar.

Creature species are always jockeying for top position, boasting that they’re superior and more powerful to others, and the message is clear that the artist considers dragon shifters at the top of the proverbial food chain.

“Majestic, isn’t he?”

I start and twist to face Drake. His gaze drifts from the dragon statue to me, his eyes as cold and lifeless as shards of onyx.

I take a step back, not wanting to be any closer to this powerful shifter than I need to be. I don’t trust him, and the hard look on his face as he studies me says that I’m wise not to.

“It’s nice to finally meet the girl who all the fuss has been about.”

“Excuse me?” What is he talking about?

His mouth curves into a smile that’s lacking any real warmth. “Oh yes. We know all about you and your little friendship with our heir. A troublesome issue over the last few years that I’m confident will be resolved shortly.”

My heart starts to pound.

“What are you getting at?” I ask, well aware he’s trying to bait me, but not able to control my physical reaction.

His gaze skates down my body and back up again in an assessment that leaves me feeling like spiders are crawling over my skin. “Perhaps I misjudged you. I took you as naïve, not stupid.”

I’ve had just about enough of this guy. Yes, he might be a super powerful dragon shifter, but if I’ve learned anything in the last several weeks it’s that I don’t have to sit back and take it anymore.

“I get that you have an issue with Becks’ and my friendship, but you and whoever else has a problem with it are just going to have to learn to live with it because I’m not going away.”

Rather than anger, amusement seeps into Drake’s gaze. “How entertaining you think Becks’ life-mate will put up with his crush on another female. The minute we find a suitable partner for him, your days in his life are numbered.”

My stomach sours, but I do my best to keep Drake from knowing he’s getting to me. “Becks was granted the authority to choose his own mate.”

He tilts his head, looking at me like I’m the biggest idiot he’s ever seen. “Simply an illusion of choice orchestrated by the council.”

This shifter is absolutely villainous.

I grit my teeth, furious with the dragon shifter and the whole council for the control they have over Becks’ life. “Why are you doing this to him?”

“Doingthis to him?” His eyebrows raise in feigned surprise. “Why, my girl, we are saving him. At first his friendship with you seemed to be little more than an embarrassment, one we assumed he’d grow out of, but when reports started coming in about the growing infatuation between the two of you, well, drastic measures had to be taken.”

Ensley’s words from earlier in the day drift back to me. “Anyone who cares to look can plainly see what’s there between you two.”

The air feels trapped in my lungs, and as the pieces click together I start to get lightheaded. “That’s why you’re forcing him to mate so soon? To keep him away fromme?”

He tilts his head, a false mask of pity sliding over his face. “Did you really think we’d let our heir degrade himself with a magicless creature?”

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