Page 100 of Creatures of Chaos

Talon turns toward me, his face unreadable. “I want you to stick close to me,” he says, not contradicting me, but he’s not done talking. “There’s a chance the trial will be skewed in your favor. If I’m right about all of this, now that you’ve made it this far they want you to win.”

“Because they see me as the easiest to kill?” I say, and he nods.

That’s offensive, but fair.

I cross my arms over my chest and slump back into the couch. “Oh, this just keeps getting better.”

Becks starts to pace. Tendrils of smoke wisp from him as he walks back and forth.

“Don’t you dare shift. Some of the books in this library are worth more than you,” Talon warns.

Becks glares at him but stops pacing and turns to me. “You won’t go to the last trial. You’ll skip it.”

“I can’t. You know what happened to the other competitors who didn’t show up to a Chaos trial.”

Becks sits down on the couch next to me, curving his body toward me. “I’ll stay with you night and day and make sure nothing happens to you when the time comes.”

“That won’t work,” Talon cuts in. “Once we entered Chaos we entered into a magical agreement to see it through. It’s not that someone inflicted those injuries on the competitors who failed to show up. Their injuries are magical, and you won’t be able to fight that off. She has to be there or the same thing that happened to them will happen to her. There’s no way around it. She has to compete.”

Becks’ gaze snaps to Talon, his eyes burning with intensity. “How do you know that?”

“Because I know that’s true about the dagger’s activation. Haven’t you heard anything I’ve said? Chaos is just a cover. And here’s your proof.”

Talon lifts his shirt and drags down his jeans to expose some of his hipbone. I start to look away until I realize what he’s showing us. On his hip, right below where his pants sit, is the circular brand of the Chaos emblem.

“That mark on the flyers and the coins, that’s not a Chaos symbol,” he says. “It’s the Shadow Striker emblem.”

“You branded yourself?” I ask in shock.

He shakes his head. “Not exactly. It’s kind of a family thing. That doesn’t matter though. What you need to understand is that the cross symbolizes the dagger. The inner circle represents the first trial that’s meant to thin the herd. And then the four symbols in each of the quadrants stand for one of the trials of strength I mentioned before. Three swirls for physical strength, zigzag for intellectual strength, the two overlapping circles for mental strength, and then the six-pointed starburst for magical strength.”

He lets go of his shirt and tugs up his pants, covering the mark, and then shoves his hands into his pockets. “Who knows if Chaos was really ever more than an urban legend. The thief or thieves who stole Shadow Striker are just using the games as a disguise. And I know the rules of an activation competition. Once it begins, you can’t opt out.”

The room falls silent as everything sinks in. This is such a mess. I’m glad Talon is finally telling us the truth, but if he’d only been honest sooner, this all could have been avoided.

Becks stands and walks to Talon. I hold my breath, half expecting that Becks is going to throw a punch, but instead he asks, “Do I have your promise that you’ll protect her?”

Talon doesn’t even hesitate before answering. “With my life.”

Becks sucks in a lungful of air and then slowly lets it out. “Okay. Then let’s come up with a game plan.”

We spend the next two hours going back and forth, brainstorming what might be in store for us during the last trial. It feels like a waste of time though. Besides the fact that it will center around magic and be dangerous, there’s no telling what the game master will throw at us.

“Should we bring any of the other competitors into this alliance?” Titus asks, and I’m surprised none of us have thought to bring this up sooner.

Talon shakes his head. “No. I don’t trust them.”

“Do you even know them?” I ask. I mean I don’t, but if everyone was on the same page, that would certainly make all of this easier.

Talon rattles off the names of the remaining competitors as well as some random facts about each. I raise my eyebrows. He’s done his homework.

“I don’t want to bring anyone else into this. If I wasn’t backed into a corner, I never even would have brought all of you in.”

“Geez, thanks,” I say.

He shrugs. “It’s just the truth.”

I don’t know how I feel about that. That Talon is only admitting to the truth when he’s forced to. What other secrets is he keeping? My guess is a lot.

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