Page 13 of Creatures of Chaos

“What happened to them?”

“She died in his arms and the Vampire King, realizing what he’d done, was filled with remorse and dread. He vanished into the Harshlands, never to be seen or heard from again. Or that’s how the story goes.”

I stare at Talon with my mouth hanging open. That is the worst ending to a story I’ve ever heard.

“But . . . ” Talon says, and I hang on his next words, waiting for more of the tale because I don’t want to believe it ended that tragically. I was, after all, a closet romantic. Before my eyes hismannerisms change from intense to blasé, and he says with a shrug: “If you don’t believe the legends, then it’s just a really old and cool dagger worth a good deal of coin. Would make a wicked gift for my father’s birthday. He’s somewhat of a collector of Ancient artifacts.”

Wow, what a letdown.

I deflate, only realizing now that I’m leaned halfway over the counter and into Talon’s space. Clearing my throat, I shift back. “Do you have any idea what the dagger is supposed to look like?”

“It’s a black flamed-bladed dagger that’s said to be made of damasked steel, so the metal will have a wavy pattern on it. It won’t be more than a foot in length, with an etched black onyx hilt.”

“Damasked steel? Hmm. You don’t see that every day,” I muse.

“It’s truly one of a kind.” Reaching into his pocket, he pulls out a folded piece of paper and hands it to me. It’s a rough sketch of a dagger, exactly how he described it.

“What are the etchings on the hilt?” I squint to see them, but the sketch isn’t detailed enough to make out any words.

The side of Talon’s mouth kicks up. “I could tell you, but then I’d have to kill you.”

I roll my eyes and hand the paper back to him. “I can tell you we don’t have anything like that in the store. But let me check our inventory.”

Reaching under the counter, I pull out the store laptop, booting it up quickly and opening the inventory software. We own a small warehouse where we store items if there’s not enough space in the shop, or while we’re waiting to get pieces appraised or cleaned before sale. My parents catalog every item they bring in, so if we have it, or had it in the past, it will be in the database.

I try looking for “Shadow Striker” first, and unsurprisingly it doesn’t come up. I look through our weapons categories next, searching for an item that matches the description Talon gave me. This is a little more tedious because I have to pull up pictures one by one. Talon waits on the other side of the counter while I hunt for the artifact, silent but tapping his finger anxiously against the wood.

While I search through the weapons, my mind starts to wander. What high school senior tracks down Ancient artifacts in his spare time? I’ve never once had a classmate push through the doors to our shop, excluding Becks and Ensley if they were looking for me.

Talon is shaping up to be an enigma, one that I have the wild suspicion has unfathomable depths. I have this weird compulsion to scratch beneath the surface to see what he’s hiding, but that impulse scares and confuses me. I’ve only just met the guy. And sure, he’s the only person around my age besides Becks and Ensley who’s made it through a whole conversation without ridiculing me, but my interest in him is still unnerving.

I’m acutely aware of Talon’s gaze as my fingers fly over the keyboard. I think he’s using the time to study me, but I refuse to glance up and check. After I’ve spent a good ten minutes searching for Shadow Striker, I finally look up.

“I’m sorry, but we don’t have anything like that in our inventory.”

Talon’s face falls and his shoulders hunch, giving me an idea of how badly he was hoping we’d have the artifact.

He forces a smile. “Okay. Thanks for checking.”

I feel compelled to offer him something, even if it’s a longshot. “I can ask my parents about it. They might have seen it before or know someone who has.” The look on his face has me instantly nervous that I’m giving him false hope. “But keep inmind an artifact like this, assuming it’s a real object and not just an allegorical object in an old myth, would be difficult to find,” I say, backtracking quickly. “It could be literally anywhere. The chances of you finding it somewhere in Everton are probably pretty low.”

His smile is no longer forced, and I’d be lying if I said it didn’t make my cheeks warm.

Blast my fair skin.

“I had a tip it was floating around the area. Any information you manage to dig up would be helpful, but can you be discreet about it?”

“Why?”

He runs a hand through his dark locks and then rubs the back of his neck. “There are a few other interested parties looking for it as well. It’s important I’m the first person to find it.”

Umm, okay. That sounds ominous.

Talon leans forward, his eyes darken and his voice quieting and dropping an octave as if we’d be overheard by someone else when there’s no one in the store but the two of us. “But seriously, any information you get, even if it’s a weak lead or sounds weird, I’d like to know.”

His deliciously spicy scent wraps around me and I have to swallow to wet my suddenly dry throat. This guy really knows how to turn on the charm. Maybe I should tell him to tone it down a bit. He’s wasting his efforts on me.

“What’s your number?”

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