Page 20 of Creatures of Chaos

Becks stiffens up again. “They won’t be any help,” is all he says, and I get the impression I shouldn’t push for why.

“Okay. Well, you have me and Ens. We can both search for anything about council rules that might help.” Even as I say it I know it’s a hollow offer. The House of Dragon is notoriously private. Becks is open with me about most things, but never that.

“Please don’t say anything to Ens,” he asks. “She doesn’t know yet.”

That surprises me. As close as Becks and I are, Ensley is his sister. But I agree, not wanting to upset him any further.

Becks looks relieved and changes the subject, trying to lighten the mood and pretend he’s fine, but there’s tension in his shoulders and splashed across his face. There has to be a way to get my friend out of this situation. I may not be privy to the inner working of their council, but that doesn’t mean I’ll give up.

Thoughts of Becksand his situation swirl in my mind, distracting me from anything else, and so my workout that afternoon is sloppy at best. I almost sprain my ankle sparring with one of the other teachers when I lose my footing. Then I forget to put the clip on the barbell, and when I start lifting, a fifty-pound weight drops off the end of the bar in the middle of my bench press, narrowly missing the foot of a burly wolverine shifter as he passes by. He chews me out for a solid three minutes before moving on. Sweaty and defeated, I give up after that and grab a quick shower in the locker room.

The rest of the week doesn’t go much better. I hardly see Becks—he doesn’t sit with Ensley and me during lunch—and the few times I catch him between classes or after school he seemed distracted or in a rush. After the first few days I can’t help thinking he’s avoiding me, regretful that I know about his impending life-mating. On that note, Ensley notices I’m off as well and repeatedly asks me what’s wrong, but I wave off her concerns the best I can, not feeling like it’s my place to tell her Becks’ secret when he specifically asked me not to.

I don’t have any further one-on-one interactions with Talon the rest of the week either, which I’m not sad about. But even though we never speak, I do catch him staring at me a couple of times from across the courtyard or in the hall as we pass one another. More often than not, the expression on his face is the same, like I’m a puzzle he can’t quite solve. But whenever he catches me staring back he throws on a lazy smile or gives me a suggestive wink that makes my face heat, so I look away.

“So, I had an idea,” Ensley says, wrenching me out of my own thoughts as we head to the parking lot so she can give me a ride home.

“What’s your idea?” I ask, managing to sound way more interested than I actually am.

“Before I tell you, you have to say yes.”

“Yeah, that’s not how it works,” I say on a laugh.

“It does this time.” The grin on her face is slightly maniacal. The creepy smile along with the multicolored streaks in her hair today makes her look a touch like a deranged clown.

I shoot her a side-eye look.

“Just promise. Please,” she says, drawing out the last word. There’s a wild glint in her eyes that tells me she’s up to something.

“I promise that I’ll seriously consider whatever you are about to say before immediately saying ‘no.’” That’s as much as I’m willing to budge. I’ve known Ensley long enough to know she has a knack for getting me in trouble.

She juts out her lower lip and tips her head down in an impression of a puppy dog pout. “Come on, Locklyn. When was the last time I steered you wrong?”

I snort. “Do you really want me to answer that?” I say, thinking of how just last month she convinced me to skip third period with her to buy the newest version of her phone before they sold out,promisingme we wouldn’t get caught. Technically, she was right.Shedidn’t get caught.Idid. Dean Faust saw me rushing across campus in the middle of a period when I was trying to sneak back. I got a lecture, a call to my parents, and two weeks of weekend detention where they made me scrub the toilets in the boys’ bathroom. I still shudder just thinking about what was crusted on that porcelain.

“At least admit your life would be boring without me.”

“That, I can agree with.” If nothing else, Ensley does keep things exciting.

“Fine,” she says on a huff, realizing she’s not going to get me to blindly agree with whatever scheme she’s cooking up. “But at least hear me out.”

“I said I would.”Oh boy, this is going to be good.

We stop in front of Ensley’s shiny silver sports car and I turn to face her, letting her know she has my attention.

“We should go to the Chaos party this?—”

“Nope,” I say, my head shaking before she can get the rest of the sentence out, let alone plead her case.

“Locklyn,” Ensley whines, “you promised you’d hear me out.”

I fold my arms over my chest, giving her the stink eye.

Chaos is all anyone at Nightlark Academy seems to be able to talk about. I don’t for a second think it’s real, let alone starting this weekend, but the school is divided. Half the students believe Chaos is actually happening, and the other half don’t but are still excited for the kickoff party taking place on Saturday. Either way, whatever is going to go down this weekend is sure to be epic, and I want no part of it. I’ve never been to a real rager before and have less than zero interest in breaking that longstanding tradition.

“We weren’t invited,” I say, hoping to throw her off, but she just rolls her eyes.

“Lock, everyone was invited. That’s what an open invite means.”

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