Page 38 of Creatures of Chaos

When Becks hurts, I hurt too.

“Please pull out of the competition,” he says, surprising me with the abrupt change in subject.

“What?”

“I can’t protect you in Chaos,” he says, his head dropping forward.

Reaching out, I lay a hand on Becks’ shoulder, and he tilts his head to look at me. There’s rawness in his gaze.

“I need to learn to live without your protection,” I say.

I’d be lying if I said dropping out hadn’t crossed my mind more than once since the trial. Becks is right about Chaos being dangerous, but the lure of Shadow Striker and all it can potentially give me are too strong to ignore, so I shake my head.

“Why do you have to do this?” he asks, his gaze penetrating, and I almost say, “For us.”

“I’ve already told you. You just don’t like my answer.”

“You don’t need to prove that you’re capable of defending yourself.”

“If that were true, you wouldn’t be so worried about me.”

Becks shoves away from the ledge, pacing away from me and then back again. “The thought of watching you in those trials makes me feel like I’m going crazy,” he confesses, plowing his hands in his hair.

I hate that I’m causing him this stress, but I believe it might all be worth it in the end.

“All right. Then don’t,” I say, a heaviness settling in my chest. It will be hard to face the trials without Becks there, but maybe it’s for the best. “You don’t have to watch. You should skip them.”

He stops pacing and stares at me, utter defeat scrolling over his face. “I could never leave you to face them alone. No matter what, Locklyn, I’ll always be there for you. To the depths of hell or the heights of the heavens. It’s you and me against the world. Always.”

Oh, my poor little heart. If I wasn’t already full-on crushing on Becks, that statement would have pushed me over the edge.

“Becks,” I whisper, stepping toward him, and then I’m in his arms. This isn’t a passion-charged embrace like the one in the cavern. This is an embrace of comfort.

“I’m going to be okay,” I say into his chest, and only notice a little how wonderful he smells and feels.

Becks’ arms tighten around me, but I don’t mind the extra pressure.

“I hope so,” he says, and a small shudder runs through his body.

“Are we going to be okay?” I ask, my voice small.

Becks heaves a sigh. “Yes, of course.”

I start to wiggle out of Becks’ arms because the platonic feelings of comfort are starting to morph into something decidedly not platonic, and he lets me go.

“I’m sorry I was so cold after the trial. You just really scared me. You in Chaos on top of everything else going on right now is just messing with my head.”

“I understand.” And I really do. If I were in his shoes, it would kill me to see him in danger as well.

“Come on,” he says, throwing an arm over my shoulder and tugging me back toward the stairs. “We’ve got to get you to class so you don’t flunk out and are forced into summer school.”

“Summer school?” I give an exaggerated shudder. “Never. Who really needs a high school diploma?”

Becks chuckles. “Don’t worry. I won’t let anything bad like that happen to you.”

I smile up at him because I truly believe him.

With Becksand Shadow Striker still on my mind, my feet take me to the Emporium. I’m no longer looking for confirmation that Shadow Striker is real, I know that it is, but what I want to know are details on how to harness the dagger’s magic. I don’t want to end up like the Vampire King, going mad from corrupted powers. I also want to know if Shadow Striker steals the powers, leaving creatures magicless, or just copies their gifts somehow and then gives them to its wielder. As much as I crave magic, I don’t think I could ever purposefully steal someone else’s abilities in order to gain them. Talon seemed unsure of that part of the legend and I’m hoping to uncover a few more details. I don’t want to risk my life to get Shadow Striker only to find out that I can never actually use it.

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