Page 92 of Creatures of Chaos

We made it.

Next to me, Talon jerks and twitches, his face skewed into a mirror of horror. We may have made it in time, but Talon is still in the midst of his trial, and I don’t know what to do for him now.

Dropping to his knees next to us, Titus puts his hands on either side of Talon’s face. His palms start to glow like Ensley’s do when she’s glamouring me.

“What are you doing?”

“Healing him from the shade ivy,” he says, his face strained with concentration.

“Healing him? You could have done that at any time?”

“It would hardly have made sense for me to aid my biggest competition,” he says with his gaze still on Talon.

I gape at him. He has a point, but still.

“There,” Titus says, and sits back on his heels.

Talon has stopped moving and his face is lax. The next moment he groans and then opens his eyes, his gaze fully alert. He pops to his feet so quickly I scramble out of his way before pushing to my feet as well.

“What happened?” he demands, his head on a swivel as he takes Titus and me in, and then the rest of his surroundings.

“Despite being in a shade ivy fog, you just made it through the fourth trial,” Titus says. And then adds as he tips his head in my direction: “Thanks to her.”

Talon’s stormy gaze lasers in on me. “How?”

“I dragged you across the finish line.”

His nostrils flare and I can tell he realizes that means I’m still in Chaos as well. A muscle jumps in his jaw as he tries to rein in his emotions, but after a pause he finally grits out, “Thank you.”

“Any time. Except let’s not make that a habit, okay. You’re really heavy.”

Talon huffs out a half-laugh and shakes his head before tipping it skyward. “What am I going to do with you?” he groans.

“What happened back there? Why did the door shut behind me? And where is Kiaro?” Titus asks, looking out into the garden.

At the mention of the snake shifter, Talon’s face goes dark. He must remember at least a little of what happened.

“He moved the mirror on purpose to trap us inside. He went after Talon . . . and then me.”

I don’t have to be looking at him to feel the tension rolling off Talon.

Titus’ gaze goes to Talon. I’m sure he notices the dried blood and bruises on his face even though they’re already starting to fade.

“So you guys took him out.” He shakes his head. “I’d like to say I’m surprised to hear that happened, but I’m not. What an idiot to go up against the both of you. You’re a formidable team.”

“Oh no, we’re not a team,” I quickly say, but Talon remains silent.

Titus arches an eyebrow. “Could have fooled me.”

Damon, the vampire who first walked into the black room, walks up to us. One of his eyes is completely white, probably blinded by that mist, and he’s cradling his arm. The only other two competitors, Chase, a muscled dragon shifter, and Vivian, a redheaded fae, stand a little ways behind him. “Do you think we can take off now? I gotta get this checked out.”

I look to the west and the sun hangs just above the horizon line. “The game master said the trial is done at sunrise, so I don’t see why not,” I say.

As a group we leave the gazebo and make our way through the gardens toward the front of the asylum. The building looks no less creepy in the morning light than it did under the moonlight. The plants crawling up the sides still look like they are trying to eat the structure, and in the better lighting I can see the cracks running like veins through the stucco and stacked stones. I shudder. It’s a miracle the walls didn’t cave in around us while we were in there.

“We have to talk,” Talon says as we’re rounding the corner of the building.

“About?”

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