Page 126 of Kingdom of Chaos
Instead, I’m doing neither, just lying here, wasting time I don’t have.
Maybe a glass of water will help?
Who am I kidding? I don’t think anything short of a partial lobotomy is going to help me fall asleep tonight, but I suppose I can still give the water a shot.
With a huff, I throw the covers off and stand. I’m padding my way to the bathroom when I notice a low glow coming from the guys’ room.
Is Talon still awake? Maybe Titus is back.
I walk over to the connecting door and knock softly. No answer.
I should probably leave it at that, but I’m more awake than I should be, and definitely too curious, so I crack the door and peek inside. The room is dark except for the bathroom, where soft light spills out from the open doorway.
I’m about to close the door and resume my mission for water when something clatters onto the tile, followed by a sharp curse.
Talon.
I’m through the door and moving toward the bathroom before I can think better of it. When I reach the open doorway, I freeze, my brain momentarily glitching.
Talon stands there in low-slung joggers, twisting awkwardly to reach his lower back.
So. Much. Bronze. Skin.
So many muscles. So many ripples.
Am I drooling? I might be drooling.
I’ve seen Talon shirtless before, more than once, but now that I know how he tastes, my body reacts like someone turned the volume all the way up.
I should say something. Announce myself. Instead, I swipe beneath my mouth in case I actually am drooling, mildly impressed to find I’m not.
Talon sighs in frustration and straightens. Catching my reflection in the mirror, he turns, and that’s when I see it.
The gashes across his ribs. The bullet wound on his side.
Still not fully healed.
I couldn’t tell before, the way he was angled, but now it’s obvious. He was trying to rewrap his wounds.
Seeing them clears the fog from my head, snapping everything into focus.
“Why aren’t those healed yet?” I ask, my voice sharper than I mean it to be.
I think of how fast Titus recovered, his eye already improving just an hour after the fight. Talon’s a matured creature. Wounds like those should be faint scars by now, if anything. It’s almost as if he’s healing at the rate a child would before coming into their magic. Or a human.
Taking a step forward, I take a better look at his wounds. Thankfully, they’re not life-threatening. But they’re still raw. Too raw.
“You’re supposed to be asleep,” Talon says, rubbing the back of his neck, clearly uncomfortable.
“Right, like I could sleep at a time like this,” I shoot back. “I’d need an elephant tranquilizer just to take the edge off. But don’t change the subject.” I gesture at his ribs and lower abdomen. “What’s going on here?”
Talon exhales slowly. “It’s not a big deal.”
“The Komodo dragon bite, maybe I’d buy. But the bullet wound . . .” I cross my arms. He’s lying, or at the very least, dodging, and I want to know why.
Talon meets my gaze for a long beat, then finally speaks.
“I didn’t want to worry you.” He leans back against the counter, bracing his hands on either side and making his biceps bulge in a way that is more distracting than I’m willing to admit.
