Page 45 of Kingdom of Chaos
I don’t know what we’re walking into today, but I need my head on straight. If I’m distracted, someone could get hurt. Or worse. I have to shelve the panic clawing at my insides. Becks will have to wait until we’re through that gate. Until then, I need to lock down my heart and stay sharp.
“You all right?”
I open my eyes to find Talon standing in front of me, dressed in a fitted black T-shirt and dark jeans, his hands shoved in his pockets as he studies me. The nightmare vision of him lying on the ground, bleeding from the same wound Kerrim inflicted on Becks, flashes through my mind, but I force it away.
“I’m fine,” I say, standing and slinging my backpack over my shoulder.
I move to pass him, but he shifts subtly, blocking my path. I glance up, eyebrows raised, hoping he’ll take the hint. I don’t have the energy to spar with him right now. But he just folds his arms and meets my eyes with quiet determination.
“You don’t look fine.”
“Thanks,” I say tartly, my defenses going up.
Talon’s gaze softens. “That wasn’t meant as an insult. You just seem off. Upset, maybe. Or spooked. I don’t know. You’re hard to read.”
I raise an eyebrow. “Me? Hard to read?”
He lets out a short laugh. “Yeah. A total enigma. Is it the gate? Are you worried we won’t find it?”
I shake my head. “No. I mean, maybe a little. But that’s not it. I just had a rough night.”
He nods like he gets it, even though I haven’t offered any explanation. “He’s going to be okay,” he says quietly, knowing without me having to say that I’m upset about Becks.
Up until now Talon has always been in thehe probably didn’t make itcamp, so hearing him say that is unexpected.
“I didn’t think you actually believed Becks was still alive.” I get a pang in my chest just suggesting it.
Talon looks away, exhaling a long breath. When his gaze finds mine again, it’s shadowed with something unreadable. Not quite sadness, but close. “Your princeling’s strong. If anyonecould survive that, it’s him. And he has you waiting for him. That kind of hope . . . it matters.”
He lifts a hand like he’s going to touch my cheek, and for a second my heart skitters, but he stops short and lets it drop. “What better motivation is there than that?”
I shake my head, throat tightening. “No. He thinks I betrayed him. That I chose you over him. He probably hates me.”
A faint smile tugs at Talon’s mouth, but there’s no light in it. “Becks could never hate you. Yeah, he was shocked when he saw us together. I won’t deny that. But the way he broke through that shield to get to you during the last trial? He knew. Deep down, he had to know you still cared.”
I start to protest, but Talon gently cuts me off. “Trust me. He knows.”
My eyes sting, tears welling despite every effort to hold them back. “Do you really think so?” I whisper, his words a balm on a wound I’ve been trying to ignore.
Talon nods. “I do.”
A single tear slips free, sliding down my cheek. Talon shifts closer and catches it with the pad of his thumb, gently wiping it away.
“I’m sorry you’re hurting,” he murmurs. “I’d do anything to take that pain from you.”
When I look into his eyes, my breath catches. I see the truth in his gaze. His eyes are telling me that if he could take away my sorrow, he would move heaven and hell to do so.
I don’t know how to feel about that. Or maybe I do, but I’m too afraid to admit it.
“Talon,” I breathe, barely aware of the word leaving my lips.
I take a small, uncertain step forward, drawn to him by some invisible thread. For one reckless second I just want to let go, to sink into him, let his arms be the place where I can finallycollapse, just for a moment, just so I don’t have to carry it all alone.
He reads me instantly.
His hands find my arms and gently guide me the rest of the way. I don’t resist. I press into him, and his arms encircle me as if they were always meant to. He doesn’t speak right away, just draws me in and rests his chin lightly against the top of my head. One hand strokes up and down my back. Soothing, steady.
Softly, he whispers into my hair, “It’s going to be all right. You don’t have to do this alone.”
