Page 52 of Kingdom of Chaos
“The swamplands,” I answer.
He and the girl exchange a look.
“You mean the Everglades?” the purple-haired girl asks. When I just stare at her blankly, she adds, “In Florida.”
“Flur-e-da,” I say, testing the word in my mouth.
Never heard of it. That’s a good sign though.
“Are you human?” I tentatively ask, my hopes rising.
The girl’s eyes widen. “I knew it.” She’s practically vibrating with excitement. “See, Noah?” she says to the shaggy-haired guy. “I told you.”
With effort, I push to my feet and take a wobbly step forward. Noah hastily backs away, like he’s afraid to get too close. When the purple-haired girl doesn’t move, he grabs her arm and pulls her back with him.
“Is Central Park close?” I ask, taking another step forward.
Alarm flashes across Noah’s face. He reaches behind him and pulls out some kind of device, pointing it directly at me. I’ve never seen anything like it. It’s shaped like an L; he grips the short end while the longer end is aimed at me. The longer piece looks hollow, and something about the way he holds it, tense, steady, screams weapon. I instinctively take a step back.
Then he pulls on a part near the top. It jerks back with a sharp metallic click, then snaps forward again.
“If you want to leave this swamp with all your appendages still attached, you’ll put that down.” Talon’s voice is icy, and when I glance over my shoulder he’s standing right behind me.
I give him a once-over, making sure he’s unharmed. As far as I can tell, he is, and relief makes my muscles a little weak.
Off to the side, Imogen shoves to her feet with a scowl, and Titus and Ensley are slowly waking as well.
Noah’s nervous gaze swivels from one of us to the other, but he keeps the weapon pointed at me.
“You don’t want to push me right now,” Talon says. “It’s been a crap day and my patience is worn pretty thin.” Suddenly, the air chills several degrees as Talon flexes some of his power.
Noah’s and the girl’s mouths drop open and twin puffs of white condensation float in the air in front of them. The purple-haired girl recovers the fastest, pushing down Noah’s arm so he isn’t aiming the weapon at us anymore. She raises her hands, palms out, in a universal gesture of peace.
“Let’s all just bring it down a notch,” she says, but the temperature doesn’t warm. “I’m Violet,” she says, and then points to Noah and introduces us to him as well.
The difference between the pair couldn’t be clearer. Violet looks like she’s trying to hold back a million questions, whereas Noah looks downright spooked. Especially when Ensley and Titus lumber to their feet to join us, making it five to two.
“That was trippy,” Ensley says as she comes to stand next to me, rubbing her eyes. Titus isn’t far behind her, but his teal gaze scans the area cautiously.
From a quick look around, it doesn’t seem like we traveled to a new world. The sun has almost set, so there’s not as much natural light, but it looks like we’re all on the same round patch of grass. There’s a swampy lake around us, and marshlands beyond that. But, thankfully, no murder-bunny in sight.
Aside from Noah’s strange weapon and the name of this unfamiliar place, everything else feels normal. But if we want answers, they’re the only ones who can give them, and it’s obvious they need a little time to warm up to us.
“I’m Locklyn,” I say, then introduce the others one by one.
Imogen and Talon both glare as I say their names, but Talon at least reins in his magic, letting the air thaw a few degrees. Ensley and Titus make an effort to appear open, even friendly.
Violet’s gaze skims over the group, then snags on Titus. She inhales sharply when she sees his pointed ears. I’m guessing humans all have rounded ones like mine. His could be a problem. Ensley’s are smaller and hidden by her hair, but she might be able to use glamour to hide them and Titus’ as well once we get out of this swamp.
“You mentioned a gate,” I prod, trying to prompt Violet to talk.
She takes a deep breath and glances over at Noah. His lips are smashed into a straight line, but he gives her a curt nod.
“You’re not from around here, are you?” she asks, and Talon snorts a laugh.
“If you mean Florida, then no,” I answer for all of us.
“That’s not what I meant.” Excitement sparks in Violet’s eyes, but I get the impression she’s trying to contain it. She takes a step closer to us. Noah tries to pull her back again, but she swats him away. “You’re from there, aren’t you? The other world.”
