Page 71 of Kingdom of Chaos
Suddenly, small flames burst to life on the tips of each of my fingers. With a yelp, I jump back, waving my hand to try to put myself out.
“I’m on fire!” I yell as I continue to flap my hand up and down.
Spinning, Talon turns on the faucet and grabs my hand, shoving it under the water and putting out the fire.
I look over at him with wide and scared eyes.
“It’s okay,” he says. “It’s just another one of my former powers. We can work on your control of that one too.”
“It’sokay? Talon, I just spontaneously caught on fire.” I glance down at his chest and see five angry burn marks, one for each finger, and I gasp. “And I burned you.”
“That’s okay too. I’ll heal fast.”
I give him a look, then drop my gaze to the scars on his ribs that still aren’t fully healed.
“That’s just because of the Komodo dragon venom, remember?”
I nod, but my throat clogs with emotion.
I just hurt him. How could I have done that? And what if I accidentally do it again?
Seeing my eyes start to shine, Talon tries to reassure me again that he’s okay and everything is all right, but how could it be? These sudden powers on top of everything else are just too much.
I do my best to rein in my emotions. This isn’t the time to fall apart. I can deal with this new magic once we find Becks and bring him home.
Becks.
A wave of guilt slams into me.
I love Becks. I want to be with Becks. Yet I just allowed myself to fall into Talon’s arms and almost crossed a line I don’t know I could have come back from.
Whatever this thing is that keeps almost happening with Talon, it needs to end. Now.
“The others are probably wondering where we are,” I say in a small voice, looking anywhere but at him.
Talon tries to catch my eye, but I keep my gaze lowered.
He sighs. “Yeah, let’s get some food.”
I grab his bag as he unlocks and opens the door. As we’re headed out, he slides his shirt over his head and almost runs straight into a large male in his thirties dressed in biker gear.
Puffing up his chest, the male gives Talon a once-over, a touch of malice in his eyes, before he shifts to the side to let him pass.
Talon shakes his head and scoffs as he passes.
I start to follow behind him when the male steps in my path, blocking me.
His gaze rakes over me in a way that makes me feel gross and somehow violated, before he says, “Hey, honey, since you’re finished with him, I’ll take the next ride.”
It takes a beat for me to realize what he’s saying, and by the time I do Talon has already grabbed him by the back of the neck and thrown him against the opposite wall hard enough to crack the drywall.
“Hey, what do you think—?” the guy starts right before Talon’s fist smashes into his nose.
The crunch of a broken nose is unmistakable. Blood gushes from his nostrils, and he howls in pain and rage before dropping a shoulder and rushing Talon.
I know that move, and I’m shouting a warning at Talon when, lightning-fast, Talon shifts to the side and hammers his fist into the male’s temple, putting him down.
It all happened so fast, I’m still standing in the restroom door when Talon reaches under the unconscious human’s armpits and hefts him up. I scramble out of the way as Talon drags the human into the bathroom and drops him on the floor with a look of disgust on his face.
