Page 72 of Kingdom of Chaos
He turns to me, his features softening. “Are you all right?”
“Yeah. Is he . . . ?”
“Just knocked out. He’ll probably be out for a while, but we should get going in case someone finds him.”
“Right.”
Talon crouches down and checks the male’s jacket pockets. I curl my lip in disgust, a little disappointed he took him out so quickly. I wouldn’t have minded landing a punch myself.
Hitting him now, while he’s unconscious, would be wrong. Though the thought definitely crosses my mind before I push it aside.
Talon pulls a set of keys from the human’s pocket, then straightens and locks the door behind us as we leave, making sure no one accidentally stumbles across him before he wakes.
“Come on,” he says, and then takes my hand to guide me down the hallway toward the dining room.
We spot the others right away. It looks like they’re finishing their meal, with a couple of to-go boxes already stacked on the table. I immediately notice that both Ensley and Titus have rounded ears now, like the humans around us, and assume she glamoured them to blend in.
Smart.
As we approach, Ensley’s gaze drops to Talon’s and my clasped hands. She frowns, then lifts her eyes to mine, a silent question clearly written across her face.
As discreetly as possible, I tug from his grasp.
“Where have you two been?” Imogen asks with a smirk and quirked eyebrow.
“I needed to re-dress my wound and then we ran into a little bit of trouble,” Talon says. “We should get out of here.”
The smile slips off Imogen’s mouth. Titus and Ensley trade concerned looks.
“Need help with anything?” Titus asks.
Talon shakes his head. “Nope. I took care of it.”
Titus gives a curt nod and then slides out of the booth. Imogen and Ensley follow his lead.
Grabbing the to-go boxes, Ensley hands them to me. “Got you a double cheeseburger, fries, onion rings, and a salad.” She glances at Talon. “Imogen said she didn’t know what you like, but it’s a lot of food, so you guys can share.”
Talon waves her off. “I’m good. Locklyn can have it.”
“I don’t mind,” I say, but Talon just says he’s not hungry. I can’t tell if he’s lying or not.
We start to leave and then a thought occurs to me. “Wait, how are we paying?” I ask in a lowered voice. We don’t have any human currency. At least as far as I know.
“I’ve got that covered,” Imogen says with a wink.
“How—?” I then realize what she means. She used compulsion to make the waiter think we’ve paid.
I don’t feel good about it, but this whole situation is extenuating circumstances.
“We should switch rides,” Talon says, his gaze fixed on a large SUV that’s pulling into a parking spot as we exit the restaurant. “Think you can help out with that as well?”
Imogen grins. “I thought you’d never ask.”
Twenty
Fifteen minutes later,we’re back on the road in a black SUV, with Talon trailing behind us on the biker’s motorcycle he found parked behind the restaurant. It’s larger and clunkier than his usual chrome one, but he still looked completely at home as he swung his leg over the seat.
There was an extra helmet strapped to the bike, and when he caught me eyeing it, he asked if I wanted to ride with him. I turned him down quickly.
