Page 30 of Kingdom of Chaos
“You’ll have one hour to collect your personal belongings and vacate the compound. After that, you are never to set foot on Grimspire grounds again.”
“Understood,” he says, turning away from his mother and heading toward the exit. He doesn’t even look at me, and my heart breaks for him.
As he passes, I reach out and catch his hand. He pauses and glances down at me.
“Talon, I’m so sorry.” There may not be tears in his eyes, but there are in mine. “I didn’t know. I didn’t realize,” I stammer.
What comfort can I offer him right now? I probably can’t even grasp the full weight of what he’s just sacrificed to help us. To help Becks.
But, really, to help me.
He gently pulls his hand from my grasp. “Let’s go find your shifter,” he says, then strides from the room without another word.
Ten
Talon’s expressionis locked down as he eyes Ensley’s small sportscar. He looks almost bored, but I’m positive that’s not what he’s feeling right now. I don’t know if he even said goodbye to his mother or the two mystery men who arrived with her.
Bending over, he checks out the back seat. When he sees how small it is, he frowns. I don’t blame him. Even though I’m petite, it’s going to be a tight squeeze for whoever sits back there with me. Talon and Titus are both over six feet tall; even Ensley is tall for a female. We’ll just have to deal with it and hope the gate Talon takes us to isn’t far away.
He grabs the handle and yanks the door open. After pushing the button to slide the front seat forward, he hunches like he’s about to crawl in the back and take one for the team when the roar of an engine and the crunch of tires spitting up gravel makes us all turn.
A hulking machine that’s part SUV and part military transport barrels around the corner toward us. I stumble back to get out of its path as it skids to a stop beside Ensley’s cherryred sportscar, making it look like a toy someone left out on the battlefield right before the tanks rolled in.
The tinted window rolls down to reveal Imogen in the driver’s seat. “Get in,” she orders, looking straight at Talon. “Your mom hasn’t realized you’re about to leave yet, and if you don’t get out of here now, she’s going to put that magical gag on you.”
Talon’s face darkens as he locks eyes with his cousin. I can tell he hasn’t forgotten or forgiven her for trying to compel me.
Good, because I haven’t either.
“Go put the Valkyrie away,” he tells her. “You know you can’t come with us. The Society would have your hide.”
I agree Imogen can’t come, but not for the same reasons as Talon. I couldn’t care less if she gets in trouble with his mom or the Arcane Society. Honestly, after what she pulled back there, it’d be a little poetic justice. The truth is, I don’t trust her. I don’t want her with us. I’ll be glad to leave her behind.
“It’s a half-day’s drive to the closest gate, but you know you can’t go there because Aunt Jade will have members guarding it now that she knows what you’re up to.” Her accusatory gaze slides toward Ensley, who blurted out that part of our plan.
Ensley lifts her chin, daring Imogen to call her out, but even so I see a flash of guilt cross her eyes. It’s not her fault. How were we supposed to know not to let Talon’s mom know that we knew about the gates and were planning on going through one?
“If you want a chance of getting through a gate, you’re going to have to go for one of the hidden ones. And the closest one is a heck of a lot farther than a half-day’s journey.”
Uncertainty creeps onto Talon’s face. “We’ll just have to fight our way through.”
“You’re kidding yourself if you think you’ll be able to get through trained Society members.”
“I’ve done it before.”
Imogen’s gaze softens, and the way she looks at Talon now almost borders on pity.
“Yes. But that was before,” she says pointedly. “Things are different now.”
Talon’s jaw tenses as he clamps his lips shut, the muscle ticcing beneath his cheekbone.
Stepping forward, I address Talon. “I’d rather take my chances against other Society members than trust her.”
Talon gives a single nod, backing me up, and some of the tightness in my chest eases.
“Let’s go,” Talon says, and then hunching again starts to fold himself into Ensley’s back seat. He only gets one foot into the car before someone shouts his name from the direction of the compound.
Twisting, I see his mother walking briskly toward us. She has something clenched in her hand. It looks like a bottle or large vial. “Wait!”
