Page 85 of Kingdom of Chaos
I have no idea what he’s talking about, so I don’t say anything.
He leans forward, his arm muscles bulging. “Are you sure this is the way you want to play it?” he asks. “This is me asking nicely, but I can guarantee you’re not going to like it when my patience runs out.”
“We’re not telling you—” Talon begins, but I cut him off. “Where’s Becks?”
The male’s gaze flicks to me, his eyebrows lifting in surprise.
Sinclaire? Murphy? Someone new? It’s clear there’s more going on in this world than we understand. But we’re not part of any of it.
Talon lets out a low groan, and I know that if his hands were free, he’d be dragging one down his face in frustration. But I’m not in the mood for games.
“We know you have our friend somewhere,” I accuse. “We saw him on your monitor. We just want him back and then we’ll be on our way. You’ll never have to see us again.”
“You’re here for the dragon shifter?” he asks, his gaze assessing.
I nod. “Yes. He’s my, um, friend,” I say, stumbling over the words. “He’s important to us.”
The male stands and circles the chair, then crouches in front of me. The tension in the room spikes, climbing from ten to ten thousand. Talon lets out a quiet rumble of warning beside me, but the male doesn’t acknowledge it. Now that he’s closer, I can see I was wrong about his eyes. They aren’t black after all, just an intense, deep shade of brown.
“You need to back up. Now,” Talon warns, his voice low and hard.
The male doesn’t even glance his way. His full attention is locked on me.
“I just need to know one thing,” he says calmly. “Then we can talk about your dragon shifter.” He leans in slightly. “Are you the human who opened the portal to our world?”
“Don’t tell him anything,” Talon snaps.
I nod, hoping I’m not making a huge mistake confessing, and Talon cusses under his breath. I glance at him out of the corner of my eye, and the glare he’s sending the male is nothing short of murderous.
“Well,” the male says, a grin spreading over his face. “That changes things.”
Someone knocks on the door and the male barks for them to enter.
Straightening, he glances over his shoulder as a brown-haired male smaller in both height and body mass opens the door. The newcomer’s green eyes land on me first, then shift to Talon and stay there.
“What is it, Kai?” the dark-skinned male asks, startling the other.
“Right. Sorry, Kade,” he replies quickly.
So now we have a name for our interrogator.Kade.
“You asked to be updated,” Kai continues. “Sam and Ryder were just discharged from the hospital. They’re keeping Pete overnight for observation because of the concussion, but they expect to release him in the morning.”
Kade nods, and Kai shoots a scowl in Talon’s direction.
Talon just stares back, a small smirk playing on his lips, one that clearly gets under Kai’s skin when his jaw tightens and his nostrils flare.
“Do me a favor,” Kade says, turning to Kai. “Go get Ares.”
Kai’s head snaps toward him, eyes wide. “Are you serious?”
Kade lets out a dry, self-deprecating chuckle. “Looks like those Floridians might not be as crazy as we thought. But I want to be sure.”
My stomach drops into my belly and I exchange a wary glance with Talon.
What did the members of the Florida Silent Order tell the humans about us? Nothing good, I imagine.
“You don’t mean . . . ?” Kai gazes at me with wide eyes, looking almost spooked.
