Page 97 of Kingdom of Chaos
When I glance over at him, I lose my train of thought. His hair is tousled from sleep, his cheeks still flushed, and he’s very shirtless, only a few bandages covering his sculpted chest. And those sweats are slung far too low on his hips.
Only Talon could look half asleep and still manage to resemble a character out of a forbidden fantasy. He’s the perfect mix of sweet and sinful, and I can’t seem to tear my eyes away.
Imogen snorts a laugh, snapping me out of it, and I find her smirking knowingly at me.
“You have a little something right there,” she says, miming whipping drool off her face.
I duck my head, warmth blooming across my cheeks as I scramble out of bed and make a quick escape to the bathroom. The only consolation for my flustered state is hearing Talon rip into Imogen as I shut the door behind me.
Imogen is suspiciouslychipper as we make our way back to the Order. Whatever funk she was in yesterday after feeding from Titus seems to have evaporated overnight. Her cheeks are flushed, her eyes sparkling. She looks like someone who had a very good night. The kind of “good” I don’t want any details about.
Not that she’d offer them anyway.
Even after Talon tore into her, all she gave us was a vague, “I was out learning the city.” Which, honestly, is fine by me. What Imogen does in her free time is her business. Still, for Talon’s sake, I’m just relieved she made it back to the hotel in one piece.
“So, this is it?” she asks, eyeing the unmarked three-story building tucked between a pawn shop and a pizza parlorotherwise known as the NYC Order’s headquarters. Her lip curls in clear distaste. “What is it with humans and their obsession with setting up shop in glorified dumpsters? I’ll give it this: it’s a step up from that swamp shack, but still, I’m not impressed.”
“If you knew what real estate prices were like in Downtown Manhattan, you would be,” comes Kade’s deep voice from behind us.
I turn to find him standing there with his arms crossed over his chest. Imogen gives him a slow once-over, then runs her tongue along her bottom lip, looking like she’d love nothing more than to take a bite out of the tall human.
Kade doesn’t miss the look. Rather than appearing nervous or put off by the way Imogen so blatantly checked him out, he simply arches a brow.
“These must be your friends,” he says to Talon and me, holding Imogen’s gaze without flinching.
We had texted him on one of the phones he gave us to let him know they’d be coming with us today.
“Ensley and Titus are,” I say. Imogen breaks eye contact with Kade to glare at me, so I add with a grin, “That’s Imogen, Talon’s cousin. She wasn’t invited but tagged along anyway.”
She sticks her tongue out at me.
Kade greets Ensley and Titus, then acknowledges Talon with a nod. “Let’s go inside and we can talk.”
We push through the front doors, and the moment we cross the threshold an alarm blares. The shrill so piercing I lift my hands to cover my ears.
Ensley and the others cry out in pain, and all of them, even Talon, drop to the ground. Talon manages to stay upright on one knee, but the others are sprawled on their sides.
What’s happening?
I run to Ensley. Tears stream down her face as she clutches her ears, curled into the fetal position. The high-pitched alarm is deafening, but not incapacitating.
Not understanding what’s happening, I lift my head to look for Kade, only to see members of the Order flooding into the entryway. They surround our group, guns raised and pointed at us.
“Stand down!” Kade barks, loud enough to be heard over the alarm. “And someone turn that blasted noise off!”
The humans around us exchange unsure looks.
“But, sir,” a young blond male starts. Kade cuts him off by yelling “Now!” authority booming in his voice.
Reluctantly, the group surrounding us lowers their weapons and backs off. The man Kade snapped at runs to the far wall and slams a button, cutting off the alarm.
My friends get shakily to their feet. Titus immediately checks on Ensley. Talon slowly, but smoothly, gets to his feet, his gaze icy as he stares at Kade with accusation in his eyes.
“Not cool,” Imogen says, brushing imaginary dirt off her pants and glaring at Kade.
I glance at Kade, wanting an explanation to what just happened, when suddenly Titus slams into him, shoving the large male into the wall.
“What was that?” he spits, murder in his eyes. “Locklyn said you wanted to be on our side.”
