Chapter 31

Thirty-One

I don't even bother trying to scale the last two steps that lead to the gazebo platform. Instead I pitch us forward and we land in a heap on the rotting boards. Our bodies have only just connected with the floor when the buzzer goes off, signaling the end of the fourth trial.

We made it .

Next to me, Talon jerks and twitches, his face skewed into a mirror of horror. We may have made it in time, but Talon is still in the midst of his trial, and I don't know what to do for him now.

Dropping to his knees next to us, Titus puts his hands on either side of Talon's face. His palms start to glow like Ensley's do when she's glamouring me.

"What are you doing?"

"Healing him from the shade ivy," he says, his face strained with concentration.

"Healing him? You could have done that at any time?"

"It would hardly have made sense for me to aid my biggest competition," he says with his gaze still on Talon.

I gape at him. He has a point, but still.

"There," Titus says, and sits back on his heels.

Talon has stopped moving and his face is lax. The next moment he groans and then opens his eyes, his gaze fully alert. He pops to his feet so quickly I scramble out of his way before pushing to my feet as well.

"What happened?" he demands, his head on a swivel as he takes Titus and me in, and then the rest of his surroundings.

"Despite being in a shade ivy fog, you just made it through the fourth trial," Titus says. And then adds as he tips his head in my direction: "Thanks to her."

Talon's stormy gaze lasers in on me. "How?"

"I dragged you across the finish line."

His nostrils flare and I can tell he realizes that means I'm still in Chaos as well. A muscle jumps in his jaw as he tries to rein in his emotions, but after a pause he finally grits out, "Thank you."

"Any time. Except let's not make that a habit, okay. You're really heavy."

Talon huffs out a half-laugh and shakes his head before tipping it skyward. "What am I going to do with you?" he groans.

"What happened back there? Why did the door shut behind me? And where is Kiaro?" Titus asks, looking out into the garden.

At the mention of the snake shifter, Talon's face goes dark. He must remember at least a little of what happened.

"He moved the mirror on purpose to trap us inside. He went after Talon . . . and then me."

I don't have to be looking at him to feel the tension rolling off Talon.

Titus' gaze goes to Talon. I'm sure he notices the dried blood and bruises on his face even though they're already starting to fade.

"So you guys took him out." He shakes his head. "I'd like to say I'm surprised to hear that happened, but I'm not. What an idiot to go up against the both of you. You're a formidable team."

"Oh no, we're not a team," I quickly say, but Talon remains silent.

Titus arches an eyebrow. "Could have fooled me."

Damon, the vampire who first walked into the black room, walks up to us. One of his eyes is completely white, probably blinded by that mist, and he's cradling his arm. The only other two competitors, Chase, a muscled dragon shifter, and Vivian, a redheaded fae, stand a little ways behind him. "Do you think we can take off now? I gotta get this checked out."

I look to the west and the sun hangs just above the horizon line. "The game master said the trial is done at sunrise, so I don't see why not," I say.

As a group we leave the gazebo and make our way through the gardens toward the front of the asylum. The building looks no less creepy in the morning light than it did under the moonlight. The plants crawling up the sides still look like they are trying to eat the structure, and in the better lighting I can see the cracks running like veins through the stucco and stacked stones. I shudder. It's a miracle the walls didn't cave in around us while we were in there.

"We have to talk," Talon says as we're rounding the corner of the building.

"About?"

"About what to do now that you're still in the competition. This complicates things."

I sigh. "I'm not going to apologize. If it wasn't?—"

"I know," he says, cutting me off. "I'm more grateful for what you did than you'll probably ever realize. But we've created a situation that has to be dealt with."

I hear my name being yelled, and when I look over Becks is running toward me. He scoops me up in his arms the instant he reaches me, crushing me to his chest, and I freeze. It's the most public affection he's shown me since we confessed our feelings for each other, and it's not that I don't like it, it's just that I'm not used to it.

"Thank the Creator you're okay," he says. Leaning over, he buries his face in my neck as a shudder runs through him.

"It's okay. I'm all right," I say, trying to soothe him.

"You don't understand," he says, finally pulling back so I can look him in the eyes. "They found one of the other competitors an hour ago on the side of the road, beaten almost beyond recognition. She's in the hospital now and they aren't sure she's going to make it."

Sabine .

"I knew you didn't have a phone or a computer, a way to call me for a ride. I thought . . ."

I know what he thought. He thought I hadn't made it either and I'd ended up like Sabine.

I shake my head, an image of myself lying broken and bloodied on the ground rising up in my mind's eye. I wasn't Sabine, but I almost was. "No. I made it here all right."

"How did you get here?" he asks, and my gaze tracks over his shoulder to Talon, who's waiting off to the side with his hands shoved in his pockets.

Becks twists to see what I'm looking at and then he tenses. A growl rumbles up in his chest.

"Talon knew I didn't have my phone too, so he swung by to get me. If it wasn't for him I'd be in a hospital bed next to Sabine right now, or worse."

He sucks in a deep breath then lets it out slowly. The fight drains out of him as he realizes the truth, that if Talon hadn't come to get me I could be dead right now. His arms slide away from me, and as he turns to walk toward Talon he grabs my hand and pulls me with him.

Becks' hand wrapped around my own causes warmth to bubble up in my chest. The other competitors and handful of friends who showed up have almost completely cleared out, so there aren't many others around, but holding Becks' hand in public still makes a zing go through me. It reminds me of what I want with him. What I've been fighting for. To be given a chance to be his and him be mine out in the open for the whole world to see.

We stop in front of Talon, whose gaze drops to our clasped hands before bouncing back up to our faces. I think a flicker of something crosses his face, but it happens so fast I can't be sure. He lets a lazy smile curve his mouth. "Here to thank me for looking after your girl?"

I snort. "Right. Let's not forget who got who through that house of horrors," I say with a pointed look.

His gaze drifts to me and I swear there's a bit of smolder in his eyes that I absolutely do not react to even a little. "I delivered you back to your princeling with all your fingers and toes like I said I would, didn't I?"

"That's overselling it a bit."

He shrugs, and Becks' hand tightens around mine.

Clearing my throat, I drop the subject.

"The important thing is that Locklyn made it through this last trial in one piece. So yes, I owe you thanks," Becks says, and it looks like every word tastes sour in his mouth, but he still gets them out.

Talon assesses Becks for a long moment, but eventually dips his head in acceptance and it makes me feel a bit lighter. Maybe there's some common ground the two of them can find after all.

Becks sighs and looks down at me. "I'm just glad this nightmare is finally over, and we can move on with our lives."

I lock up, and Becks notices right away.

"What is it?" he demands.

I glance at Talon, and he arches a brow at me as if to say, "Are you going to tell him, or should I?"

"Lock," Becks presses.

"Well, about that." I suck my bottom lip into my mouth and bite down. It draws Becks' attention and distracts him for a second, but then he gives his head a small shake, his gaze moving to my eyes and holding as he waits. "So there were some extenuating circumstances during this trial, and so I kinda sorta maybe didn't actually fail out like I was supposed to."

His eyes grow. "Are you saying you passed the trial? You have to compete in the next one?"

I bite my bottom lip again and nod, but this time it doesn't distract him.

He rounds on Talon. "You let her do this? Why? That was your one stipulation."

"I didn't really have much of a choice in the matter." He looks over at me. "Without her help I would have failed, and that's not an option."

"The hell it isn't!" Becks explodes. "I thought you cared about her. At least enough to make sure she doesn't die in this idiotic competition."

Talon presses his lips together, not commenting one way or another whether he cares about me. I want to not be bothered that he doesn't answer, but I kind of am. And that, in and of itself, annoys me.

Becks looks like he's gearing up to really lay into Talon, when a commotion at the front of the asylum draws all of our attention. When I look over, Stryder stumbles out of the building, yelling something about shadow beasts as two creatures run up to meet him. I think one is his sister, another dragon shifter, but I don't recognize the other.

Becks lets go of my hand the moment he sees his fellow dragon shifters. I won't lie to myself and pretend it doesn't sting.

"I'm done here," I say with an edge to my voice that I'm sure both guys don't miss. "I need to get home and try to sneak back into my bedroom before my parents find me gone and ground me for two years rather than just two weeks." I start off toward where Becks' truck and Talon's bike are parked.

"Want another ride, Freckles?" Talon says, but before I can answer Becks speaks up.

"I'm taking her home."

That's what I was planning anyway, but I'm almost annoyed enough at Becks to consider jumping on the back of Talon's bike. But not quite.

Talon ignores Becks and waits for me to answer, but I shake my head. "No, I'm good."

Talon just shrugs like he doesn't care either way. I know he only asked to nettle Becks and I wish he'd stop doing that. He's only making the situation between the three of us that much harder, which I'm sure he's aware of and even more sure that he doesn't care.

He reaches for his helmet but pauses before putting it on. "We're going to need to talk," he tells me, and a low growl emanates from Becks.

"You guys have nothing to talk about anymore," Becks says.

"That's where you're wrong," Talon says, finally looking serious. "Because like it or not, the only way we're both making it through that next trial is together."

I can tell Becks hates how intertwined Talon and I are in this competition, but it's not something I can help at this point.

"If it makes you feel better, come with her if you want. As long as you can put your ego aside for a minute. I don't have time to put up with you growling or shooting fireballs to try to prove to Locklyn you're the alpha male in the room. This is serious." His gaze shifts to me and his eyes are as hard as granite. "There are things about Chaos that you don't know. Things I was hoping I wouldn't have to tell you, but now that we're both in the finals, it's too dangerous to keep you in the dark. Meet at my house after school today."

He waits until I nod, and then throws on his helmet. After revving his engine he takes off, leaving a cloud of dust in his wake.

"That's what you rode here on?" Becks asks when the noise from Talon's engine has faded.

It irritates me that's what he's concerned with right now. "Yeah, so what?" I say, then yank open his truck door and haul myself into the cab.

Becks rounds the front of his truck and then climbs in behind the wheel. I can practically hear his teeth grinding as he cranks the engine and throws the vehicle into reverse.

"I'm coming with you to that meeting this afternoon."

"Sure, whatever," I say, sitting in silence until a wave of boldness overtakes me. "You know other girls might find this whole jealous boyfriend thing hot, but it's a real turnoff for me. Especially when you're not even really my boyfriend."

Becks snaps his head toward me and I catch the mixture of hurt and anger on his face before he turns back to watch the road. I tell myself not to care. I'm hurt and angry too.

"That's not fair," he says, his jaw clenching.

"Which part?"

"All of it. You know I can't control our situation."

"That's debatable."

His gaze shifts back to me, his brows low over his eyes. "And I can't help that I don't like seeing the two of you together."

"You know what I don't like? I don't like how fast you dropped my hand back there at the first sight of another dragon shifter."

Becks at least has the decency to look guilty. "That wasn't what you think."

I laugh and the sound is bitter, even to my own ears. "It's exactly what I think it is. You don't want anyone to know about us. You want to hide our relationship. You're ashamed of me."

Panic crosses Becks' face. "No, Locklyn, it's not like that at all. I don't want to hide anything. If I could I'd march right into Nightlark Academy holding your hand, letting the whole school know who you belong to."

We pull up in front of my parents' store. I don't know how I'm going to get back inside without them knowing, but right now I'm too worked up to really care. So what if my parents ground me for the rest of my life?

"Then why don't we?" I challenge.

"It's complicated. You know that."

I do, but my feelings aren't just hurt anymore, they're wounded and bleeding out. Maybe it isn't fair of me to ask Becks to stand by our relationship, to stand by me, but that's what I'm doing anyway. I'm tired of feeling less-than. If Becks isn't going to stand up for me, I have to do it for myself.

Opening the door, I glance back at him before getting out. The look on his face is torn, and my instinct is to say something to soothe him, but I'm done with all that. I've always been willing to fight for us, but if Becks isn't, then there's truly no hope for us.

"Then I'll uncomplicate the situation for you. I'm done," I say, and then jump out of the truck, slamming the door behind me and walking away from him, my heart shredding a little more with every step.