Chapter 33

Thirty-Three

I'm so screwed. Forget winning Chaos, once Titus verifies Talon is telling the truth any secret hopes I still have of winning Shadow Striker and using its powers instantly die. But Talon doesn't stop with his revelations; the floodgates have opened, and Talon explains that in order to activate Shadow Striker competitors have to have their strengths tested to be found worthy of the dagger—specifically their physical, mental, intellectual, and magical strengths. That means that the next trial is a test of magical powers, of which I have none.

Titus and Ensley send me pitying gazes when that bomb is dropped, but Becks shoots to his feet.

"Locklyn will be defenseless," he says, his eyes going wild.

"Which is one of the reasons I wanted her out of the competition before now," Talon grinds out.

"If I'd failed the last trial you wouldn't be here," I snap back.

"I know," Talon says. Plowing a hand through his hair, he turns toward the mantel, giving us all his back.

"It's all right, Locklyn," Titus says. "We'll make sure you make it through okay."

And then it dawns on me . . . the only reason I'm even part of this discussion. "I'm only here so that when you and Titus come up with a plan, I'm around to agree to stay out of the way," I accuse Talon.

Talon turns toward me, his face unreadable. "I want you to stick close to me," he says, not contradicting me, but he's not done talking. "There's a chance the trial will be skewed in your favor. If I'm right about all of this, now that you've made it this far they want you to win."

"Because they see me as the easiest to kill?" I say, and he nods.

That's offensive, but fair.

I cross my arms over my chest and slump back into the couch. "Oh, this just keeps getting better."

Becks starts to pace. Tendrils of smoke wisp from him as he walks back and forth.

"Don't you dare shift. Some of the books in this library are worth more than you," Talon warns.

Becks glares at him but stops pacing and turns to me. "You won't go to the last trial. You'll skip it."

"I can't. You know what happened to the other competitors who didn't show up to a Chaos trial."

Becks sits down on the couch next to me, curving his body toward me. "I'll stay with you night and day and make sure nothing happens to you when the time comes."

"That won't work," Talon cuts in. "Once we entered Chaos we entered into a magical agreement to see it through. It's not that someone inflicted those injuries on the competitors who failed to show up. Their injuries are magical, and you won't be able to fight that off. She has to be there or the same thing that happened to them will happen to her. There's no way around it. She has to compete."

Becks' gaze snaps to Talon, his eyes burning with intensity. "How do you know that?"

"Because I know that's true about the dagger's activation. Haven't you heard anything I've said? Chaos is just a cover. And here's your proof."

Talon lifts his shirt and drags down his jeans to expose some of his hipbone. I start to look away until I realize what he's showing us. On his hip, right below where his pants sit, is the circular brand of the Chaos emblem.

"That mark on the flyers and the coins, that's not a Chaos symbol," he says. "It's the Shadow Striker emblem."

"You branded yourself?" I ask in shock.

He shakes his head. "Not exactly. It's kind of a family thing. That doesn't matter though. What you need to understand is that the cross symbolizes the dagger. The inner circle represents the first trial that's meant to thin the herd. And then the four symbols in each of the quadrants stand for one of the trials of strength I mentioned before. Three swirls for physical strength, zigzag for intellectual strength, the two overlapping circles for mental strength, and then the six-pointed starburst for magical strength."

He lets go of his shirt and tugs up his pants, covering the mark, and then shoves his hands into his pockets. "Who knows if Chaos was really ever more than an urban legend. The thief or thieves who stole Shadow Striker are just using the games as a disguise. And I know the rules of an activation competition. Once it begins, you can't opt out."

The room falls silent as everything sinks in. This is such a mess. I'm glad Talon is finally telling us the truth, but if he'd only been honest sooner, this all could have been avoided.

Becks stands and walks to Talon. I hold my breath, half expecting that Becks is going to throw a punch, but instead he asks, "Do I have your promise that you'll protect her?"

Talon doesn't even hesitate before answering. "With my life."

Becks sucks in a lungful of air and then slowly lets it out. "Okay. Then let's come up with a game plan."

We spend the next two hours going back and forth, brainstorming what might be in store for us during the last trial. It feels like a waste of time though. Besides the fact that it will center around magic and be dangerous, there's no telling what the game master will throw at us.

"Should we bring any of the other competitors into this alliance?" Titus asks, and I'm surprised none of us have thought to bring this up sooner.

Talon shakes his head. "No. I don't trust them."

"Do you even know them?" I ask. I mean I don't, but if everyone was on the same page, that would certainly make all of this easier.

Talon rattles off the names of the remaining competitors as well as some random facts about each. I raise my eyebrows. He's done his homework.

"I don't want to bring anyone else into this. If I wasn't backed into a corner, I never even would have brought all of you in."

"Geez, thanks," I say.

He shrugs. "It's just the truth."

I don't know how I feel about that. That Talon is only admitting to the truth when he's forced to. What other secrets is he keeping? My guess is a lot.

"It's getting late. I gotta go," Titus says as he gets to his feet and stretches. "We may not know how everything is going to play out, but at least we know we have each other's backs when it all goes down. That seems like the best we can hope for at this point."

Talon doesn't look pleased with that, but he nods in agreement.

I check the time on my phone and realize it's already past eight. I missed two texts from my parents and quickly shoot one back letting them know I'll be home soon. I just got my phone back that morning, I don't want to give them an excuse to take it away again.

"Need a ride?" Ensley asks me, and without meaning to my gaze goes to Becks, who's talking to Talon. "He drove his truck over," she says, correctly reading my face.

I nod. "Yeah, a ride would be great." It's not that I'm avoiding Becks, but our argument is still fresh. I need time right now to figure things out. Besides, with the last Chaos trial looming, what's going on between us needs to take a back seat anyway.

We tell the guys, who are now talking in a circle about who knows what, that we're taking off, and then head out. After only two wrong turns, Ensley and I make it back to the foyer. It's not until we have descended the staircase that Ensley realizes she left her purse back in the game room.

She groans. "This place is a maze. I'll go get it, but if I don't make it back in ten minutes, send a search party."

"You got it," I say on a laugh, and she takes off, jogging back up the stairs.

With nothing else to do while I wait, I inspect the giant dragon statue in the middle of the foyer. It's carved from some sort of black stone, and as I move closer I realize just how macabre the scene is. The dragon is standing on the bones of various animals and creatures, crushing vampire skulls beneath its feet. Bits of flesh are in between its teeth as it throws its head back in a silent roar.

Creature species are always jockeying for top position, boasting that they're superior and more powerful to others, and the message is clear that the artist considers dragon shifters at the top of the proverbial food chain.

"Majestic, isn't he?"

I start and twist to face Drake. His gaze drifts from the dragon statue to me, his eyes as cold and lifeless as shards of onyx.

I take a step back, not wanting to be any closer to this powerful shifter than I need to be. I don't trust him, and the hard look on his face as he studies me says that I'm wise not to.

"It's nice to finally meet the girl who all the fuss has been about."

"Excuse me?" What is he talking about?

His mouth curves into a smile that's lacking any real warmth. "Oh yes. We know all about you and your little friendship with our heir. A troublesome issue over the last few years that I'm confident will be resolved shortly."

My heart starts to pound.

"What are you getting at?" I ask, well aware he's trying to bait me, but not able to control my physical reaction.

His gaze skates down my body and back up again in an assessment that leaves me feeling like spiders are crawling over my skin. "Perhaps I misjudged you. I took you as na?ve, not stupid."

I've had just about enough of this guy. Yes, he might be a super powerful dragon shifter, but if I've learned anything in the last several weeks it's that I don't have to sit back and take it anymore.

"I get that you have an issue with Becks' and my friendship, but you and whoever else has a problem with it are just going to have to learn to live with it because I'm not going away."

Rather than anger, amusement seeps into Drake's gaze. "How entertaining you think Becks' life-mate will put up with his crush on another female. The minute we find a suitable partner for him, your days in his life are numbered."

My stomach sours, but I do my best to keep Drake from knowing he's getting to me. "Becks was granted the authority to choose his own mate."

He tilts his head, looking at me like I'm the biggest idiot he's ever seen. "Simply an illusion of choice orchestrated by the council."

This shifter is absolutely villainous.

I grit my teeth, furious with the dragon shifter and the whole council for the control they have over Becks' life. "Why are you doing this to him?"

" Doing this to him?" His eyebrows raise in feigned surprise. "Why, my girl, we are saving him. At first his friendship with you seemed to be little more than an embarrassment, one we assumed he'd grow out of, but when reports started coming in about the growing infatuation between the two of you, well, drastic measures had to be taken."

Ensley's words from earlier in the day drift back to me. " Anyone who cares to look can plainly see what's there between you two ."

The air feels trapped in my lungs, and as the pieces click together I start to get lightheaded. "That's why you're forcing him to mate so soon? To keep him away from me ?"

He tilts his head, a false mask of pity sliding over his face. "Did you really think we'd let our heir degrade himself with a magicless creature?"

The blood drains from my face. This is all my fault. Or maybe not my fault exactly, but because of me.

"You can't do this."

"It's already been done."

"Well, undo it," I snap.

"Why in the world would we be motivated to do that?" There's a cunning sharpness in his gaze that reminds me of a predator who has cornered his prey and is anticipating devouring it.

"Would the council change their minds if I wasn't in the picture anymore?"

"Hmm. That's an interesting proposition."

It's in that moment that I realize Drake is just as ruthless as Talon said he was. This is what Drake and the council wanted all along, to get me out of Becks' life, one way or another. And he's smart enough to know that I'd do just about anything for Becks, including take myself out of his life.

I lock down my emotions, forcing myself to go hard rather than to fall apart, not willing to give him a shred more than he's already taken from me.

"Got it!" Ensley calls, and when I look over she's descending the stairs.

The smile on her face slips when she sees me standing with Talon's uncle. Even though I'm doing my best to keep myself under control, she knows me too well not to see my distress.

Her eyes narrow as she glances back and forth between us. "Creepy statue."

"It's a three-hundred-year-old work of art. Practically priceless," Drake says, and Ensley snorts.

"Could have fooled me," she says, and Drake's face scrunches like he just smelled something rancid.

She reaches into her purse and pulls out a small notebook and pen. Scribbles something on a piece of paper. She rips the page out and then hands it to Drake.

He takes it with a frown. "What is this?"

"The number of our interior designer. Looks like you need some help freshening up this place. It's giving off serious dated dungeon vibes. You can do better."

She doesn't wait for Drake to respond before grabbing my arm and hauling me toward the front door. I hear paper being ripped into pieces, but don't look over my shoulder. I've seen enough of Drake to last me a lifetime. I just want to get the heck out of this mansion and never look back.