Chapter 25
Twenty-Five
BECKS
“So, you told Locklyn that there’s nothing serious going on between you and Haven.”
After four hours of what I would consider comfortable silence with Talon as we drive back to NYC to get Cassian, those are the first words out of his mouth.
I glance over at him out of the corner of my eye, but his gaze is fixed on the road ahead.
“I guess it was too much to hope that she’d keep that private.”
Talon snorts. “Locklyn and I don’t have secrets.”
“Is that a married thing?”
He chuckles and then breaks eye contact with the road to give me a smug smile. “It’s a Locklyn and me thing.”
Shaking my head, I roll my eyes and then fix my gaze ahead on nothing in particular. The two of them couldn’t be more annoyingly perfect together, but as I wait for the pang in my chest that usually follows thoughts like that, it never comes.
Reaching up, I rub the spot in the middle of my chest, realizing the heaviness I’ve been carrying there for so long is absent. And I think I know why.
“Oh, before I forget,” he says, “I owe you a punch to the face.”
“For what?”
“Making my wife sad.”
My insides churn. I was annoyed at Locklyn, but I could have been gentler with my words. “Seems fair.”
“Glad you agree. So, are we going to address how what you told Locklyn is utter bullshit?” Talon asks, dragging my attention back to him.
“No,” I say, crossing my arms over my chest.
“Fantastic,” Talon says. “Because I’d honestly rather talk at you than listen to you spit lies at me as well.
It’s obvious you’re really into her, and I get how that’s kinda weird and confusing because of the similarities to Locklyn, but I’m going to give you the benefit of the doubt that that’s not why you’re into her.
Right?” he asks with a pointed look. “Because if it was, that would be messed up.”
I groan, rubbing my temples.
“Great, I’m going to assume that means it’s more than just physical to you. What I don’t know, though, is whether you’re lying to yourself as well as everyone else.”
I give Talon a dark look he doesn’t even see because he’s staring straight ahead again.
Leaning over, I take a peek at the speedometer on the dash in front of him. We’re going fast, but if I jumped out of the car now, I think I’d still survive.
It would hurt like a bitch though.
“Because if you’re just lying to all of us,” Talon continues.
“I’m cool with that. Don’t get me wrong, I stand behind Locklyn wanting to protect her sister and all that, but also, I get it if you wouldn’t want to open up to her about something like this.
It’s a bit awkward, considering your history. ”
“And so you’re offering an alternative?” I ask with a raised eyebrow.
“Sure,” he says with a shrug.
“And you think talking to you would be less awkward?”
He shrugs again. “We don’t have the history you do with Locklyn, but I’m a dude and you’ve never been in love with me before.”
I shake my head in disbelief that this conversation is actually happening.
Talon has two sides. One’s dark and mysterious, the whole silent, broody type with that quiet confidence that makes people pay attention without him saying a word.
The other? A cocky bastard who doesn’t know when to shut up.
I haven’t seen that version in a while, but all this endless chatter is a painful reminder of why I couldn’t stand him back at Nightlark Academy.
Well, that, and he was trying to steal my girl.
When I don’t respond, Talon keeps talking, saying stuff about how I need to be honest with myself about how I truly feel and that it’s healthy to express my emotions. I do my best not to listen, but we’re trapped in a vehicle together.
“Okay, fine,” I say, a fresh headache pounding behind my eyes. “I lied to Locklyn. Are you happy now?”
He glances over with a grin I immediately want to smack off his face. “Immensely. Locklyn owes me five bucks.”
My jaw drops. “You bet on whether or not I have real feelings for Haven?”
“Keeps the marriage interesting,” he says without a hint of shame.
“Unbelievable. Well, I’m glad I can provide entertainment for you both.”
Talon chuckles and the urge to punch him ramps up. “In all seriousness though, I get you’re in a bit of a tough spot. Have you talked with Haven about how you feel?”
“A little,” I hedge.
She doesn’t know the depth of my feelings. I didn’t want to scare her off, and besides, she has enough on her plate right now with a demon keen to suck her powers in order to take over the world and all that. But there’s no way she doesn’t know I’m into her.
Right?
I remember the look on her face when I left with Talon, and unease trickles through me.
Something is up with her, but I don’t know what. Maybe she’s upset that we haven’t made our relationship public. I assumed she didn’t want to put it out there yet, but maybe I was wrong. Maybe she’s mad at me for keeping it a secret.
I should have had a conversation with her before I left, but there wasn’t an opportunity. She was impossible to get alone. If I didn’t know better, I’d say she was avoiding me. But that makes zero sense. Everything was fine this morning.
“And how does she feel about your history with Locklyn?” Talon says, cutting into my thoughts.
Guilt stabs my chest.
It’s not that I’ve been concealing that information, per se, but the timing never felt right.
“She doesn’t know,” I confess.
Talon’s head jerks toward me so fast the car swerves before he rights it again.
“She doesn’t know?”
“Do I really need to repeat myself?”
He lets out a low whistle. “The longer you keep that one a secret, the harder it’s going to bite you in the ass when she finds out.”
“Yeah,” I say, plowing my hand through my hair. This whole thing with Haven is a mess.
But it’s worth it, something inside whispers. And I agree.
“I don’t know how to bring up something like that,” I admit. “Haven kind of took me by surprise. It’s not like I planned it. And now that we’re in it . . .”
I pause, unsure if I want to go on.
Talon keeps quiet, waiting for me to make up my mind about how much I’m comfortable sharing.
Oh, to hell with it.
“I’m worried that if I tell her, I may lose her.”
My gut twists at the thought.
“You might,” Talon says with a nod.
“Thanks for the encouragement,” I grumble.
He glances at me out of the corner of his eye. “Let’s be honest, she’s not going to be happy when she finds out. Who would be? But it’s not like this is something that can stay hidden forever. It’s going to be a shock, but if what you have with Haven is strong, it’ll last.”
“Easy as that, huh?”
“More or less,” he says. Then adds, “Accompanied with some groveling of course. And it won’t hurt to tell her how beautiful she is.”
“Is that what won you Locklyn? Compliments?”
“You’ll have to ask her that,” he quips, and then grins.
“That’s not happening.”
Talon laughs, and the sound loosens something in my chest.
“Listen, at the end of the day, if she’s your person, you’ll find your way with her. Not to say the road to get there won’t be bumpy, but hang in there.”
I take a deep breath, letting his advice sink in, turning it over to decide if I agree with it or not.
I want to, but it’s hard to shake the fear that I’m going to lose her—either from finding out about my history with Locklyn or to the demon determined to have her—even before we’ve really had a chance to begin.
“Buck up,” Talon says. “You’re a catch. You’re not too horrible to look at. At least a six with good lighting. You’ve got a solid jawline and questionable judgment. Apparently, that’s in.”
I roll my eyes. “Thanks, I think.”
“You’ve got this,” he says.
And because I can’t help myself, I ask, “Are you going to offer to hug me now?”
It seems like he actually considers it, even though it’s clearly a joke. “I feel like to solidify our new bromance, I might need to.”
“Try it and I’ll break your nose.”
Talon barks out a laugh, and despite myself I feel a little lighter than I did before he forced the conversation. Maybe everything is going to be all right after all.
“I’m never opening a portal back to the creature world.” To punctuate his point, Cassian leaves the room, slamming the door behind him.
I share a weary look with Talon. My jaw is still aching after Talon, true to his word, decked me when we got out of the car. For some reason, it actually made me feel better. But Cassian is our problem right now.
The vampire only created the portal to the human world to get away from the Society.
After Cassian appeared when Locklyn destroyed Shadow Striker in Central Park, he was semi-comatose.
We brought him back with us to the creature world, hoping the Society would take him, which they did, but as he recovered from his imprisonment within Shadow Striker, they too treated him like a prisoner.
I understand where they were coming from. Even though he was only a shell of his former self, he was still the Vampire King, the creature who tried to take over his world, even if that was over two thousand years ago.
Cassian says he was seduced by Shadow Striker’s power, but it’s still a hard pill to swallow.
Because of him, the gates between the worlds were closed and the Arcane Society was formed in order to prevent a multi-world apocalypse.
Which they managed to thwart until Kerrim got his hands on the blasted dagger and used Locklyn to kick off a series of events we’re still trying to stop.
All to say: I get why the Society was careful with Cassian. What I don’t agree with is that when he tried to tell them about the threat that still existed—that the demon who created Shadow Striker was now released and more dangerous than ever—they ignored him.
But I didn’t.
And thank the Creator I didn’t, because if I had never come to the human world to warn the Order about the demon and let them know about Haven, there’s no doubt in my mind that by now the demon would have the power it needs to become fully corporeal, and Haven would already be dead.