Chapter Thirty-Three

Entry:

Many more slices today. Each time, I learn! If you angle the knife, the gash is bigger. Not deeper, just wider. A burn leaves hardly any mark and can be covered by a small bandage. My thoughts- if I won't hurt emotionally, then I'll hurt physically. I feel as though I have already lived a lifetime. 

Phoenix.

--

Talon didn't care about what Phoenix thought of Greyson; this guy was as good as dead. 

"What are you doing, you'll kill her!" Talon yelled at him. 

"She would have gone out to fight had I not put her down," Greyson reasoned with the eyes of a beast. "She has to stay safe, I can't lose her too!"

Greyson had lost his sanity, he had failed to protect that child and now he was doing everything to keep Phoenix safe, even if that meant knocking her out cold. 

This wasn't a place to argue. 

"I will kill you when this is over," Talon promised, not bothering to put up any smiling pretenses and showing his true, disgusted face. 

"Bird just might beat you to it," Greyson responded, "but at least she'll be alive and have the opportunity to." 

Talon spat at Greyson's feet. 

There was no way to awaken Phoenix now, so Talon left Greyson behind and turned back to the meeting room to ensure that his family was safe. Apparently, it was the crown they were after, not his mother's life. The thieves must have ripped it from his mother's head following the commotion after that boy was killed and then fled. 

"Where are they?" Talon asked his family.

"They ran off with the crown, we have to follow them," the King commanded. 

"Who cares?" Talon asked. "We need to get out of here."

"No," his mother replied. "We can't leave until we get that crown back."

"Who cares about the crown?" Talon questioned frantically, worried that they would be under attack again.

Osprey nodded desperately. "Yeah, we should get out of he-"

"It's not just a crown!" the King shouted back. "I'll answer your questions later, but for now we have to get that crown back."

"You three go hide. I'll take Greyson and fetch it," Talon argued. 

His mother tried to stand but her legs wobbled, and she collapsed. Why was she so weak now that the crown was gone?

Talon just looked back at his father and decided, "Stay with her. I'll come back with the crown." 

The King glared at Talon and Osprey cursed under her breath, but Talon didn't notice because he had already left to search for the murderers. Greyson was still standing outside the bathroom door, guarding it.

"You'll draw attention to the door if you stay like that," Talon pointed out. "Let's go get them."

Greyson met Talon's eyes and it was clear that the hate was mutual, but they ran towards the Throne Room in unison with one goal in mind. Hunt those child killers. 

Irrational and unconcerned for themselves, the two boys went through the tunnel and back to the Throne Room. They didn't even bother to hide their footsteps or heavy breaths. Like Cole and Daisy, Talon and Greyson were met by the same thieves and their weapons. 

Guns were pointed at the back of Talon's and Greyson's heads as they were led through the crowd to a man with brown eyes. 

"Well looky here, it's the Prince! If the boss doesn't come back soon with the crown, then we can use him for negotiations!" the brown eyed man proclaimed. 

So they didn't know that the crown was already in their possession. What awful communication. Talon looked around and noticed all the guards had been killed and everyone sat in a circle of vomit and fear. The people outnumbered the thieves five to one, but they weren't armed. 

Talon didn't care about playing fair anymore. He was past the point of clear thought and simply wanted to see these disgusting intruders destroyed.

Talon put on that smile he knew everyone hated and proclaimed, "You'll rot with the ruddy rats." 

The thieves and the rest of the audience tilted their heads in confusion.

"Seriously? What does that even mean?" Greyson accused Talon. 

Before Greyson could finish his sentence, however, ten men and women from the circle stood and started to tackle the guards. The guards fired at the audience, striking down a good handful. But those first souls inspired the rest, and soon everyone was tackling the guards to the ground.

For once, Talon was relieved he went to the meeting that discussed security for this ball. Ruddy rats was a code for the guards they had undercover. He just needed to give them the command to fight back. 

When the shots broke out, Greyson and Talon remained unscathed. The soldiers holding them were firing into the crowd, missing Talon. They must have been avoiding the valuable asset. 

Talon grabbed a gun and killed off the last three thieves. 

The crowd, Greyson, and Talon all gawked in disbelief once they were safe. People collapsed, some started to cry, but most just stared blankly down to the vomited floor.

The room had been reclaimed. 

Talon ordered the remaining under cover guards to secure the room. He had to go see his parents, and make sure they were okay. Forget the crown, the people were more important. He needed to make sure that the castle was safe. He needed to get everyone out of the breached castle, attend to the wounded. Talon had more important things to do then worry about some silly jewel. 

As Talon turned to leave and find his father, he noticed that Greyson was hunched over by the right side of the door. In his hands he held two figures, his shoulder shook up and down in what looked like a violent sob. 

Before Talon could go see what had happened, Greyson shot up and proclaimed, "He's still alive! Cole needs help!"

Talon glanced over to see who Greyson was babbling about. A whimper escaped when he realized who Greyson was holding and caught a glimpse of the corpse behind him. It was the rest of Phoenix's family. Talon looked to the floor in grief, perhaps it was for the best that Phoenix had been put to sleep. 

Talon himself was exhausted, and the night was long from over.