Chapter 46

Chrome

“It’s just us today?” Gray pulled her hair up into a bun, the marbled strands blending to look like stone.

The midafternoon sun did nothing to warm the bitter chill as Gray breathed hot air into her fingerless gloves. “It is. The others are training. Today, we’ll spar with each other as if we’re enemies. Weapons, magic—everything.”

“Good. I never got that fight I was owed,” Gray smirked, stretching her arms.

I removed my loose-knit hoodie, exposing my tattoos and brands.“Because you hesitated when you saw my flawless skin and mesmerizing eyes. Gave me the upper hand.”

“No, that is not what happened,” she scoffed.

“No? Then why didn’t you slit my throat that night?” A knowing grin taunted her as I twisted from side to side.

“Because I was…I wanted answers first.”

“Sure,” I said, not believing her for a second. “You forget I can feel when you’re lying, little savage.”

“How the fuck do I block my emotions from you? Did you ever figure it out?”

I bit my bottom lip, trying not to laugh. “Not exactly. We’ll work on that.” I stretched my arms above my head. “But, for now, I want to see where you are in your progress. Let’s find out if you can keep up with me.”

Gray snorted and began to stretch her legs. “I can keep up with you.”

“You’re my equal, so you better,” I challenged, meeting her fierce expression.

We had tried many times to open a portal again. We’d been unsuccessful, just like I’d been unsuccessful in slipping down the bond and taking control of her magic again during training sessions over the past several weeks.

It didn’t mean other progress hadn’t been made yet, though.

“No rules?” she asked.

“No rules. Except, obviously, we can’t actually kill each other,” I said, picking up normal human blades.

“What a strange turn my life has taken,” Gray mumbled, wielding two daggers and falling into a fighting stance.

I observed her body. “You’re not opposed to it. And neither am I.”

“You have some perks.” She shrugged.

I rolled my head from side to side, easing the stiffness. “Let’s play, my little savage.” Then I lunged.

Over an hour passed of multiple rounds of sparring. Gray held her own quite well. She had most definitely improved in recent weeks with her awareness and her magic. It wasn’t that Gray had been unskilled before, but she lacked specific skills that could cost her life in the heat of a battle. No doubt it was an intentional design flaw constructed by Forest.

I wanted her to be as equally lethal as me. She had the savagery but just needed to tighten up the loose ends in her training. In the event I wasn’t there to help her, I wanted her to be able to handle herself, regardless of the number of enemies.

“Don’t go easy on me, Chrome.” Gray used her air magic to whip three daggers at me in quick succession while she aimed a kick at my head.

I held up my palm to stop the blades and spun away. I grabbed her ankle and jerked her toward me. She crashed to the ground on her stomach with a frustrated grunt just before I straddled her lower back and pinned her wrists in front of me. “How would you get out of this hold?”

A blast of magic hit my gut, but I didn’t relent, pressing my weight harder into her. I sensed metal skewering in my direction. Using my element, I halted a knife’s blade again but angled it to her throat, lightly resting on her carotid artery. “That would’ve worked on the average Kinetic Warrior.” I leaned in, pressing my bottom lip to the shell of her ear. “I’ll count it as a win.”

My dick hardened against her tailbone as I lay across her. Having her beneath me like this at my whim had another kind of beast lifting its head within me. I could still taste her from the other day. Her sweetness never left, and it had taken everything inside me to not push for more since.

I skimmed my bottom lip along her jaw. Her breaths became more labored, husky. “Is this part of training now?” she asked, her voice raspy.

“When you beat me, you get rewarded.”

“I didn’t beat you.”

“It counts,” I whispered in her ear before finding the sensitive spot at the back of her neck and pressing slow, teasing kisses there, keeping her arms pinned behind her back.

Gray lifted her ass, grinding against me. I groaned, releasing her and flipping her onto her back. “What should your reward be this time, little savage?” I asked, absorbing the heat rising in her rainbow gaze. I released my control of the knife, dropping it to the ground beside her head.

“That’s a loaded question, Chrome.” Her newly freed hands began roaming up my thighs that straddled her, inching up my torso, then to my chest. I needed to feel her on my bare skin. I needed to be inside her. To consume her.

I leaned in and nipped her bottom lip. “Greedy.” I kissed down her neck, flicking my tongue out to taste her salty skin. “You can take it all. I’ll give you everything.”

Gray whimpered, just the smallest of sounds. And that was it for my control.

I grabbed one of her thighs and hitched it around my waist. She responded by wrapping around my midsection and pulling me further between her legs.

It didn’t escape me that we were out in the training field; anyone could walk by. I didn’t give a fuck. Apparently, neither did she.

“You up for putting on a show, Princess?” I slid a hand beneath her tight tank, finding her breast.

“Let them watch.” She pulled her bottom lip between her teeth, a fire burning bright in her eyes. With the slightest tilt of her chin, she said, “You’re mine.”

A growl came from my chest as a primal need to claim her as my own took over.

Gray’s hand found my waistband, and her fingers inched inside. They brushed against the thin fabric of my briefs covering my dick, sending a jolt through my body I hadn’t expected. Warmth from her breath caressed my neck, lifting the tiny hairs just as she pressed a kiss against my skin.

A throat cleared behind me. “Sorry to break this up and all…” Onyx’s voice broke through the sexual haze. “But there’s an emergency, and you’re needed.”

I didn’t care if the world was burning to the ground; I wanted to be buried inside the girl with fierce eyes and ashen hair. “Can’t it wait?” I asked, my voice muffled against Gray’s neck.

“No.”

Gray stilled beneath me, and ever so slowly, her hand withdrew from the confines of my pants.

I dropped my head against her chest in defeat. “If this isn’t life or death, I’m going to kill you. Otherwise, Orion or you can handle it.”

“This is definitely for you. Both of you,” Onyx said. I still hadn’t turned around to face him, but I could tell he was uncomfortable by the tone of his voice.

Reluctantly, I sat up and then rose to my feet, pulling Gray up with me. “What’s wrong?” I adjusted myself before turning around to face Onyx.

It was rare to see Onyx be anything other than optimistic. Seeing the anxiety dripping from his tight jaw and worried eyes had me reevaluating the situation.

Closing his eyes as if to brace himself to deliver the news, he said, “There’s been a breach of the wards by a Kinetic scout.”

I tensed, my heart skipping a few paces. “Excuse me?”

“A Kinetic scout made it through the wards. He was apprehended by some guards patrolling the perimeter, but…”

“How?” I asked, my voice devoid of any life.

Gray moved by my side, glancing back and forth between us.

“I don’t know, Chrome. I honestly don’t.” Onyx breathed out in defeat. “I reinforced my magic when Sergeant Hogan and the rebels arrived. You did, too! I don’t know how…”

The memory resurfaced from a month ago of the night my contact and I had a run-in with Kinetic warriors outside the speakeasy. Afterward, I continued to drink to chase away intensity of the madness fueled by the bloodshed. My contact had to help me get back to the Hollow. There was a high chance I wasn’t in the right state of mind to notice if we’d been followed or not. “Fuck…” I looked away. “Okay. Take me to them.”

Gray stepped up beside me to join us. “No, Gray,” I said, my voice gentle, but firm.

She reeled back as if I’d slapped her, hurt shining in her eyes. My heart clenched. “The fuck you mean, no?” She stiffened her spine and clenched her fists, ready to go to war with me over this. A sharp tug on my heart jolted me, signaling Gray’s burst of anger and betrayal.

“No, this is too dangerous. I can’t risk you being…”

A fist collided with my jaw, rocking my head back. I stumbled. “You don’t get to dictate what I can and cannot do. This is just as much my battle as it is yours.”

I wasn’t even mad that she hit me. I deserved it. But I couldn’t risk her in this. “Yes, it is. But you’re not going. This is my Hollow. My rules.” I ran my hand through my hair, regaining my senses after the solid blow she landed. “You’ll be a liability.” The words fell from my mouth, and I wanted to shove them back in as soon as they did.

“Fuck you,” she spat before she slammed a blast of Kinetic magic into my chest, shocking me from the inside out. It felt like she’d just fried my organs.

“I’m sorry,” I grunted, gripping my torso. “But you need to trust me on this.”

“Trust you?” She laughed. “That’s funny. Says the guy who…” She bit her bottom lip to stop the words that almost slipped free. “Fine. I’ll sit back and look pretty for you. Just like everybody else seems to want from me. But in the meantime, go fuck yourself.”

She stormed off, snatching up a few daggers and knives on the way.

The familiar pain of self-hatred crept back into my chest. The last thing I wanted to do was to make her sit on the sidelines, but there were things she couldn’t know just yet.

Onyx led me to the dilapidated barn on the outskirts of the Hollow near the farm fields. We could’ve easily put earth Elementals on the task to fix it up, but we didn’t want to make the space comfortable for any potential threats.

The holes in the tin roof made the area freezing and dank, while the piles of hay held tattered articles of clothes discarded from years past. Nobody bothered to remove them.

“He’s not speaking,” Onyx said as we walked past the empty stalls. “Must say, he looks so familiar, though. I just can’t place him.”

“Gray can’t come here. If someone recognizes her, that could spell disaster.”

Onyx looked uncomfortable but nodded anyway. “Got it.” A few moments later, he added, “Though I must say, this will make for some awkward-as-hell pillow talk. I mean…”

I smacked him on the back of his head. “Don’t…”

Onyx laughed, rubbing the spot I had just hit. “Okay, okay.”

Reaching the back of the barn, we came to a halt before a closed stall door. I used my magic to unlock it, then pushed it open. The rusted hinges screeched, forcing me to suppress a cringe.

I pulled out an Elemental dagger as I entered the stall, ready to interrogate the intruder. A shadowed figure sat hunched in the corner, the afternoon sun streaming through behind him. It struck me as odd that a Kinetic scout would be trying to make their way inside the property during broad daylight. That wasn’t very wise.

But when I looked at the person in the light, I froze.

“Onyx,” I said, my voice hardening. “I’m gonna have to ask you to leave. I need to be alone for this.”

I could sense Onyx’s hesitation, looking back and forth between me and the scout, probably wondering why I had just given away his identity to this person. It didn’t matter. This person knew exactly who Onyx was without me having to tell him.

“You sure?”

“Yes. I got it. Let Orion know that I can handle this. No one is to come here. This person is dangerous, and I’ll handle them myself.”

Onyx ran a hand through his black hair. “Alright. But don’t hesitate to call for help.”

“I won’t.” I didn’t take my eyes off the Kinetic scout.

Once Onyx was gone and out of earshot, I dropped my arm to my side. “What the fuck are you doing here?”