Chapter 47

Gray

I beat my fist on Orion’s office door, determined to find some answers in The Book of the Arcane. Pissed is what I was. I was determined to prove I was the furthest thing from a liability. I’d find information, anything that would stop Forest.

Then I’d go find out who that scout was myself.

I was done with powerful men, thinking I needed to be in the background. That I was a hindrance when I’d done nothing but prove myself day in and day out since I was born.

And how dare Chrome think just because we shared a fucking soul, he could order me around.

Orion swung the door open with a gust of wind. He sat at his desk, his head buried in the book. “How can I help you, Princess?”

“I came to see if I could help. Have you been able to translate anything?” I took a seat across from him, taking controlled, deep breaths to calm my fiery anger toward Chrome so I could focus.

“Only a few letters. Many of the sigils are similar to Elemental ones,” he muttered, completely engrossed in what he studied.

“Like what?”

He moved over to a sheet of paper, scribbling an Elemental sigil down, and next to it, he drew one of the symbols from the text. “This,” he pointed to the foreign symbol, “is similar to our sigil, meaning soul or life force. There are slight variations in the fine details of the angles, but I’m confident that’s what it means.”

I leaned forward and studied the two examples. “What image are you looking at that the symbol is associated with?”

Orion pointed at a particular drawing on the page. “This one,” he said without taking his eyes from whatever he jotted down beside the tome.

“Anything about the magic poisoning the land? Any drawings resembling that, I mean?”

“No. Not that I’ve seen yet.”

“You mind if I take a look?”

Orion waved a hand toward the book. His brows furrowed as he looked back and forth between two sheets of paper, a pen in his grip.

I slid the book closer to me. The drawing of the suspected soul bond glared at me. I resented it now. A part of me wanted to find a way to break it; that way, I would no longer feel like a burden to Chrome. But I pushed the thought away, realizing that it was stupid thoughts planted by an abysmal man.

I was still livid at Chrome, though. I wasn’t sure what he wanted to keep from me, but I would find out one way or another.

Gently, I flipped through the pages, looking for anything that might stand out.

I got close to the end and was beginning to doubt that I’d find anything. With my jaw propped on my hand, I felt my hopes wane as I came to the last page.

As I flipped it closed, something caught my eye. “Orion…” I whispered, feeling my heart rate pick up at the possible small revelation.

After what seemed like a few hours, I kept returning to a particular drawing. It was of a very rough and antiquated sketch of a stone with unpolished, jagged edges. Nothing extraordinary about it stood out. I almost breezed past it for the third time, but something told me to stop.

“What about this?” I asked, glancing up at Orion.

With pinched brows, he took the book for himself, cocking his head to the side. “Hm, I haven’t seen this one. I must’ve missed it, somehow,” he murmured, his eyes scanning the text quickly back and forth as he tried to make sense of it. “I can’t believe I missed this.” Confusion warped his brow, as he scratched his stubble.

“You want a better look?” I asked, sliding the tome to him.

Eagerly, Orion leaned closer to the book, his eyes widening and dancing back and forth over the page.

“What?” I asked.

“It’s…” Orion gripped the back of his neck. “It’s gone. Disappeared.”

It was my turn to lean forward, looking over the page. But it wasn’t gone. “No, it’s still there.”

Orion’s eyes grew wider, his head jerking up to look at me. “Now, I can see it.” He glanced back at the book. “Only if you’re looking at it.”

I reeled back, shocked at such a suggestion. “What? Why would that be the case?”

Orion shook his head, not understanding either. “I don’t know,” he murmured, already seemingly moved past this weird phenomena as he scrambled for his pen. “But I’m going to copy all of this down really quick.”

I sat frozen. The world tilted on its axis as I tried to make sense of this strange occurrence.

“Don’t move,” Orion muttered as he began scrawling on his loose papers. “I’ll definitely work on deciphering this. Stones hold all kinds of properties, as you know with black crystal.”

“Exactly. If this is what Forest is after, I wonder what kind of power it holds that’s strong enough for him to go to such lengths to obtain,” I pondered aloud.

“Precisely,” Orion said, his teal gaze clashing with mine before returning to the book. “It will take me some time. This language is complex, more complex than the rest of it, which tells me it’s of value. Especially since you’re the only one it appears for.”

Leaving Orion’s office had me in higher spirits than I’d been in when I’d first arrived. I felt like I was finally contributing in some way. Hungry, I made my way to the dining hall to grab some dinner. A few hours had passed in Orion’s office after the revelation, both of us searching in silence for anything else that might’ve stood out, particularly if the stone was the source of power that Forest was seeking. We originally suspected it was a weapon, or perhaps a chalice based on folklore within our world with the idea that maybe it had derived from Arcadia centuries ago.

But we came up empty-handed. Nothing stood out.

I found Aella, River, Void, and Kodiak at our usual table. No Onyx or Chrome, though.

Anger flooded me again, remembering how he’d tried to control me earlier in the training fields. I hated how small I felt when he called me a liability, reminding me of how my father always made me feel.

Setting my plate on the table, I forced a smile. “Where have you been?” River asked, pointedly filling her fork and taking a bite.

I stabbed at a broccoli floret and shoved it in my mouth. “Orion’s office,” I said around my food. “Trying to find something on Forest’s secret treasure.”

“And?” Void asked dryly.

“And nothing concrete yet, but we found a suspicious-looking stone in the book. Orion’s gotta work on deciphering the text about it, so that’ll take some time. Although…” I took a sip of water. “It only appears for me.”

Everyone at the table looked at me skeptically, their expressions urging me to continue. I explained the phenomena, how it disappeared if I wasn’t looking at it, and how we believed that it might be our best lead since it’s so well-guarded. River sharpened her features in thought while Void dropped his fork, rubbing his jaw as he chewed his food.

“What are you guys talking about that’s got you all looking like you’re playing a game of Clue?” Onyx dropped his plate on the table. Naturally, no space was left uncovered on it.

I set my fork down against the ceramic plate as I glared at him. How was he going to act like nothing had happened earlier?

“What?” he asked, already scooping heaps of food into his mouth.

“Where’s Chrome?”

He shrugged. “I don’t know. Probably his room. Why?”

It struck me odd how no one had said a word about the scout’s appearance. “What do you mean, ‘why?’ What happened with the scout?”

Onyx sighed. “Dead. Chrome killed him.” He took another massive bite. “Pretty brutally, in fact.”

I gaped. “Are you fucking kidding me? Why didn’t anyone tell me?”

“Because he’s dead. He didn’t know anything. He said he was the only one that knew where the Hollow was. He hadn’t had time to report it back to the king yet,” Onyx explained casually.

I rubbed my temples. “And did Chrome happen to get the information out of him on how he managed to get past the Hollow’s wards?”

Onyx stilled. Silence ensued around the table.

I pushed back from the table, no longer hungry. I snatched up my plate, ready to track down Chrome myself and confront him. Onyx’s words stopped me. “Don’t do it.”

“Why the fuck do all these men think they can keep ordering me around?” I asked the ceiling.

Without looking up from his plate, he said, “I’m not ordering; I’m advising.”

I laughed, but it held so much bitterness. “Advising? Because you’re Chrome’s little lapdog bitch. Always heeling to his orders, huh? You left one mindfuck of an asshole and fell right into the hands of another because, apparently, you can’t think for yourself.”

Hello, projection.

I knew I had gone too far. And there was no doubt I had been projecting my trauma onto Onyx, who wasn’t the target of my anger. I wanted to snatch the words back as soon as they left my mouth as I stood there breathing harshly. I was supposed to be working on my quick temper.

Godsdamnit.

Everyone at the table might as well have turned to statues. Onyx slowly set his silverware down against the plate before rising to his feet. His jaw was clenched tight, and his amber eyes were hard when he looked at me—none of his usual mirth and warmth were present.

Onyx took measured steps toward me. It was in that moment that I truly took in his size. He looked down his nose at me with his lip curled, disgust written all over his expression. “Now, I see it.” And then he walked off, exiting the dining hall.

I didn’t spare anyone else at the table a glance as regret squeezed my heart and moved into my gut. “Onyx!” I called after him. I jogged to catch up as he shoved the double doors wide open. “I’m so sorry. I shouldn’t have said…”

As he crossed the threshold, I dodged through the swinging doors behind him. He whipped around, shoulders hunched forward, hands fisted at his side. Shocked by his twisted expression, I stumbled back a few steps as he closed the distance. “You have no fucking idea what you’re talking about, Gray. You’re so quick to judge others when you won’t even look at yourself when you don’t get your way.”

All I could do was open and close my mouth, speechless by his shift. “I’m sorry,” I whispered. “I didn’t mean it.”

“No, you’re just an entitled little princess,” Onyx sneered. “I see why people couldn’t stand you. And if you’re not careful, the ones who have taken you in will turn on you, too.”

A sharp ache struck me in the chest. “Onyx…” Tears lined my bottom lids. “Please, tell me you don’t mean that.” My hands shook at the possibility of losing someone who’d been nothing but welcoming and kind, all because I couldn’t keep my mouth shut and control my emotions.

Onyx shook his head in disappointment. “I don’t. But you see what false words do when you’re hurt? Perhaps you should think about that next time.”

“I’m so sorry I said those things.” I dropped my gaze to stare at the dirt caked to my boots. “I just…I’m just so tired of people thinking I’m a liability. A burden. I’m tired of having the truth hidden from me.”

Onyx rubbed his face, then gripped his neck. “Come on. We need to talk.” He walked away at a brisk pace, expecting me to follow him.

I did.

He led me to his room down one of the hallways on the top floor of the lodge. He held the door open, and I squeezed past him awkwardly.

I took in his room, and unlike Chrome’s, his was full of personal items. An acoustic guitar sat propped against the wall by his bed. Onyx took a seat on the luxurious mattress that was probably the same as mine. “Come on. Sit. I won’t bite.”

I rolled my eyes but followed suit anyways as I propped a leg underneath me and sat down comfortably.

“I understand why you’re mad. I remember how you were treated. You’re valid in that. But I was just the messenger, Gray.”

I nodded, giving him a weak smile. “I know. I was wrong for that.” Onyx sighed, tilting his head. He cracked his knuckles and continued, “What do you know about my disappearance?”

I frowned. “Not much. No one does. Just that you disappeared one day. You were presumed dead.”

Onyx nodded and gazed out the curtained window. “Good.” I stayed silent, waiting for him to carry on. “I assume Chrome has told you the story of when he escaped the King’s Palace?”

A knot rose in my throat at the memory. “Yeah.”

“I was there,” Onyx said. “I witnessed them torturing him, and I wasn’t supposed to.”

“Oh,” I whispered.

“Yeah, it was savage.” Onyx ran his fingers through his speckled hair. “I mean, here was our hero, the most respected and valued Kinetic of them all. The man that Forest displayed to the public like a fucking show pony…and he locked him in the interrogation room, brutally torturing him for days on end until he was barely alive. Chrome finally snapped.” Onyx swallowed, a haunted expression entering his eyes. “I saw him kill Peri.” Dropping his gaze, he blew out a harsh breath. “He tried to fight it, but he’d been deprived of any replenishment for too long. That’s when he killed every single person locked in that room with him. He short-circuited every neuron in their brains.

“I tried to help him escape, but he was so…feral at that point. He thought I was deceiving him. He saw the high rank on my guard uniform and assumed I meant him harm. I got him out, though. After he damn near destroyed the King’s Palace.”

I reflected on the events of that day and what my father had claimed. “Forest’s words that day were, ‘Griffin Silas, son of the deceased Elemental king, wanted to wipe us out…’”

Onyx grimaced. “When he said that, I knew he was hiding something. A few days after, I overheard Uncle Grim,” he said, his lip curling and nose crinkling at the mention of his father’s younger brother. “I overheard him talking to Amethyst about Forest’s plan to open the portal. They considered Chrome a failed experiment, but at least they had you.

“I couldn’t stay at the palace after that.” Onyx shook his head. “I would’ve outed myself. My mother, the cold bitch that she is, would’ve noticed and turned me over right away. So, I packed my shit and ran in the middle of the night.”

Onyx rubbed the back of his neck. “I was on my own, roughing it out in the world for a year until I stumbled upon the Perry Hollow. They held me as a prisoner at first, but Orion convinced them I was genuine after interrogating me over the span of a week. Then, they took me in as if I were one of their own. Chrome hadn’t found them yet. But when I told Orion the story, he set out in search of him. A year later, not long after the EMP strike, he returned with Chrome in tow. He was a mess. But over time, Chrome recovered and became the leader that he is now.”

I let Onyx’s story sink in, piecing together what I already knew. I thought back to the memory of his father’s broken demeanor after Onyx’s disappearance. “Thank you for sharing your story with me, Onyx,” I said, genuinely appreciative of his trust. “Ugh, I can’t imagine what it must’ve been like growing up with Grim as your uncle.” I cringed at the thought.

“He is a sick piece of shit who needs to be put down,” he spat, hatred twisting his smooth complexion. I wondered if he knew what Grim had done to Chrome. I hoped Grim hadn’t committed the same atrocities on Onyx. But I didn’t ask. Some things were too personal.

I nodded in agreement. “I wish I’d killed him in my escape.”

“He’ll get his penance,” Onyx stated. “I have no doubt.”

“But your dad,” I began, remembering I meant to tell him. “Your father helped me to flee. He seemed resistant to my father’s rule.”

Onyx smiled softly. “Yeah, from what I know of the long, sordid tale involving King Jonas and Queen Lilliana, I can understand why. My dad is a man of honor, and there was no honor in what happened to them.”