Chapter 35

Chrome

“I’ll be back soon,” I muttered, stuffing blades everywhere on my person I could fit them.

Onyx held his arms out to the side. “Dude, you just got back three days ago. What do you need to do now?”

“Leave,” I said, refusing to meet his eyes. “I need to talk with the militia.”

“About what?” Onyx challenged.

I blew out a harsh breath, beginning to lose my patience. “Things.”

Onyx’s chuckle held no humor. “Wrong answer, Prince. Talk.”

“Fuck, Onyx.” Dropping my arms at my sides, I turned to face him. “I need to see if their intel has anything new on the king’s plans.” I couldn’t confess that I needed to distance myself from Gray. It would only solidify the fact that I was a coward for running again.

Onyx narrowed his eyes. “But don’t we have people for that job? We need you here.”

“No, you don’t. You’re here, and so is Orion. It’ll only be a day or two at the most.”

Onyx palmed his hands over his face, frustrated at the losing battle. “What can I do?”

“Just help Gray get acclimated. Keep an eye on her.”

“In what way?” “In the way that her element is new to her, and she might lose control of it. I don’t know, Onyx. Just watch out for her, okay?”

Just thinking about how stunning she looked in her full form stole my breath. Her marbled hair, golden Elemental skin, and shocking rainbow eyes that appeared after bonding with her element, rocked me in a way I hadn’t been expecting. She was every bit the fierce warrior I knew her to be. I resisted the intense desire to drop to my knees and worship her right there.

Gray’s words kept repeating in my mind since she’d said them. She had every right to be mad and feel violated by my emotional eavesdropping, even if it was unintentional. But it was her words, “You’re no different than my father. You disgust me,” that I couldn’t seem to silence, triggering old trauma from my youth that I’d thought had been healed since my escape from the Royal Domain. Apparently not. Some wounds never truly healed.

Onyx narrowed his amber eyes at me in suspicion. “What’s got you so worked up that you’re up and leaving out of nowhere?”

I snapped on my black and silver bracelets, shutting down my magic. It only seemed to heighten the growing frenzy in my body. At Gray’s words, painful memories were dredged to the forefront again. Once I put a stark distance between Gray and me after the training session, the madness found a foothold to latch onto. I couldn’t seek her out now, and I didn’t want anyone at the lodge to witness me like this.

I needed a release.

“Nothing. Just…I need to check on some things.” I flipped the hood over my head and looked at him again, ignoring the clawing darkness within me, already announcing its unwelcome arrival. Its distant excitement grew with each passing moment. “Inform Orion and the others. Keep it discreet. A small mission—nothing more or less.”

I hated asking him, but I couldn’t afford their questions right now.

Onyx relaxed his shoulders and rubbed the back of his neck. I could see his discomfort, but he nodded anyway. “Fine. Just come back in one piece, yeah?”

“Always do.” After grabbing a final knife and sliding it up the inside of my sleeve, I strode toward Onyx, pulling him into a hug. “It’ll be fine. Just keep her occupied and help train her in her combat deficiencies.”

With a pat on my back, my friend agreed. “Okay. Will do.”

The itch began to grow into an internal squirming, and the voice—Grim’s voice—grew more distinct in my mind, taunting me with things like, You thought you could get rid of me for good, did you? That’s cute. I’ve missed you; I’m so glad to be reunited again. I’m going to have so much fun with you.

Stepping back, I gave my dearest friend a final parting nod before leaving my bedroom suite altogether to rush through the lodge’s natural luxury to the back exit, slipping out into the dusk. I removed the glamoured wards long enough for me to exit the premises, and headed for the outside world once again—feeling the distance grow between Gray and me with every step.

Grim’s oily voice wouldn’t shut the fuck up. Since this affliction began, the darkness chose my abuser’s voice to haunt and torture me.

If he wasn’t laughing at my backslide, he was ratcheting up the craving to spill blood. Repeated words from all those years ago continued to echo in my mind like a loop, reminding me how helpless I’d been at his mercy. Some things could never fully heal; you just learned to live with the pain, but you also figured out how to move forward in your life without allowing that pain to dictate your path or choices. He threatened to unravel it all again.

Sitting in the nearest speakeasy, I downed another glass of moonshine. Its potency made me woozy, but I didn’t care. I needed to numb the craving. Withdrawal symptoms weren’t helping. Sweat beaded down the side of my face as I felt hot and stifled on the outside while I fought to stop my shivering teeth caused by the iciness within me.

I needed Gray. But I didn’t want to need her. She hated me anyway. I disgusted her, and rightfully so.

Who was I to think I could ever be redeemable?

Glad you finally came to your senses, boy. We’re gonna have so much fun together.

My stomach lurched, and I almost lost its contents.

“Holy shit.” A whispered voice filled with awe snatched me from my thoughts. I jerked my head to the side to find a dark-haired human woman. Her worn and holey clothes told me she was not militia.

I cocked an eyebrow, not in the mood to socialize.

“You’re…” she said with her brown eyes wide, dirt smudged on her cheeks and forehead. “You’re one of those Elemental creatures.”

I gave her an unimpressed stare. “And? What gave me away?”

“The skin,” she answered, not picking up on my sarcasm. She touched her cheek. “And the eyes.” The woman leaned an inch closer to me as if to inspect them.

I glanced down at my wrists, noticing the missing black bracelet that was supposed to adorn it. With a sigh, I remembered that I’d forgotten to put it back in place after my Kinetic run-in earlier. Thankfully, the black clothing covered the bloodstains.

“Well, it appears that would do it. Can I help you?” I drawled, uninterested.

Just kill her already.

I rolled my eyes at Grim’s bullshit.

“Is it true you’re an angel?” she asked, hope brimming in her eyes with unshed tears. “Here to save humanity?”

While most humans who weren’t part of the militia feared us, there were a few highly religious ones who theorized that Kinetics and Elementals were either angels or an alien race here to save humanity. “It depends on how you define angels.” I took another swig of ‘shine. My sanity wasn’t on the fringes like it had been when playing my game of cat and mouse with Gray. The memories of my time as a Kinetic were beginning to fade, but I had enough memories to remember the important shit.

“Can you heal others?” Desperation cracked her voice.

My expression softened, ignoring Grim in my mind. “No, I can’t heal others. I’m sorry.”

“Oh,” she conceded. Her head and shoulders dropped as the loss of hope deflated the light in her eyes.

“You have more questions,” I stated. I gestured to the seat at the table. “Sit. Let’s see if I can answer any.” If there was one thing I understood, it was the misery of living in the unknown. Of not being equipped with knowledge that could help me better defend myself against the world. As endearing as their beliefs toward us were, they were dangerous for them. Forest would have her and her entire family killed in an instant without a second thought.

The woman’s demeanor picked back up again, and she smiled. “Thank you.” She climbed onto the steel stool across from the wooden barrel that served as a table.

The hot and cold sweats were returning, as well as my heart rate, beating in uneven patterns. My skin began to itch, but I resisted the urge to scratch, knowing it wouldn’t do any good but drive me further insane. Hopefully, I could use this conversation as a nice distraction.

“So,” the woman started, “where did you come from? What are y’all able to do?” The rapid-fire questions were full of excitement, and I struggled to keep up with them. But I signed myself up for it.

“We’ve been here for many millennia. We don’t know our exact origins, but we suspect we came from another realm or world. However, we are not considered angels.”

“Why are there rumors that you are healers?” she asked, face pinched in confusion.

“Because we can heal ourselves, but not others.”

“Oo-kay. What happened on Devolution Day?”

The question slammed into me like a brick wall. I should’ve expected it, but given my current state, I wasn’t prepared to answer through my foggy mind. “Uhm,” I said, running a hand through my raven waves. Answering this question was risky when it pertained to unknown humans. It could go either way. “Well, I’m going to give you the story not many humans know,” I said, settling on my resolve. “The truth.”

Excitement lit her eyes again, a hint of a smile playing on the edges of her mouth. I bet she’d been a reporter—no doubt. Good, she could go back and spread it to the others. I’d take my chances.

As I delved into the story, the brunette remained riveted as she leaned across the table with her forearms pressed to the surface. I withheld a few details, things that no one else knew. But she got the idea. The narrative that had been spread all those years ago had been a complete lie. The Elementals were just as much the victims as the humans. Yet, we were fighting alongside them to help give them their world back.

“What’s your name?” she asked. And again, my words got caught in my throat. Both the names, Griffin and Chrome, were well-known to every group. I couldn’t give that away.

A hand clamped on my shoulder, making me whirl around to face the newcomer, immediately reaching for the knife in my sleeve. “How odd it is to find you here.”

Observing the man, I couldn’t place him. I knew him, and we’d interacted many times. He was a Kinetic, which meant my older memories from that time in my life were lost to me at the moment. His bracelet was intact, which masked his true hair color and currents, making it more difficult for me to place. The only thing I knew was that he was my contact.

He smiled wide, exposing bright teeth beneath a dark beard. “Mind if I steal you away from your new friend?” he asked me.

The woman’s expression fell, but she caught it quickly, trying to hide her disappointment. “Oh, sure. Thank you for your time…” she trailed off, still unsure of my name.

“Silas,” I finished for her.

“As in Griffin Silas?” she asked.

“No, Silas is my first name.”

“Oh,” she responded in what sounded and looked like relief.

After saying parting words, I rose from the table and faced my contact. I couldn’t bring myself to ask his name. It would raise alarms, and people had trust in me. Regardless, I would see to Forest’s bloody death before I succumbed to my affliction. “Follow me,” he muttered loud enough for me to hear before doing a quick scan of the speakeasy.

I trailed closely behind him through the tunnel door leading to the steps above ground. As per usual, the air in the speakeasy was muggy and stifled, making the first breath of fresh air a relief once reaching topside.

My contact didn’t stop; instead, he walked in silence across the expansive field to an abandoned home. Thunder rumbled in the distance, and the night air felt dense with moisture building from the impending storm. Lightning lit up the sky, faint yet beautiful, nonetheless.

Lost to my personal torture, I didn’t hear the whistling of an arrow. “Chrome! Snatch it,” my contact ordered.

Out of pure instinct, I struck my right arm out, feeling the air’s movements, and snatched the arrow from its trajectory.

Observing the blue-tipped arrow, I pushed my awareness outward to sense the energies. Judging by the quieted steps, there were several Kinetic warriors hiding in the trees at the edge of the woods nearby. It dawned on me that my unrepressed Elemental energy made it easy for Forest to find me. I couldn’t be too mad, it offered me an excuse to bring hell on earth.

Excitement zipped through my veins, ready to bathe in the carnage. “I hope our little chat can wait. I’ve got a fuck ton of pent-up anxiety I need to release. You in?”

My Kinetic contact grinned, mischief lighting up his eyes. Pulling two daggers from his belt, we bolted toward the direction of the Kinetics as the beast inside me roared to life.