Slate walked beside me while I carried a nearly unconscious Gray in my arms. Now wasn’t the time for me to think about the hurt caused by the two of them having sex. I wished more than anything that my Infernal self hadn’t been so fucked in the head as to watch the entire ordeal. Now it was permanently imprinted there. Each time I looked at him or spoke to him, my soul ached in a way that I’d never experienced before. It was a sharp yet dull kind of pain that made it hard to breathe. But for now, I needed to get the three of us through the portal so Gray could safely replenish.
I wasn’t sure what had happened when she faced Celanea, but clearly, her power was completely depleted. It was clear she had summoned an enormous amount of energy to fend off the Tempest queen, but it didn’t come without its consequences.
My fear for Onyx skated to the surface.I needed to find him.
The air stilled, and a frigid breeze wafted through the area around us. I halted my steps, glancing first at Slate’s worried expression, and then Valik’s widened green eyes.
“Hurry. Now! She’s ba—” As if one of my pulses blasted into his diaphragm, Valik’s words were stolen from him as he soared across the courtyard, the portal slamming shut with a booming clash.
I whipped around, spotting Celanea several yards behind us. My heart plummeted. I’d seen Gray obliterate her with her lightning strike. The charred crater in the ground where she’d been cowering had been the evidence. Or so I thought. If she’d managed to survive that, I questioned our chances of making it out alive.
I searched for Valik. He lay unconscious where he’d crashed from Celanea’s attack, sinking my hopes further.
Panic flashed in Slate’s hazel gaze for a fleeting moment as Celanea spun, her black dress billowing out as she cackled to the sky. He steeled himself, turning his head to silently communicate with me, his jaw stern and resolution hardening around his eyes.
“Distract Celanea,” I said, directing a nod at Slate, then returned my attention to an unconscious Gray.
Without a word, Slate disappeared into the courtyard.
I carefully laid Gray on the cobblestones. Sitting on my knees, I conjured my newfound Celestial power. Before becoming Infernal, I was considered a Celestial, but my powers were disjointed, separated into Kinetic and Elemental magic. Now, they all flowed together as one, and the strength in that power increased tenfold without the dire effects of being Endarkened or Infernal.
I kissed Gray quickly on the forehead before I placed my palm over her heart. “Come on, little savage. I need you to fight one more round,” I murmured while summoning my magic.
Despite our bond being severed, I hoped I could channel my power into her to replace her depleted stores. It wasn’t something I’d ever done before, or even thought of. But I couldn’t leave her unattended and vulnerable in Celanea’s presence.
The Tempest queen cackled behind me again. “Come back tome, my little pet!” she trilled, sending nails scraping along my nerves. Magic collided behind me, crackling the air with static that I absorbed to empower my own. I didn’t doubt Slate’s ability to fend her off—his Angelic abilities made him powerful in his own right. I only hoped he could withstand her onslaught long enough to get Gray back into action.
I ignored Celanea’s taunts and focused my power on reigniting Gray. With her being in devolution, she ran the risk of going mad from depletion when she came to. But if I offered her my power to feed from rather than her stealing from my aura…
I pressed against her heart with my palm, closing my eyes and clearing my mind. With a deep meditative breath, I focused on my magic, desperate to infuse her with my power. My arms tingled from the magic channeling from my chest. Freely, I gave my power to the other half of my soul. No barrier or any resistance blocked the transference. In fact, my power seemed to rush to her aid while her energy greedily accepted it. My magic flowed calmly through my palms and fingertips, a tugging sensation pulling at the deepest recesses of my core.
Opening my eyes, I watched for any reaction from Gray as I passed my power to her, hoping to see her spark to life once again. But the longer I channeled my magic, the harder and sharper the tugging became on what felt like my soul. I didn’t stop.
“Come on, Princess. Wake up,” I whispered, growing anxious. She lay motionless, even with the chaos of Celanea and Slate warring behind us.
The tugging on my soul intensified, urging my spirit toward her body. The more I resisted, the harder the pull. I groaned from the pain, and at last, I released my resistance, allowing the pull to rip my soul in half.
The pain eased, and I sighed in relief. When I opened my eyes, I realized I occupied not one, but two bodies. It took me a moment to process that I had just divided my essence in half to inhabit Gray and my own body at the same time. I saw through two pairs of eyes,seeing both Gray and myself simultaneously, feeling both our bodies’ sensations.
Shaken and confused, I turned my attention inward to Gray, speaking into her mind.“It’s me, Rainbow. I’m here with you. I hope that’s okay?”
My body—no Gray’s body—sobbed, the sound escaping from her lips while her words flowed into my mind.“Of course, it's okay. How is this possible?”
“I don’t know. I think it's a new Celestial power I’ve managed to unlock.”
“Oh.”She inhaled a shaky breath to quell the tightness in her chest.
“I’m only here for you to give you strength, and for you to feed from my power. Celanea is back. Slate’s holding her off. There was no way I was leaving you vulnerable to her.”
I couldn’t feel her emotions or hear her thoughts—rather, it felt like we just shared a space. Similar to riding in a car with her as the driver. I was along for the ride with her, but my energy already began to wane as she pulled from it as a constant source. It was worth it, because if precautions weren’t taken before she awoke, I knew all too well that the madness driven by her severe deprivation, combined with the symptoms of devolution, would consume her, and she’d deplete again.
Gray sat up, both of us assessing the scene before us through her eyes. Slate warded off Celanea’s dark magic with his silver Angelic light, locking the blood magic in place so that it hovered midair, encased in his power. Celanea shrugged, then cast another curse, unbothered. Maintaining his hold on her last spell, he turned his attention to the newest curse she launched his way, freezing it in place with his other outstretched arm and firing it back at her.
I glanced at my body, still frozen on my knees above Gray. Shifting my focus, I split my consciousness, becoming more present within my own body, while still distantly aware of Gray and feeling every physical sensation she experienced. So bizarre.
“We need to help him. Celanea knocked Valik out. So we gotta do something to stop her,”I explained while attempting to figure out what to do from here.
“Thank you, Chrome,”Gray said, pivoting her head to peer at me. I wanted to love her until the pain disappeared from her eyes. Her gratuitous statement was loaded, packed so tightly with multiple meanings that I didn’t even know which one to acknowledge. But I’d do anything for her, even if she never became mine again.
