I hate them.
I love them.
No. I hate them for what they did.
But I also love them for what they did, too.
When it came to the two of them, my emotions wavered on a precarious tipping point between love and betrayal. Currently, my anger won out, outweighing the love I held for both of them. The difference with Chrome lay in our bond. I needed him to be here. The agony I’d felt in my soul when he turned dark reminded me every day that I needed to get him back to normal. Yes, I loved him. Yes, I needed him alive. And he was probably the solution to fixing the fucking veil thathedestroyed. And I needed Slate for his knowledge of Arcadia, but it pained me to admit it to him. While having him at the Elemental Hollow was a surreal blending of two lifetimes,I found some comfort in knowing he was nearby. As angry and hurt with him as I was, his presence still grounded me, even if it was only in microscopic amounts.
But needing someone and wanting someone were two totally different things. I wouldn’t let my need for them dictate my emotions. It didn’t excuse the lies and deception they’d wielded to use me for their big endgame, and I refused to be played by their manipulations again.
Against my better judgment, I reached for Orion’s liquor and took a drink, the burn of the alcohol singing my throat on its way down. But fucking hell, it tasted so much better than homemade moonshine.
After several minutes, Slate sat up straight, pointing to a spot in the book. “Here,” he murmured, looking at me. “It essentially says that in order to rebuild a veil should a catastrophe like ours ever occur, it must be done by the anointed High King and Queen of all of Arcadia, who are Celestials. It requires a lot to achieve, but at least it can be done.”
I sighed, my hopes deflating. “And there’s no current High King and Queen sitting on a throne in Arcadia.”
“No. But…”
Slate had explained this before. Not once. Not twice. But a whopping five times at this point. I needed to know that I wasn’t missing anything. “But what?”
Slate shifted his gaze hesitantly between me and Orion while chewing on his bottom lip. His knee bounced, rattling the table.
I held my breath, dangling in suspense as I waited impatiently for him to speak.
“But…” Slate began, “some people in Arcadia believe that there will be soon enough.”
I pinched the bridge of my nose, frustrated by his cryptic comments. “What about Chrome?” I mumbled, going out on a limb and hoping he would actually give me something useful about himthis time. “Remind me again of everything you know about Infernals.”
Slate licked his bottom lip, swallowing. “I mean, as you said, you already know that they’re basically intelligent forms of Endarkened who were once Celestials, bound to a Tempest’s will through dark magic. Infernals are soulless and apathetic beings who no longer wield the power of a Celestial, but a magic as sinister as the Tempest who created them.”
It was Slate’s turn to reach for the liquor bottle and take a large sip before continuing. “The reason Chrome is Infernal and not Endarkened is because Forest didn’t simply manipulate Chrome into shattering the veil with his power. He’d bound Chrome to Celanea through a Syphon Bond, which prevented him from turning Endarkened when he depleted for the third time. For an actualized Celestial, it only required the Syphon Bond cast by a Tempest to turn them into an Infernal. You two might be Celestials, but you haven’t actualized that power yet. Because Celanea cursed the Celestials to split them into two separate species a thousand years ago, you’re still technically considered hybrids until that curse is broken. A hybrid, though, needs to deplete someone three times for the Syphon Bond to take effect. It doesn't matter when the bond is cast, so long as it happens before the third depletion."
“And you’re sure there is no way to restore them to their original state?” I asked numbly.
Slate rubbed his jaw with a minor shake of his head. “I’m sorry. As I’ve said before, there’s nothing from the past to indicate that there is,” he said gently. “You two are an unusual case, so there may very well be something that we’re missing.”
I glanced at Orion, who stared up at the oak rafters above us, broken.
My eyes began to burn, and I bit my cheeks to fight off the emotions that clung to me. Chrome’s loss devastated not only me, but so many others around us. With Kinetics all over the world organizing to take us out, we needed him now more than ever.
I exhaled, trying to blow out the pent-up emotion in my chest.
The door to the room burst open, slamming into the wall and jolting me from my seat. River stumbled into Orion’s office, breathless, her brown complexion paling several shades lighter than should be possible. She clutched her trembling hands to the door, tears brimming in her eyes. The three of us leaped to our feet, dread soaking my body in ice from head to toe.
“Chrome,” River whimpered in a very uncharacteristic manner. My heart slowed as her words cut to my soul. “He…he killed Aster.”
Chapter Six
Cotton
Scarlett wrapped her arms around my neck, pulling me in tight for a hug. “Oh my gods, Cotton,” she whispered. “I had no fucking clue.”
I ran my fingers through her ruby waves to comfort her, shaking my head. I knew it would be a shock to her to discover that my inability to speak was because I lacked the majority of my tongue—only a quarter of it remained in the back. Over the years, I did everything in my power to hide it. When I ate, I tilted my face down toward my plate. Whenever I laughed, I worked to keep my mouth closed. I fought so hard to keep everyone’s questions at bay because if anyone discovered the truth behind my missing tongue, they were at risk of punishment or death.
A growing crowd of Mystics—women and men alike—surrounded us. I presumed it was because they were curious about the newcomers in their isolated home. It must’ve been highly warded and protected to keep them untouched for so long. As uncomfortable as the attention made me, I didn’t sense they were a threat.
After several moments of embracing Scarlett while she processed that part of my truth, I gently placed my hands on her shoulders topush her back enough to look me in the eye. I offered a comforting grin, letting her know that I was okay.
