I startled, lost in my own world of emotions. I was too comfortable when Evil Chrome was out there murdering his own people mercilessly. I sat up enough to look behind me, spotting two silhouettes: one female and one male.
Onyx and Aella approached me and climbed onto the boulder I’d secretly claimed, both settling on either side of me. “Thought we’d sit with you,” Onyx said, clearing his throat as he wrapped an arm around my shoulders and pulled me against his side.
“Thank you,” I whispered to both of them. “I’m sorry I’ve been distant and kind of a raging bitch lately.”
“You’re entitled to it after everything you’ve been through,” Aella said. “No one faults you for it.”
“No one but River,” I responded. “She blames me for Blaize’s death and for Chrome turning Infernal, which is so valid. None of this would’ve happened if I hadn’t come here.”
“Gray, listen to me,” Onyx said, shifting my face to make me meet his eyes. “Everyone wanted you here.” He chuckled. “Aella, remember when I first arrived and all of you kept asking me if I knew the princess?”
I sat up straight, hiding a smile that peeked through as I looked at Aella, who shrugged shamelessly.
“Yeah, I remember.” She laughed wistfully, turning her attention to the stars. “I remember hearing how fierce you were, just like Queen Lilly. Having Chrome here and the potential of having you as well brought us the hope that we could finally become a monarchy again, but things happen for a reason. And with everything that’s happened, it doesn’t mean that hope is lost. Just means there’s a greater purpose that we have yet to see. We still believe in you. You’re our queen.”
My heart warmed, thawing the ice that had formed over my heart when Chrome kissed me goodbye in the maelstrom of his destruction. I would bring him back. Back to his people, back to himself, and back to me. He would do nothing less if the roles were reversed.
“Thank you,” I said. “I really needed that.” Hugging my knees to my chest, I continued to sit with Onyx and Aella as the rain grew heavier. I let it drench me, imagining it cleansing the heaviness and negativity that I’d been clinging onto for the past two months.
The three of us hung out together until the rain slowed to a stop. They took their leave, but I chose to stay behind for a bit longer to reflect on the day. I decided that I didn’t forgive Slate yet for what he’d done, nor did I trust him wholly, but I wouldn’t shut him out completely. He broke through to me earlier in the way only he could with his unyielding compassion and empathy. I missed that more than anything about him. His gentleness had always been something I’d treasured.
No amount of anger toward him would erase the fact that he knew me on a cellular level, despite how much we’d changed over the past few years. I knew he held more secrets about his time in Arcadia, but I wouldn’t push him for them until the time arose.
Until then, I needed him to help me with Chrome and the veil before Celanea did more damage to our world.
If only I could fade again. I would fade us all to another location—to safety. Any way that we planned to travel would expose us to either the Kinetics, the poisoned lands and twisted beasts of Arcadia that infiltrated our world, or Chromehimself.
Water drenched my clothes and hair, and the ensuing exhaustion took over. My mind felt clearer than it had in months, though. I exhaled a deep breath, ready to retreat to the Hollow, take a hot shower, and crawl into my bed. Not Chrome’s.
It must’ve been around two in the morning, given how long I’d sat out there. I got up, then lumbered back to the lodge, feeling like a wet sloth. Just before I broke through the tree line to enter the landscaped yard, I sensed it. Or rather,him—Shadow.
My muscles locked up, feeling vulnerable and exposed as I began to summon my element, allowing my electricity to surge to life. The hum of my power ignited within my veins.
“I wonder what would happen if I took you away right now.” The silken voice of Chrome’s adversary reached my ears. “Would he come for you?”
“I don’t need him or anyone else to protect me,” I said to the night air, waiting for the perplexing Kinetic to make himself visible. Most likely, he hid behind the absence of light that derived from his power.
“Record shows…” he murmured in my left ear, “that you do,” he finished in my right.
I clenched my teeth. “How did you get through the wards?” I asked, wondering if they’d fallen entirely yet.
“I fried them.”
My lips parted in horror. “You—what?”
“Microwave energy,” Shadow chuckled, materializing inches from my face. “What better way to draw Chrome out of the dark crevices than to threaten his precious Princess Gray by making him feel her fear?”
My Kinetic magic powered through me, electrified by rage, and without a second thought, I slapped my palm to his chest and released volts of my power into his body. He locked up before convulsing, veins in his forehead and neck bulging, then crashed to the ground.
I used my element to snatch the air from his lungs before usingthe wind to levitate him, carrying his limp body to the abandoned barn where we kept prisoners.
I didn’t doubt that Onyx had already felt the wards collapse and would soon be searching for me.
At least I’d have the culprit ready for us to interrogate.
Chapter Eight
Chrome
