I pinched the bridge of my nose. “Everything is black and white with you. Being Infernal isn’t a curse. It’s a gift. And she’ll see that once she joins me.”
Horrified, Orion stared at me as if I were a stranger. In a way, I was. The Chrome he once knew was gone. “You can’t make that choice for her, Chrome. She’ll never forgive you for that.”
“She will. Once she’s free of the burden of her conscience, she’ll thank me.” I sighed. “Now, if you’ll excuse me…”
My shadows crept from my arms and chest, coiling toward Orion to feed from him, but the moment they were about to makecontact, I redirected them to stop the blast, making it miss him by inches.
My uncle’s eyes widened, relief and surprise in his eyes. “Chrome…” he said in awe, “you saved me.”
I took slow and deliberate steps to close the distance between us, chuckling to myself. “I did, Uncle. Because I couldn’t let you die before I savored that powerful soul of yours.”
He paled, his heart shattering in his turquoise eyes. My shadows struck, hooking onto his soul.
Orion rasped as his chest lurched forward. He drooped until his knees collapsed and his body curled in on itself, thudding to the ground face-first as I drained his soul and fed my power.
Euphoria surged through my body, as if specks of magic dust wafted around my mind and flooded me until I almost couldn’t contain it. Laughter bubbled from the sensation of ticklish shivers that danced over my sensitized skin.
When I finished, I broke through the haze, spotting Orion unmoving at my feet. For a moment, grief and horror threatened to erupt to the surface, but just as quickly, I squashed them down before turning around to face the battle that waged ahead of me.
I casually strolledthrough the battle, stepping over fallen bodies and slapping away incoming weapons and magical attacks with ease. Focusing on the bond, I tried to pinpoint Gray’s location, but it was like trying to listen to the radio with heavy static. She was near—I knew that much.
Still basking in the euphoric intoxication from Orion, I came to a halt and latched onto a Kinetic, stealing their soul from their body and boosting my strength. I closed my eyes and tilted my face to the sky, savoring the ecstasy, and allowed it to take me higher for several moments before I came back to my surroundings. They weren’t thestrongest, but they would suffice for now. At least I had plenty of sources to feed from tonight.
My eyes cracked open, hooded from the high, and my gaze collided with rainbow irises. Several yards away, Gray stared at me as if she’d just seen a ghost.
A crooked smile rose on my face, and my heart picked up.Little savage.
She stood in battle gear, an Elemental sword hanging in her grasp at her side. Kinetic magic and weapons bounced off her air shield that protected her body.
A man shouted in the distance, inconsequential.“Gray!”
But Gray didn’t turn away from me as the world fell away around us. My Twin Soul. She was all I saw amidst the chaos.
“Gray!”
I snapped my eyes away when the man’s voice registered.Slate.
I’d almost forgotten about the oath he’d taken all those years ago. He was going to be a problem.
Gray followed my focus, her attention falling on my cousin, a surge of panic coming from her end of the connection. I stalked toward them.
Blood smeared down Slate’s temples. Clutching a sword in each fist, he rushed to her side. “What’s wrong?”
“Queen Gray Monroe!” I shouted, my voice booming across the Hollow’s grounds.
Gray turned her attention back to me, her face pale and stricken. Slate’s gaze followed, latching onto mine from several yards away as I closed the distance. He held his chin up in a challenge.
I sensed a knife flying toward me from behind. Dispatching the blade from its trajectory with my shadows, I fluidly launched it at Slate’s chest, spearing straight for his heart.
Unsurprisingly, my cousin caught the hilt in his fist, inches from landing true. Just as I’d taught him.
I glimpsed Void wielding roots from the ground as a whip to takeout a line of Kinetics, while River rained a torrential storm down on her opponents, directing the water into their mouths and noses.
“Chrome.” My name left Gray’s lips on a breath, her eyes saying everything that her body didn’t.
“Come with me,” I said, holding out my hand for her to take.
She shook her head. “No.”
