Slate and I whipped around, and I conjured a dagger to press to Shadow’s throat. “Where is he?”
The mysterious Kinetic, who somehow survived my lightning strikes, held his hands up, cocking a crooked smirk. “Don’t shoot the messenger. Just check by the barn where you rudely locked me away.”
I narrowed my eyes, staring at the oddly familiar man. “You’re coming with us,” I said, snatching him by his sleeve. “Why do you look like Chrome?” I demanded as I dragged him along.
Shadow chuckled. “Because he’s my brother. I can’t believe you haven’t figured it out yet.”
I slammed to a halt, jerking him to a stop beside me. Gaping at him, I shook my head. “How is that possible?”
Slate cleared his throat, gripping the back of his neck while looking around awkwardly. I glared at him. “You knew?” I snorted at his guilty smile. “Of course you did.”
Shadow shrugged. “We have the same mom. Different dads.”
Not having the capacity to deal with that shock right now, I said, “We’re not through talking about this.” Storming off, I didn’t care if they followed or not. I needed to find Orion.
Onyx found us, joining our trek. “What a clusterfuck.”
“I know. We can’t stay here. After we gather everyone who survived, we have to leave,” I said. “More Kinetics will be coming now that the wards are down and we’re fully exposed.”
Onyx nodded. “What about the dead? We have to?—”
“No,” I cut him off. “We don’t have time.”
Slate added, “There’s more on the way.Now that the wards are down, they’ll keep sending garrisons from different domains until they break us.”
“What about Hogan’s compound? Think we can head there until we can regroup?” I looked at Onyx.
Onyx winced. “He sent word back earlier, stating that as much as he wished he could help, his compound was full.”
My chest deflated, feeling the horrible situation going from bad to worse. “Have you seen Orion?” I asked him.
Onyx’s face paled, and he shook his head, starlit hair catching in the moon’s light. “I haven’t.” His voice rose barely above a whisper.
My hope sank further and further. “We have to find him. He probably needs our help.”
I turned to Shadow. Maybe he could be useful to us. “What did you see when you woke up in the barn?”
“Everyone had left the area, minus the dead bodies,” Shadow said, shrugging.
Slate cocked his head at Shadow, suspicious.
Approaching the barn, I gasped, breaking free of my companions and dashing toward the blond-haired man lying face down in the grass.
I slid to my knees, pressing my palms against the unmoving corpse to check for a pulse. “No. Orion, no.” My throat clogged and my nose burned as I shook my head, refusing to believe what my eyes showed me.
Casting my head over my shoulder, I screamed, “Somebody, help!”
Slate and Onyx ran forward to stand on either side of me, both of their expressions crestfallen.
Orion lay face down, but no visible wounds that would warrant his death stood out. I turned his head gently to glimpse his skin’s coloring. The paleness made him nearly translucent, as if the life had been vacuumed right out of him before he could do anything to stop it.
“Slate.” I cast my attention to him, pleading, as I pressed myhands uselessly against Orion’s stiff back. “He’s cold…” I shook my head. “He shouldn’t be cold yet.” He couldn’t have been gone long enough for that to happen unless he’d been depleted. “Help him!” Hot tears burned my cheeks, the night air doing nothing to cool me off. “Do something!”
Slate squatted down beside me, gently pressing his fingers to Orion’s neck, checking for a pulse. Lowering his head to his chest, he then looked up through his lashes, and I knew his answer.
“No. He can’t be…” Sobs broke from my chest. “Do something, Slate,” I begged, gasping for air. “Please.”
Onyx slowly wrapped an arm around my shoulder, pulling me into his side.
