“My whole life, everyone around here’s always called me the cold-hearted bitch. But I’m learning,” she said, voice muffled in her hands, “that my heart’s only been coated in a thick layer of frost, while yours is an ice sculpture to mimic the actual organ. Must be nice to watch everyone around you die and brush it off like nothing happened.”
My nostrils flared as I stepped closer to her again. Void angled her away as if to protect her, but I shook my head at him to back down. “And I learned a long time ago that putting my emotions on display is the best way for people to use them against me.”
River’s face contorted as she reset her nose, suppressing a groan from the pain.
I remained inches from her face. “Keep pushing the limits with me, and you’ll soon find out how cold of a bitch I can really be. Lashing out at me isn’t going to make you feel better. I’ve been there.” Without giving her another glance, I shoved past her, my shoulder knocking into hers as I stormed to the weapons cache.
I imagined I’d find Slate there. Hopefully, he was babysitting Shadow well enough that he wasn’t causing problems for the others.
When I arrived, the training room was in a state of organized chaos. Everyone packed weapons and grabbed all the essentials needed. I hated that we had to scramble to flee our home, but everyone remaining understood the urgency as they worked together in solemn vigilance.
Kodiak approached, his broad frame towering above me. “Gray, I hope you don’t mind that I’ve been delegating tasks so we can take what we’ll need. If we’re going to Arcadia, there probably won’t be redfern available to infuse in our blades, so I’ve ordered a group to gather as much as they can to bring with us.”
The simple act was enough to make me want to weep. I wrapped my arms around his waist, catching him off guard. I never hugged people, so his reaction wasn’t surprising.
Hesitantly, Kodiak embraced me, rubbing my back in a comforting gesture.
“Thank you,” I whispered.
“No need to thank me. I’ll help in any way I can.” With a tight squeeze, he pushed me back so he could see my face. “How are you holding up?”
I sucked in a deep breath to ward off the emotions that began to choke me again. “I’m here. Just want to get everyone to safety before more Kinetics return. Let’s aim to leave in about fifteen minutes, yeah?” Time was ticking. I was shocked that they hadn’t returned yet.
With a nod, Kodiak turned and ran toward a group of Elemental men who loaded up bags with swords, pointing and directing people to finish up the task.
The weight on my chest grew heavier as I watched everyone work together to leave their home, and I fought the natural instinct to blame myself for it as River’s words echoed in my mind.
“Hey.” A hand landed on my shoulder. “We’re about ready.”
Slate studied me as if he expected me to crumple right there. But I refused. Too many people depended on me.
“Good,” I said, clearing my throat. “Were you able to make the map?”
“Yeah, I hope it’s enough to get us there. This journey, though, Gray…it’s going to be lethal.”
“I know,” I conceded, thinking of the beasts, the poisoned plants, the Kinetics, and wondering if we would be able to find enough food to feed everyone on this trek. “But staying here is suicide.”
Slate nodded. “I know. We can only fight them off for so long until we are all dead.”
“They’ll blitz us in the middle of the night again. Or at dawn break. It would be another massacre,” I said. “I just hope Shadow can be trusted to keep his word on helping us remain undetectable.”
The beginningsof sunrise tinted the horizon in faint pinks as the caravan of Elementals trekked through untainted woods. We headed northwest to skirt around the Kennesaw and Tennessee domains by hugging the borders. According to Slate, the Celestial Castle should be somewhere near the Rocky Mountains out west. He and Kodiak worked together to create a map to pin down its location more accurately. Not long after Arcadia combined with Terraguard, our Elemental scouts and Kodiak had mapped out the locations where Arcadia was overlapping with our world. They’d found that each section resembled puzzle pieces that had yet to be connected, separated by the sections of Terraguard that remained untainted.
I really wished I could fade again. That would’ve spared us this long and treacherous journey on foot. And according to our calculations, we were heading for the mountainous region in Utah near Salt Lake City, which would take us a month to walk.
“Shadow,” I called out. “How long will your shield last?”
Shadow walked beside Cardinal Kittle, his black hair contrasting with Cardinal’s deep crimson. The two leaned in toward each other,laughing as if they shared an inside joke. Hearing my call, he straightened, his expression sobering as he cracked his neck, triggering something uncomfortable in me with how similar to Chrome it made him appear. “I can hold this until my power is drained. As long as I can replenish or energy-share, I’ll be good.”
I didn’t trust him, not one bit, but he was our best option to avoid Kinetic detection at this point. “Let me know if you start getting low.”
Cardinal’s stare lingered on me, a kind smile gracing his features that reminded me so much of Scarlett. The other Elementals didn’t trust him, and I didn’t blame them for it. Usually, they offered grace to refugee Kinetics, but Cardinal was a different case. He’d been an Assassin in the Kinetic Guilds for King Forest. While he’d been friends with Chrome and Slate, he’d been loyal to Forest. It wasn’t until his little sister had been locked up and sentenced to death that he began to second-guess his leader. The narrative that my father had been spinning to the public about her made him question everything. If it hadn’t been for him, I would never have known about Scarlett, Cotton, and Hazel.
I turned to face Slate, Kodiak, Void, Aella, Onyx, and River. They’d stayed close to me in their somber silence, still alert to their surroundings for threats. “We might need to stop at a scorse at some point soon to re-up supplies. But trust me when I say, it’ll be risky. And just shout when you see a cross in a field. If there’s a speakeasy below, the human militia might let us in to rest and eat and drink.”
We were exhausted. Between the adrenaline from the fight and the emotional toll from our losses and the last-minute departure, we didn’t have much left inside of us as we lumbered through the woods with slumped shoulders and heavy hearts.
Several hours later, the sun beamed brightly in the sky, bringing the humidity with it. My stomach growled, and my body wanted to collapse. “Let’s stop to eat soon, and then hopefully we’ll come across a speakeasy not long after. If not, then we’ll crash in the forest somewhere,” I suggested to Onyx beside me.
