I nodded numbly, my mind spinning. “Wow. I just thought I was going crazy seeing both Chrome and Onyx when I saw you. I didn’t think it was possible.”
Shadow chuckled. “Anything’s possible, Princess.” He glanced at me. “Before my mother began to show, she returned to her childhood home in New Orleans to keep the pregnancy secret. When she delivered me, she left me in the care of her cousin to adopt and raise. She refused to see me in person out of fear that Forest would discover my existence. But I always maintained contact through letters. Never met Smokey, though. I don’t know if he even knows I exist.”
I sucked in a deep breath, shocked at the continuous onslaught of secrets. “Chrome knows who you are?”
“Fully.” Shadow scanned over Kodiak’s other wounds with a pinched brow.
Of course, he did.
“So–” I cleared my throat. “What have you been doing all these years on your own?”
“Would you believe me if I told you that I worked to expose Forest behind the scenes?” He peeked at me from the corner of his eye with a smirk.
Taken aback, I sat up straight. “Wha–why?”
Shadow hesitated, carefully wiping at Kodiak’s chest again. “As long as he lived, my life was in danger. I wanted a relationship with my mother and father. So if I could get rid of him, then I could convince myself it could happen. Eventually, I joined the CIA for awhile, trying to find any information regarding his dealings with the human government.”
I raised my eyebrows. “And what did you find?”
“That he sold us all out to the humans for a war. He provided them with the intelligence on our weaknesses. For both Kinetic and Elementals alike. They were planning to make weapons of mass destruction composed of redfern and black crystal. We never stood a chance. But the EMP struck, and although it fucked everything, it saved both races from being completely annihilated.”
I looked up to the sky, shaking my head. “How does that man continue to surprise me with each passing day? You’d think by now I’d be used to it.”
“He needs to be put down.”
I swallowed, guilt creeping in at the memory of failing to kill him. I had been so close. “So why do you want to kill Chrome so badly?”
Shadow whistled lowly. “That is a much more complicated one to answer, Princess.”
“I have time,” I said, trying to quell the protective part of me when it came to Chrome.
“Well, we met about a decade ago after he fled the King’s Palace. I found him, and we grew close. Things went south. He tried to kill me and thought he had. Then, he killed our mom. I tailed him for a bit after he exploded the Royal Domain and destroyed the veil. I know he’s neither Elemental nor Kinetic anymore. And I know that the only way to spare him—and the world—is to kill him. He can’t be saved.”
“That’s what I keep being told,” I said dully, relaxing against the ground, pulling my knees to my chest, and turning my attention back to Kodiak. If Chrome were himself, he wouldn’t leave his side.
“You don’t believe it?”
“I refuse to,” I said, remembering that vulnerable gaze he’d given me back at the Hollow. He was still in there somewhere. I knew it. “There has to be a way to bring him back. I won’t give up on him. He would do the same for me.”
“You love him then?” Shadow pressed.
“I do,” I said, not elaborating on the Twin Soul Bond.
“And if you don’t restore him? Then what?”
I paused, unable to even think of what would happen if I failed to find a way to restore him. “I don’t know. I guess I’ll figure it out as we go. But until I find hard evidence that he can’t be brought back to himself, I won’t give up hope.”
“Where do you intend on finding this evidence?”
“There’s a man in Arcadia that Slate knows. If anyone has knowledge about this, it would be him.”
“Would his name happen to be Valik?” Shadow’s short fringe draped over his brow, like the deepest shades of coal.
“You know him, too?” I asked, my eyes widening.
“I’ve met him from time to time,” he said with a casual air. “Very peculiar man.”
A hand pressed on my shoulder from behind. “Gray,” Slate said. “I know it’s not ideal, but I don’t believe it’s safe for us to stay here much longer.”
