“That’s only because of the Syphon Bond, then, if you can’t feel any emotion,” she argued.
I shrugged. “Perhaps. But I know you’re important to me. Special. You’re mine. And nothing can change that. You’re my queen. And we will rule Terraguard and Arcadia together. You’ll come around to seeing it my way. I assure you, little savage.”
“No,” Gray said, her tone flat. “I won’t. Not like this. Not when I’m your prisoner.”
Inky threads of shadow trickled from my body, extending outward until they taunted her face. Gray flinched away, trying to escape the tendrils that crept closer to her throat. “Never forget,” I said. “You and I are two in one. You may want to fight against me now, but we both know that you can only hold out for so long.” A tendril stroked her cheek, drifting down, down…down until teasing the area just above her clit. “You’re not my prisoner. I just need to show you the beauty of being in the shadows. You only know the bad parts of being in the darkness. But there’s no other place I’d rather be. And I know you’ll feel the same.”
Gray held her breath as my shadows dipped lower and caressed her clit, teasing her with immoral promises that I knew appealed to her darker half. “So what? You serve the Tempests now?”
I stared at her, fighting off my irritation from such a stupidquestion. “I serve no one.” Dropping my tone, I added, “You’re the only one I serve. And I’ll happily commit any atrocity if anyone thinks they can take you from me.” The memory of witnessing Slate fuck her burned holes in my brain, and it took everything I had to restrain myself from killing him too soon. I cut my attention to my traitorous cousin, who lay unconscious on the stone floor. “Before I let Celanea and your father know that you’re here, I’m gonna let you contemplate the choices of your actions for a bit.” My jaw ached, my teeth grinding together as my nostrils flared.
Returning my attention to Gray, I watched as the realization that I knew about her tryst sank her hopes to the pits of hell. Her horror slammed into me, and in response, my vision faded to a shade of red. I didn’t want her fucking pity. I didn’t want her guilt. I wanted her compliance. Her loyalty. And in return for her duplicitous actions, I’d punish her accordingly.
Gray shuddered, and I internally rejoiced at the blood draining from her panicked face. Angling my head, I observed her like a cat would a mouse as she shook her head, clearly trying to deny the truth.
She stuttered, attempting to find words, but I cut her off, my patience running dry. “I told you. You belong to me.”
Not giving her a chance to respond, I snatched my shadows back to me. They had begun to wrap around her throat, and all I wanted to do was to have them squeeze until she submitted to me and only me. Instead, I spun on my heel and stormed from the cell to avoid looking at the betrayal glistening in her eyes, leaving her chained to the stone floor and wall with an unconscious Slate on the other side of the room.
Chapter Twenty-Six
Gray
Chrome’s menacing, cold voice wouldn’t escape the loop replaying in my mind. The real Chrome had left the building, and in his place stood a demon with black irises. Even his mannerisms were different. No more of the troubled motion of running his fingers through his hair. Instead, he’d stood stoically with his hands casually at his back.
The moment the cell door slammed shut, I summoned my magic, only for it to gutter out in my veins. My element was dormant once again. Tears of anger and betrayal burned my eyes. He knew what it meant to me to have my magic suppressed. He had been there the day I’d experienced my air element for the first time. He’d guided me through it and stayed with me until the end. Only he knew how much I valued my freedom. Now he used that as a bargaining chip to get what he wanted, to turn me into something the old Chrome would’ve fought to the death to shield me from. The irony that he became the exact thing he’d been resisting for so long, in order to protect me, hurt worse than when my father ran his sword through my spine. It appeared to be his entire mission to turn me alongside him.
The one person I had been irrevocably tied to would be the one who could ruin me. My trust in him would turn out to be my downfall. Again.
For so long, I had been trying to liberate myself from the trappings of my father’s abuse. Should’ve known that it wouldn’t last forever. Cursed or not, the man who freed me from my father was the same person who’d put me back in his chains.
I slumped against the uneven and cold wall, my arms already tingling from the uncomfortable position on the floor. At least the chains were long enough to offer minimal slack to my arms and legs. Deflated, I sat there, feeling a heavy pit in my chest as I waited for the retribution this twisted version of Chrome had promised.
The idea that Chrome had actually watched Slate and me have sex made my stomach roil. Whether he was Infernal or not, it was a horrifying thought for all of us involved. A private, intimate moment of weakness that I’d needed so I could put these conflicted feelings for Slate to bed. And Chrome’s eyes had pried upon it all. Even if he were wholly restored, I knew it would break his heart, which made my own wither away like the hope dying inside me from the sight of him now.
Despite my exhaustion,I couldn’t sleep. Minutes, hours, or maybe even days had passed. I couldn’t be sure. I stared at Slate, waiting for him to stir as my anxiety soared to new heights. I had yet to determine where exactly we were, only that we were in a dark cell with multiple sets of chains of varying lengths attached to the walls and floors, resembling something from the Middle Ages. At the very least, I assumed we were in Arcadia. It was cold, and the silence was so loud my ears rang, but not quite loud enough to quiet my mind, unfortunately.
Chrome had mentioned that Celanea and Forest didn’t know of my arrival yet. I wondered if he'd told them by now, and if so, whenwould they come to me? One thought spiraled into another as I agonized over what Chrome had planned. He wasn’t the same as before, so I couldn’t predict his moves, especially given the fact that he seemed to have turned completely heartless since becoming Infernal. I didn’t even know him anymore, so who knew what he was truly capable of at this point.
Movement scraped against the concrete floor on the other side of the room. I jumped at the sound, but my heart settled once I realized it was Slate returning to consciousness. He groaned, placing his uncuffed palms over his eyes as if to block out the nonexistent light in the cell.
“Slate,” I hissed, unsure how much we were being monitored. I didn’t doubt that Chrome would be triggered simply by the fact that we were speaking.
“Gray,” Slate responded, his voice hoarse and heavy with sleep. “Where are we?”
“I don’t know, but I’m pretty sure we’re in a prison in Arcadia somewhere,” I whispered, fearing that every word reverberated off the walls and carried to Chrome or Forest.
“Fuck.” Slate sat up. “This is bad.”
I rattled my chains. “Yeah, I figured that one out already.”
“Why are you chained up, and I’m not?” Slate asked, skepticism heavy in his tone. “That doesn’t make any sense.”
“Yet again, I have no fucking clue. But I’m assuming it’s pointless for you to try and get me out,” I explained, the heaviness in my heart at his twisted demeanor once again depriving me of any hope. “Chrome wouldn’t make it easy for me to escape if he didn’t want me to.”
“Right. Leaving me unrestrained is definitely a trap of some sort.”
“Especially since he knows that you and I had just fucked right before he appeared.”
