Prologue
Pre-Devolution Day 2009
“What did you do, child?” The refined baritone of King Forest boomed through the palatial suite, startling the young Kinetic princess. The frog she’d scooped up before arriving home squeezed through the gaps in her palms. Hopping onto the stone balcony of the Atlanta high-rise overlooking the city, escaping to freedom as she only wished she could.
The little girl’s heart rate leaped into a different rhythm as she whirled around with widened eyes to meet her fate, a squeak rising from her chest as she instinctively clutched the black stone necklace that hung from her neck. “I…I…didn’t do…”
Princess Gray’s father charged toward her, his broad frame towering over her petite body. With a bruising grip, the king snatched her forward by her braceleted wrist. His lip curled in disdain as he bore the full weight of his fury upon the princess with a clenched jaw.
“You could fuck up a wet dream. A godsdamn embarrassment,” he snarled, a vein pulsing between his green eyebrows. “What’s it gonna take to get it through that dense brain of yours for you to finally fucking learn?”
Gray tucked her chin into her shoulder and tensed, waiting for the blow that usually followed his insults. Each of his nasty words cut her as deeply as his physical strikes—if not more. She swallowed a whimper, knowing he took it as a sign of weakness, fueling his desire to beat it out of her.
Gathering every drop of courage, she swallowed her fear and dared to meet the controlled rage flaming in his eyes. “I didn’t do anything. I promise, Father.”
King Forest’s nostrils flared, his upper lip twitching. “Fine,” he growled, taking her little jaw and squeezing until she winced. “You just doubled your punishment since you wanna lie to my face.”
The king lodged his fingers into her ice-blonde hair and turned, dragging her behind him while ignoring her cries. He stormed through the top floor of the high-rise hotel that was the King’s Suite as Gray struggled to keep pace with his long, rushed strides.
The walk to the elevator was excruciating for the princess’s short legs to keep up with her father’s relentless grip. Even during the lengthy descent to the basement level of the hotel, he didn’t ease up. If anything, he squeezed and pulled her hair tauter as if she were a dog on a leash. Gray’s pulse spiked at the realization of where they were headed.
“Not the prisons, Father! I didn’t do anything on the playground. I don’t know what happened!”
Despite her self-preservation, she couldn’t bring herself to blame the sad boy with bright blue eyes and black hair—the boy who had somehow awakened his powers way too young,resulting in the decimation of the playground at their human school. She knew it was an accident.
Once the elevator stopped, the walk resumed. Her tears flowed freely down her cheeks while she dug her nails into her father’s wrists, hoping against all hope that he’d change his mind. She knew otherwise.
Her weak legs shook from fear and exertion by the time they reached the interrogation room at the end of the long corridor of the underground prison. Once the king entered the cold cement room, he threw her to the floor. Gray’s palms slapped against the smooth cement, stinging from catching herself just before her cheekbone did.
“Get up.”
Princess Gray’s scalp throbbed, her knees and hands screeched from the impact, and terror paralyzed her. But she knew if she didn’t comply, her punishment would be that much worse. On shaky legs and arms, Gray pushed herself to her feet with her back to the king.
“Look at me.”
Her body threatened to collapse. She might as well have had sticks of jelly holding her upright. Slowly, she turned around and swiped the wet streaks from her cheeks with shuddering fingers. She berated herself for the sniffles that wouldn’t stop.
Why does he hate me so much?she asked herself for the millionth time.
King Forest’s suit remained pristine and unruffled, and his rich green hair persisted in its perfect coif. “How did you do it?” he demanded. “And what did he tell you?”
Gray’s fingers twisted together before she formed tiny fists at her sides, digging her nails into her palms, adding to the sting from her fall. “Nothing. He didn’t say anything. Who was he?”
Her father chuckled. “There you go again, being an idiotic girl. What makes you think you get to ask the questions?”
Gray’s chest constricted and stomach twisted into further knots. “I’m sorry,” she murmured, dropping her gaze to the floor, resigned to her fate.
“I’m gonna ask you one more time,” King Forest said, his voice dropping dangerously low as he prowled closer to his daughter until he towered above her again. “What. Did. He. Tell. You?”
Gray knew she should just tell him the truth. Tell him that the boy had clearly been an Elemental and had awakened his magic before the age of thirteen when it was normally awoken. He had lost control of it when he was protecting her from the other kids. But she couldn’t tell her father that. She wouldn’t. That boy needed to be protected, too. Because the only way he could use his magic when he was so young was if he was put in enough danger that it burst free to protect him.
Swallowing down the knot in her throat, she shook her head. “Nothing. It just happened. He didn’t say anything.”
“You know the rules.” Forest’s voice rumbled in his chest, sending prickles along her scalp. “Never expose ourselves to humans.” He lashed out his hand, latching onto Gray’s fragile throat and lifting her from the floor, bringing her eye-level with him.
With her feet dangling and kicking to find purchase on the ground, she tried and failed to gasp for air as she stared into the cold and depthless eyes of her physical demon.
The manicured, verdant beard on Forest’s jaw rippled as she gouged her fingernails into his wrist which held her in his merciless grasp. Her vision tunneled inward, and her will to fight began to wane.
