My upper lip curled at him. I had no friends. The one person who stood by me through everything was now dead by my own doing.
“Onyx…” I said, testing the name out on my tongue to see if it rang true. With a tilted head, I appraised him with hunger. He was strong. The desire to deplete him strangled me. I could probably heal the rest of my injuries from him.
“It’s me, man. Remember?” he pleaded. “The rooftops? The fun little drinking game we had that one night? It was my stupid idea, and I nearly missed the ledge. You had to pull me up with Slate.”
“Slate,” I repeated.
“Yeah. Slate. Your cousin. Your partner,” Onyx clarified as patiently as if he faced a wild animal.
Memories of laughter and drinking blinked in my head. “Ah, that’s right.” My chest deflated as the memories of my cousin and I crashed into me like a violent surge. The missions we went on together. The first time Slate had killed. Our talks and laughs on the rooftops, and our ability to read each other like an open book without uttering a word. “Where is he?”
“I don’t know,” Onyx said, fear weaving into his voice as if he’d given me the wrong answer. “But you need to get out of here. Now.”
“Why should I trust you?” I asked, scrutinizing him. “What’s to stop you from delivering me to the king’s doorstep?” This place was laden with traps.
“Because I’m on your side—always have been. The insurgency, remember?” he urged, casting a quick look over his shoulder. “Come on. We gotta go before the Warriors start swarming us.”
“Let them. I’ll kill them all,” I said, my voice flat.
“Well, as fun as that sounds, now’s not the time, oh legendary one,” Onyx quipped. “Follow me. I know a way to get us out.” He spun, heading out into the hallway.
“I swear to fuck, if you—”
Onyx whirled around to face me. “I won’t. I’ll get you out without you having to take any more lives today.” Onyx held my gaze. In his bright amber eyes, I saw the friendship. As fragmented as I was, I saw he meant what he’d said. He knew what I’d done and how much it destroyed me. “Let’s set you free, Brother.”
The toes of my boots clipped Onyx’s heels as he led me through the maze of the prisons. Without looking over his shoulder, he unsheathed a sword from his holster strapped to his back and tossed it to me.
Even limping, I snatched the hilt from the air, examining the blue sigils igniting at my touch. I grimaced, shaking my head. “I need an Elemental sword,” I murmured to him. The lights flickered above us, the electricity barely hanging in there from my attacks.
The image of Peri’s lifeless body draped in my arms stayed branded in my mind, forever lodged in my ribcage and sternum like the worst of pressures.
I’d just killed my sister—depletedher. I couldn’t come to grips with it. The only true family I had. And now, the devolution process had officially taken hold.
I’m so sorry, Peri.
More memories trickled back to me, igniting another wave of pain. I swallowed my emotions, sending them to the deep void to swallow. I failed the insurgency. In the end, I hadn’t been strong enough to withstand the king’s will. Everyone had put their faith in the wrong person. I’d fucked everything up.
I’d have to fix this, but first, I had to get the hell out and then regroup.
As Onyx and I weaved through the prison cell blocks, I allowed my turbulent wrath to fuel me. The more my mind returned to me, the more it compounded: the guilt, the anger, the pain… Someone needed to pay.
I’d lost everything. Nothing else to lose now.
Fuck it.
The beast I had worked so hard to repress for so long lifted his head, popped his neck, and then spread its ghastly wings, ready to take the reins in my oncoming fight. I willingly stepped aside, handing over complete control. I didn’t want it anymore.
It was time to let go.
“Why do you need an Elemental sword?” Onyx asked over his shoulder, confusion thick in his voice.
“Because I’m half-Elemental,” I responded, dull and hollow.
Onyx’s steps faltered. “Wha…”
“Ask Slate about it later.” I pushed past him, heading for the stairwell, ignoring the blaring alarm sirens. The cameras eyed me, and I paused, staring them down. My currents ignited to life with electricity, directing my energy to the wires connecting them to the building. Sparks jumped from the cameras, the wires now fried to a crisp as smoke billowed from them. Every single one in the King’s Palace was rendered useless.
“Cameras are dead. Let’s move,” I told Onyx as I charged up the flight of stairs to the training room. Gods, that felt great to finally kill those fuckers. I didn’t care if the king saw me, but I couldn’t risk Onyx getting tangled in my mess.
