Instead of responding, I returned to the weapons and training rooms. Kinetic Warriors sprawled across the floor, blood pooling everywhere. Those who kept their heads writhed on the floor, gurgling and crying out in pain. I squeezed my Elemental sword in my fist, walking toward the maze of bodies before me. The first Warrior at my feet reached out a hand in a plea, but soon was cut off when I plunged my sword into his heart. His eyes bulged, lips parting in shock at my betrayal before he relaxed against the floor. The hand clutching the gaping wound in his chest glistened black, the redfern tainting his blood being his demise.
I didn’t stop there. After a few minutes, every wounded Kinetic earned a pierced heart by my poisonous blade, leaving no loose ends behind.
When I finished, Onyx hung his head to his chest, horrified and heartbroken. “You didn’t have to kill them.”
“Yes!” I snapped, whirling on him. My nostrils flared as I continued to ignore the insidious guilt trying to suffocate me. “I did. They were already gone, Onyx. They are so far gone to Forest’s bullshit…blindly following his orders—”
“And so were you!” Onyx retorted.
I shook my head. “No. I had no choice, Onyx. You don’t have a godsdamn clue what I’ve had to go through to be the ‘legendary Chrome Freyr’ that they have portrayed me to be.” The air in the room grew thicker, and my chest heaved. “If anything, I did them a favor.”
“Chrome,” Onyx said. “You just slaughtered an entire garrison of the Warriors Guild.”
I shrugged. “And I won’t stop until every single Kinetic Warrior and guard are dead.”
Chapter 34
Slate
Amethyst’s office had dropped several degrees since my last visit a month prior. I shivered, but maintained my poker face, relaxing my stance in the way too cushiony chair.
“Thank you for your honesty, Nephew. I know it must be difficult for you to turn on your cousin and partner as you did, but you made the right choice,” Aunt Amethyst said with faux sympathy weighing her sharp features.
I shrugged. “I can’t allow his poor decisions to mar mine and my sister’s reputation.” The acidic words burned my tongue and throat, churning my stomach at their betrayal. But something was going on with Chrome, something nefarious that they hid, and the best thing I could do was protect his efforts and keep the insurgency concealed.
After I confessed to my aunt in the interrogation room, which turned out to be a scare tactic to get the truth with the threat of the Inquisitor, Amethyst led me to her office to continue our private chat. The timing was spot on because someone had popped their head in the door, informing us they were bringingin a prisoner to be interrogated by the king and Grim within the half hour.
“So,” I asked, perhaps a bit too confidently considering my position, “where has Chrome been in recent weeks?”
Amethyst straightened, flattening out her dress. “He’s being dealt with accordingly. His fate is yet to be determined. Hopefully, my boy will make the right choices to redeem his favor with the king.”
“Is he…okay?” I asked, hoping that any bit of maternal instinct that resided in that cold soul of hers would rise to the surface.
My aunt swallowed, working to maintain her composed mask. “He will be. My boy is strong.”
My stomach twisted, and the blood drained from my face. What in the gods’ hell had been happening to him? Would he ever truly recover from this?
I exhaled and nodded, wishing more than anything I could do something to help him. Gods, if only I had joined them in the prisons to find the Endarkened. Maybe this wouldn’t have happened…
“I have another question. It’s a question being posed to Chrome currently, but I figured it wouldn’t hurt to ask you as well,” Amethyst said, all trace of discomfort wiped from her exterior.
“Of course, Aunt.” My throat tightened, not ready for the question to come.
“Do you know if there was a reason why Chrome would’ve been down in the prisons alone and unauthorized?” Her penetrating stare pinned me to my seat, daring me to lie.
I knew the question had been coming, and it was the one I wanted to avoid more than anything. “I—”
With no warning, the building shuttered beneath us. Small objects from her shelves and desk crashed to the floor,shattering. My fingernails dug into the armchair’s leather as I planted my boots to the cold floor.
Amethyst’s eyes widened, her arms outstretched on the sides of her desk to stop her chair from rolling. “Gods…” she exhaled. “What the fuck?”
The rumbling and jostling felt like a small earthquake, and an alarm blared throughout the King’s Palace, signaling an attack. I jumped to my feet. Something wasn’t right. This wasn’t an Elemental attack. That much was obvious, especially considering Chrome’s power and that he was down in the prisons.
My heart raced, pumping adrenaline through my bloodstream at a questionable pace. “I’m going to get my gear.”
Amethyst rose to her feet, staggering on wobbly legs, despite how graceful she tried to make the move appear. For the first time in my life, I witnessed fear bathing her sharp feline eyes. “Go.”
I dodged the fallen debris on the floor, crunching on the broken glass and other objects in my rush to the exit. When I pulled the door open, a guard stood on the other side, doing his best to appear stoic.
