“It’s been chaos since…everything. Haven’t had the chance to talk to you yet,” Onyx explained, nerves making his words tremble just the slightest. “But uh, you should know—” He sighed, dragging his palms over eyes. “He’s still alive.”
I jerked my head toward him. “What?”
“I helped him get out. But it wasn’t pretty,” Onyx said, his amber eyes haunted. “The Warriors’ deaths…He did that.”
I stared at him, shocked, for several seconds as I processed what he said, refusing to believe him. But it made sense. A hundred Warriors in the training room and Weapons Room were slaughtered by an Elemental blade. “Why?” I whispered.
“I don’t know.” Onyx shook his head. “But I watched it all and couldn’t do anything to stop him. He could’ve just escaped after he incapacitated everyone, but he got an Elemental sword—which he told me to ask you about, by the way—and drove it into every single one of them before we snuck out through the side doors.”
My heart sank, and I closed my eyes. That didn’t sound like Chrome at all. He would never kill innocents like that in such a merciless fashion. “Gods—”
“He said anyone who stood with the king would die and then gave them half a second to make their choice with very little explanation before he started in on the carnage…” Onyx explained, clearly still shaken from the bloodbath.
“It makes sense now why the king’s blaming the mythical Griffin Silas for this. How bad would it look to have our legend turn on us like this? Plus, he can’t have the truth come out thathe’s a hybrid because then people would start asking questions, which would inevitably lead back to him. It’s just easier to put the blame on Griffin, say Chrome died, and use the story as a reason to start the war with the Elementals that he’s been wanting.” The more I verbalized my thoughts, the more I realized that yesterday played perfectly into the king’s hands.
Hazel sniffled, and absentmindedly, I wrapped an arm around her shoulder to offer some comfort in her loss. Peri and Chrome weren’t just our cousins; Peri was as close with Hazel as Chrome was with me. Chrome was more of a brother than cousin, but I failed him when he needed me most. I should’ve been down in the prisons that day when he went in search of the Endarkened.
But no, I had been kissing Gray—another betrayal.
“What about you?” I asked Onyx. “Did anyone catch you helping him escape?”
Onyx inhaled a deep breath before he blew it out. “I don’t know. There was so much going on. Chrome fucked up all the cameras, but who’s to say that they didn’t catch me beforehand?”
My eyes widened. “Shit. Onyx—”
“I know,” he said, dropping his chin. “I just got sworn in as the King’s Guard in the Guilds…”
“Yeah, I know. And you’re the most elite of them of all. You know that, right?” I asked, panic trembling my words.
Onyx rolled his eyes. “Because of my dad. He’s trained me. But that won’t mean shit if they find out I know the truth about Chrome and aided in his escape. They’ll probably punish my dad, too.”
I met my friend’s eyes, sad resignation dimming the light amber as we both understood what this meant for him. His orange currents clashed against his warm brown skin as they slithered languidly up his neck. The white specks dotting his black hair seemed to glitter a bit less than usual. He nodded. “I know what I have to do.”
As if I hadn’t experienced enough loss, another wave of grief washed through my chest. I cleared my throat, trying to hide the emotion from my voice. “You think he’s alive out there?”
Onyx shrugged. “I have to believe he is.” He laced his fingers together in his lap, studying the orange currents over his skin. “And I pray to the gods that he doesn’t spiral worse. Enough people have died.”
“We’re at war now, Onyx,” I said, the reality of what that truly meant slamming into me. “This is only the beginning of the deaths. I will be sent out there on behalf of the king…” There would be so many things I’d have to hide from him. Pretty convenient that I was good at keeping secrets.
No one spoke aside from Hazel’s muffled whimper as she buried her face into my side. It was clear she was only here because she didn’t want to grieve alone. My heart crumbled for her. While I received news that my best friend still lived, even if it wasn’t under pretty circumstances, her best friend was still dead. Kissing the top of my sister’s head, I tugged her closer to me.
Although yesterday’s events made more sense after talking to Onyx, a few things remained unanswered.
I remembered something else I needed to talk to Onyx about. “So, Royal admitted she had been reporting our movements to the king about our rooftop outings,” I said aloud.
Onyx snorted, shaking his head. “Yeah, she admitted so much to me yesterday before everything went to shit.”
I genuinely wasn’t shocked, having never trusted her in the slightest. But what threw me the most was why she was so proud of it. “Why, though?”
With a sarcastic chuckle, Onyx responded, “Why do Kinetics do anything around here? Power. Respect. She was born amongst the lower ranks to a single mother. She wants in the Guilds and to have favor with the king.”
“I assume you guys are officially broken up now?” I asked with a smirk despite the darkened mood.
Onyx shrugged. “Yeah, she was never really my type anyway.”
“What? Crazy?” I teased.
“Sure.” A sadness crept into his eyes as he dropped his gaze to his lap before he quickly recovered and looked up to stare at the buildings across the street as traffic grew impatient beneath us.
