At least until Forest was dead. Once I killed him, I could forever leave this hellhole behind and start fresh somewhere new. And, of course, I’d take Gray with me—even if she didn’t know it yet. If her emotions were accurate, which I believed they were, she would be happy to flee this place with me.
I exited the shower, rubbing my towel through my hair, trusting that Slate would succeed in getting close to Gray and training her.
Slate knew about most of what I dealt with from my parents but not the other shit Grim did to me, although he might have suspicions. No one else outside of Forest, presumably my mother, and Grim knew. It was their well-kept dirty little secret. If word began to spread that Grim was sexually assaulting me, I’d surely suffer much worse in its wake. I couldn’t risk telling my cousin because he’d want to fix it. And I couldn’t stand the idea of watching the looks of horror and pity cross his face.
With an hour to kill, I walked to where my violin and bow rested on the violin stand and sat in a chair. It was my best reprieve, feeling the music flowing from my chest through the instrument, translating my pain into something beautiful. It was an art my mother always wanted me to learn for whateverreason. She’d said it made me refined and cultured. Like it mattered. I was meant to be their weapon and the face of our “superiority”.
Sliding the bow across the strings to hit the right notes to depict what I felt, I closed my eyes and just emptied my soul, not giving a damn who it bothered nearby. There were sonic Kinetics who could control sound within the King’s Palace; they’d do something about it, I was sure.
I fell into the rise of the crescendo, tears pooling in my eyes as it soared when I felt the familiar tug in my chest, as if someone thrummed on the strings of my heart from a distance.
Gray.
My bow skidded across a series of wrong notes, causing a screeching sound that instinctively made me wince. I set down my violin on the end table beside me and rose to my feet. The princess’s emotions were heavy. Not much different from my own, but I knew they belonged to her based on the tug on my heart.
I began to pace back and forth, rubbing my palms over my face as I tried to determine what I should do—if I should do anything at all. I was so tired of feeling her emotions like this and not being able to do anything about it. I could even locate her within the high-rise.
With the new information I received from Valik last night at The Phantom, I grew more tempted than ever to seek her out at last, despite knowing I wasn’t allowed. Forest and my mother had made it very clear. The consequences would be severe if they discovered I’d gone near Gray.
But maybe I could get away with it? Just this once. Everything inside me screamed to go to her and protect her.
Fuck it.
I snatched my hoodie that was draped over the back of the chair and stormed out of my room. Once in the hallway, Ifocused on calming my outer appearance in the event that I ran into either my mother or Grim. Peri, my sweet sister, would play dumb if she caught me, helping to keep my antics a secret.
I lightened my steps in the way I’d been trained and eased toward the front door, hoping I could get out before anyone noticed. I would be sure to be back in time for dinner.
Quietly, I opened the front door to the suite and focused on Gray’s emotions. The heavy weight of sadness and loneliness pulled on my heartstrings, guiding me to her within the King’s Palace.
I slapped the elevator button with the bottom of my palm, growling in frustration as I waited for it to reach me from the lower levels. The hoodie I’d snatched from my room clung to the crook of my arm, and I hurriedly threw it over my head while I waited, masking my silver currents and brands.
Finally, the elevator opened, and I rushed inside, hitting the floor that I was guided to, feeling the urgency to get to her and completely throwing all caution to the wind. With my mind made up, excitement buzzed through my bloodstream at the reality that I was actually going to talk to her for the first time since that fateful day on the playground. This time, I didn’t have Peri around to stop me.
My heart sank as another realization slapped me in the face: she wouldn’t remember that day. Or at least parts of it. Forest had her memories wiped of certain events.
It didn’t matter. I was going to see her again. Finally, the lift dinged, and the metal doors slid apart. I paused, running my fingers through my hair.
Can I do this? Am I really gonna surprise her? What is she going to think?
“Don’t bitch out now,” I muttered to myself, trying to ignore the fluttering in my chest as I casually walked in her direction.
Despite having seen her throughout the years, it had been so long since we’d last spoken. She had been only eight years old at the time, and I’d been ten. It was the day that changed so much for both of us. I never returned to a human school after destroying the playground with my untethered magic. There had been no way for me to be able to control it. I had only awakened my Elemental magic the day before. Then, once I witnessed the other kids bullying Gray, I had become unequivocally enraged to the point that my element took control and warped all the structures on the playground. Following that, both of our Kinetic magic awakened once we had touched.
Strolling through the front lobby of the palace, I didn’t even notice the others casually casting their awestruck gazes in my direction. People parted and created a path for me as I passed, and usually, I was grateful for that. The thought of being touched sent sweaty chills over my skin and caused my palms to grow clammy. Unless violence was involved, I didn’t want any other form of physical contact.
I rounded a darkened corner of the lobby left uninhabited by any Kinetics. It was deserted, like a side hallway that had once belonged to a custodial crew once upon a time. I felt her. She was so close that it had my heartbeat pounding an anxious rhythm beneath my ribs.
I closed my eyes, slowing my anxious breaths, working to calm my nerves. I could do it.
I never got this nervous—not when I was paraded around for our people to praise my accomplishments, not when I faced Grim or my mother, not even when I dealt with Forest, and not when I competed in the annual Kinetic Tournament. But facing Gray? I was a mess.
What would I even say to her?Hi, you don’t remember because you got your memories wiped after the fact, but hey, I feel your emotions, and let’s be secret friends. Or more?
I snorted to myself, shaking out my hands, pushing myself to follow the pull to the princess. I turned another corner and came to a dead end with a door. No lights illuminated the space, which didn’t matter to me. I’d always had far greater eyesight than the other Kinetics.
On the floor sat Princess Gray. With her knees bent, she scrawled furiously on what appeared to be a notebook, her face fiercely determined.
Her currents were suppressed by the bracelet, which surprised me.
