With a huff and an exaggerated eye roll, she held her chin high on her forced escort out.
Hazel sighed a breath of relief behind me that Royal didn’t make a grand scene of her exit. I released my grip on her wrist as Chrome nodded at me from across the room in thanks. The tension in the room palpably dissolved with Royal’s exit.
I snickered at hearing her raised voice in the foyer, berating Onyx for not letting her stay, while Onyx told her she should be grateful she was even allowed in the Helair’s suite as it was. Especially since she reeked of sex that was obviously not from him.
A splash of white drew my attention as Cotton re-entered the kitchen, walking to my mother’s side at the stove, gesturing to the food to offer her his help. Guilt reared its ugly head. I should’ve been in there helping her. However, Cotton always made it a point to help her in the kitchen, like it was another of his compulsions.
I pivoted to face Hazel at my back. “Let’s get our plates and sit. There’s been some new developments.”
Fifteen minutes later, Onyx entered the dining room, a plate loaded with food in hand from the kitchen. I was sure that was the last of the food Mom had cooked. He beamed wide as if the scene earlier with Royal had never happened. “What’d I miss?”
“Nothing, son,” Smokey said, wiping the corners of his mouth with a cloth napkin before placing it back in his lap. “We were waiting on you.”
Onyx’s smile didn’t meet his eyes as he took his place on Chrome’s right. “Sorry about that. I didn’t know she’d show up here.”
My father cleared his throat. “We apologize for not allowing Royal to be present. But according to Slate and Chrome, there are some new developments that require full disclosure.”
Onyx angled his head to meet the pointed glance between Chrome and me, confused. “Oh, yeah?”
Chrome ignored him, setting his fork down. “This past Thursday night,Slate and I were sent on a mission to The Phantom.”
Sensing that we were officially starting the meeting, I followed suit and set my silverware down as Chrome continued, despite my stomach’s outcry.
“The reason we didn’t get the second Elemental that night was because first, we got split up in the dense crowd. Second, I got caught up in the bathroom by a strange man. I have no idea who he is or where he’s from, but it’s clear he wasn’t normal. Neither Kinetic nor Elemental. And especially not human.”
The lines on my father’s forehead deepened as they nearly reached his receding hairline. “What do you mean, Chrome? And why have you not mentioned this until now?”
“Because I wasn’t sure if I should believe him,” Chrome justified, casting a confident glance at me from the side. “Until yesterday that is.”
I didn’t know how much Chrome planned to divulge or what he even planned to share. So, I stayed silent and let him take the lead, trusting that he knew what he was doing. Hoping we wouldn’t live to regret it.
“The man said the king has plans for me and the princess. Apparently, Forest intends to wield us as weapons one day. The dude didn’t say when or how. Just that he plans to harness our power.”
The adults around the table shared looks of concern as the table fell quiet. “What else did he say?” Cotton’s father asked, his voice gruff. “What else about the princess?”
Chrome inhaled sharply at the question, to which I clenched my jaw. He still planned to keep the secret about his dual nature. And the princess, too, apparently. Surely, he could trust this group with that knowledge?
“He said he’s been keeping her isolated to keep her weak and insecure so she doesn’t fight back one day with a mind of her own,” Chrome explained, his tone clipped. “He said that we need to get the princess trained. That she’s the key, and I’m the lock. Whatever that means.”
“Why should we trust this man? Did you even get a name?” my mother chimed in, directing everyone’s attention to her.
Chrome shook his head. “No. He wouldn’t give me a name.”
Another lie.
“So,” Smokey prompted. “Why should we take his word? How would he know this?”
“I can’t answer how he would know this, but yesterday, Slate and I ran into the Elemental Regent King Orion Silas,” Chrome stated with matter-of-fact certainty.
The tension that encompassed the dining room was thicker than the mashed potatoes on our plates. Silverware clattered against ceramic plates as disbelief snatched Smokey and Sage back into their chairs. My father’s lips thinned, and his eyes hardened in the way that was ingrained in him as the top Warrior leader. His throat bobbed, trying to absorb the anger I saw simmering beneath his skin.
“You…what?” the Supreme General gritted out through clenched teeth.
Fuck, I hadn’t thought about my father’s anger once he discovered I’d hidden something so huge from him.
Chrome, completely unphased, shrugged. “Yeah. He and two other Elementals approached us. Told us that we needed to get the princess trained.”
Did he, though? What the fuck is Chrome doing?The Elemental king had said shit more along the lines of Chrome being the Elemental prince and heir, as well as the princess being an heir as well.
