I perked up, my eyes wide. “Seriously?”
What’s the catch?
“Seriously. Any idea she’s ever had and run by the king, he’s agreed to it. You can bet that he’ll agree to this, as well. I’ll let youknow what she says tomorrow. But start making preparations in your schedule to train her.”
I nodded slowly, surprised by the news. “Yeah, of course.”
“Slate,” Dad warned. “Train her up to your level in sparring and weapons. The only positive thing that can come from the information she revealed is that the princess should hold no loyalty to the king once she is strong enough to fend for herself. By that point, she might just be angry enough to kill him herself and take his place as queen.”
“Yes. That is definitely the end goal,” Mom cut in. “However, that poor girl needs a friend. You should’ve seen her, Garnet.”
I dropped my gaze to the table, overwhelmed with sadness and guilt, as the princess’s earlier words flashed through my mind. How long had she been going through this alone?
“I can try to talk to her. Maybe become her friend?” Hazel spoke up. “I’m not the most social person, but maybe just one other friend won’t hurt,” she said with a shrug before sipping the sweet tea at her side.
I wanted to hug my sister. One of those pick-her-up-and-squeeze-her kind of hugs where she fought against me fruitlessly. “That would be great, Hazel. She could really use a friend like you.”
Hazel gave me a sheepish smile before placing her hands in her lap, returning her attention to our parents.
Chapter 12
Chrome
Me
We got a mission. Meet me in the garage.
Slate
K. See you in 15.
Isighed, locking thoughts of Gray into the dark corners of my mind after yesterday’s events. I couldn’t believe she was so miserable that she’d try to take her own life. How had I missed that? I was a mess of negativity, all self-inflicted. I had been too absorbed in my own suffering to piece together the fact that Forest had been hurting her as well.
According to my mother, an Elemental sighting in a crowded Downtown Atlanta shopping mall had been shortly followed by a human dropping dead in the same place. The authorities had ruled it as a heart attack, but we knew better. So now, Slate and I were being sent to hunt down either an Elemental in theearly stages of devolution or an Endarkened to prevent any more bloodshed.
The Regent King of Elementals had confirmed that Forest was lying about Griffin Silas ordering the attacks, creating the perfect scapegoat for Kinetics to turn their anger toward, given that the “lost Elemental Prince” was partially a fake entity. Either way, it was still possible that an Elemental could’ve lost control while replenishing their magic and depleted someone’s energy.
After changing into my gear and grabbing weapons, I set out to the parking garage to meet Slate. The anticipation of a fight buzzed in my veins, ready to unleash the warring emotions I worked tirelessly to contain. It was exhausting, but showing any emotion other than calculated malice in front of the king and his two sidekicks was considered a weakness. A weakness that they joyfully exploited.
Once again, Slate arrived before me, casually leaning against his bike. “Where to?” he asked as I approached.
I straddled the motorcycle, throwing the helmet on and ensuring the visor was down. “Downtown. Peachtree Center. An Elemental depleted a human, and they dropped. So, we’re either looking for an Elemental in the early stages of devolution or an Endarkened.” I cut the ignition to the bike and twisted the throttle, just as Slate did the same.
Without wasting another second, we sped out of the garage, blasting onto the Atlanta streets. Rain sheeted down, making the drive a bit riskier, but I craved the danger; at least I feltsomethingother than rage and self-loathing.
Puddles splashed beneath our tires, threatening to hydroplane as water pelted my leather jacket and slid down my helmet’s visor. Depending on the flow of traffic, Slate either rode beside me or right on my tail, keeping up with me.
At last, we reached the congested shopping center and parked a few a blocks away to avoid paying the meters on the street. As the rain battered us, we removed our helmets, and I tossed my hoodie over my head to hide my hair and silver currents since I removed my Kinetic bracelet.
Focusing on the energies around us, everyone seemed and felt human. There were so many of them in such a tight radius that it overwhelmed me. But over the years, I’d learned to block it out and sift through them, searching for anything other than human.
“Feel anything?” Slate asked, adjusting his hoodie as well, obscuring his gold currents.
I shook my head. “Not yet,” I muttered as we approached the shopping center’s main entrance at The Hub. “Honestly, though. Why would the Elemental or Endarkened stay here where they just depleted and killed a human? That doesn’t make sense.”
“I was thinking the same,” Slate responded as he also took note of our surroundings. He could sense the energetic signatures, but not on the scale and precision that I could. Something told me that Gray was the only other person able to sense them like I could.
I wiped the water that dripped into my eyes as I came to a stop. Slate drew up beside me, aware of what I was about to do, keeping watch of any potential threats. Closing my eyes, I focused on the energies around me, putting more effort into separating the thousands of humans nearby.
