Gray clenched her jaw and closed her eyes. “It’s fine. No big deal. Daddy can’t play favorites, right?” Her voice dripped with so much bitterness it felt aimed at me.
I opened my mouth but came up short for a response as I realized through her emotions that the bitternesswasaimed at me. Like her, my punishments were kept secret. She probably assumed that I was the favorite, as her father wanted the Kinetic world to believe. “Trust me,” I started slowly, “he doesn’t.”
Gray huffed a humorless laugh, an angry tug on my heart jolting me backward. “Oh, yeah? Where’s your public punishment?” she quipped. “And why are you talking to me all of a sudden?”
A painful tightness restricted my throat, my voice shaking. “Just because it’s not public doesn’t mean the punishments don’t happen, right?”
Gray startled, her shock halting her angry tracks. “What?”
“I got punished, too. Like I said, you’re not alone.”
Staring at me in stunned silence, she twisted her fingers together in front of her.
“And to answer your question, I’ve always wanted to talk to you, but you know the rules, I assume.”
Gray nodded slowly, looking up at the camera. Her eyes widened, and panic stiffened her posture. “I gotta go.”
“I know. So do I,” I said, reluctant to leave her. “Don’t give up, okay?”
Pushing the button to her floor, she met my longing gaze one last time, a sadness so heavy that I suffocated under its oppressive weight. “Okay,” she whispered as the doors slid shut.
I closed my eyes, burying my fingers in my hair and forcing my lungs to expand. “Fuck…”
The sinking claws of dread latched onto each organ one by one, knowing that I now would have double the punishment: one for being late and two for being around Gray again, even if this time was unintentional.
But it begged the question, what was she doing on this floor? Its entirety consisted of my family’s penthouse suite. So that meant either my mother or Grim had business with her.
The persistent sense of doom hovered over me as I reached the front door, knowing what was to come for being late. Once again, I wanted to disintegrate and float away into anonymity. They’d never find me out in the world today. Well, that wasn’t entirely true. There were domains all over the globe that reported to the Royal Domain; I’d be recognized too soon unless I hid amongst humans, but I didn’t know how long I could withstand suppressing my magic. Doing so for too long would inevitably drive me into psychosis.
After typing in the code, I tilted my chin upward and rolled my shoulders back to straighten my spine, exuding faux confidence as I opened the door. The suite had always been cold. Sterile. Heartless. The only light in the barren, elegant prison was Peri.
It was meant to be where I called home, but my home was hell. So, I guessed that’s where I laid my head at night.
I walked with a lazy gait, compelling my arm to relax at my sides, to my bedroom suite, which was basically a miniature apartment within a loft. On my bed sat a girl in the shadows cast by the waning sun spilling through the curtains. “Why are you late?”
I sighed, dropping my bag on the floor by my dresser. “I got caught up.”
“Chrome…” Peri chastised. “Stop doing shit to make things worse for you.”
“I’ll be okay. Always am. I’ll take the punishment like the big boy I am.”
Peri rose from the bed, and I moved to turn on the light, so we wouldn’t be weirdos sitting in the dark. Without stopping, she crashed into my torso, wrapping her arms around my waist.
“Chrome, please. I hate what he does to you. It kills me. I can only cover for you so much, ya know?” she said, her voice muffled in my sweat-stained shirt.
“I know. You don’t have to keep covering for me,” I said, slowly putting my arm around her shoulder, hugging her.
“Yes, I do. You’re always protecting everyone around you.” She pulled back to look up at me. “But who’s protecting you?”
My chest caved and my vision blurred. Dipping my head, I averted my eyes from her earnest gaze that I knew would unravel me if I looked too long. I couldn’t let her see me break. She saw me as the strong one. “I don’t need protecting, Peri. I’m the generational Warrior of our time, remember?”
“You know what I mean,” Peri snapped. “And it’s not in battle.”
“I’ll be okay, Peri. I always am.” I tried to sound assuring, but my voice lacked any life. “I worry aboutyoumore. Now, you should get to your room before one of them comes in here to collect on my punishment.”
My sister paused, assessing me with a frown. “Okay. Don’t make it worse on yourself. Keep your mouth shut and just minimize it. For me?” she pleaded as she backed away toward the door.
I gave her a tight smile. “Yeah,” I lied. “I will.”
