Chrome and I agreed to enter together and try to avoid anyone at all costs.
Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed the stone building behind the King’s Palace tucked near the tree line. The Land of the Lost seemed to mock me from the distance, taunting me with promises to take the claims that it was due. I could only hope none of us would end up in there anytime soon.
Stepping into the elevator, I was careful to prevent Hazel’s head and legs from bumping the sides. Thankfully, no one stopped us despite the suspicious looks thrown our way.
Neither of us spoke during the ride to the twenty-eighth floor, our vow of silence about what happened earlier in full effect. Once the lift rocked to a stop, I exited with an unconscious Hazel. I carried her down the hall until I reached our suite. I found it infuriating that I had to fuck with the new electronic code on the door, which was harder with an unconscious girl in my grasp—yet again.
My parents were usually out of the penthouse during this time of day, which thankfully left me free to take Hazel to her bed with no questions. Even if I convinced them she had been redfern poisoned, my mom would rightfully insist on sending her to a healer to receive the antidote shot. That wouldn’t be good.
I pushed into Hazel’s room, laying her on the mattress softly. I caressed sweaty hair from her face, unclasping the silver braceletand hoping her magic could get a chance to replenish and, hopefully, help ease her struggle.
“I’m so sorry, Hazy. I never wanted you to witness any of this,” I whispered to her unconscious body, guilt nestling in my gut and clenching it.
Hazel’s eyelids fluttered open, looking around the room in confusion for several seconds as she visibly processed everything.
“Hey, Hazy.”
“Did I pass out?” Hazel rasped, her forehead scrunched in confusion.
I shook my head, snapping off the bracelet on my wrist. “You just fell asleep. Chrome and I carried you back. How are you feeling?”
“Drained. Sore.”
“I figured as much. You went into shock, sis.” I grabbed her hand, holding it gently within my own. “I vomited, too, the first time I saw death. And it was nothing like what you saw back there. I’ve never seen Chrome use his magic at that level of strength before.”
Hazel sucked in a ragged breath and eased it out. “That was—”
“Obliteration,” I cut her off. I was still shaken by the strength of Chrome’s power. With him being a hybrid, it had always made me curious how strong he truly was. I had a feeling it far surpassed anything we imagined.
That raised the question again: where had he been the past three weeks? And judging by his current state, it looked like he’d been through some brutal shit. I needed to find out what exactly it was.
Chapter 25
Chrome
The punching bag swung in violent succession. I channeled my pent-up rage into the object, attempting to purge my body from the ruinous stain of Grim’s hands. A Kinetic death didn’t phase me. In fact, the thought of Kale’s destruction yesterday fueled my rage on the bag. I wanted bloodshed, the craving strangling me more than usual. Since I first detected the empty void down in the prisons, the drive to spill blood grew ever stronger.
The bag swayed and shook with each punch and kick. The impact from each blow rocked it back and forth, but I grew impatient. I chased it down, punching it as it hung on the upswing, then spinning to kick it from behind on the drop back down.
“Chrome.” I stiffened my shoulders at my sister’s voice from behind, but I kept my focus on the punching bag ahead of me.
“I talked to Slate,” Peri said softly, but loud enough for me to hear.
“And?” I pushed, throwing a quick succession of jabs into the punching bag, expelling my pent-up emotions into it. Anger and shame strangled me, tightening around my airway bit by bit, but with each blow, the tension released as the airflow to my lungs flourished. For now, I was in control. I commanded my body and my thoughts, and I envisioned Grim’s face with each punch.
If I incorporated magic into my punches, it would be annihilated. But my power tentatively bubbled beneath the surface of my skin. “What?” I grunted to my sister, still not making eye contact with her.
“We need to talk.”
“Do we?”
“Yeah, I can help,” she said. Her feet shuffled behind me. “And so can Onyx.”
I hesitated, watching the punching bag swing back toward me. Without thinking, I thrust my power into the punch as it collided. The bag exploded into dust, followed by a boom that sounded like a small bomb went off.
My chest heaved as my lungs closed in on themselves. “No.”
“Chrome…”
