“I see,” I sighed, pulling out another cigarette, trying to smother the tightness in my chest with the smoke. Hopefully, the nicotine buzz would help a bit, but I doubted it. The lighter blazed the flame to life as I took a massive inhale—probably much larger than was considered normal. I held my breath, giving the smoke a chance to potentially do what I had hoped, but nope. The tightness remained, as did the shattering of my heart.
“What about you?” Slate side-eyed me as we strolled. “You’re extremely protective of her in a way that goes beyond the mission for the insurgency. Does it have to do with the bond you have with her?”
My throat squeezed closed as I struggled to form words to give him. I took another hit of the cigarette, noting the strong menthol in the tobacco that gave it a minty flavor. “No.”
Slate walked with me in my silence, waiting for me to continue.
“Yes, we share a bond,” I said, my voice strained, breaking the quietude, “and as you know, I have always been able to feel her emotions. But it doesn’t go past that. I can’t even get close to her, much less get to know her. How could I possibly have feelings for someone under those circumstances? I just need her to be safe and protected.” I pulled on the cigarette filter with my lips, sucking in another lungful of smoke. “And happy.”
Up ahead of us, a couple walked together with their arms wrapped around one another’s waists. The woman’s head rested against the man’s shoulder as he held her against his side protectively. My blurry gaze remained fixated on the two. I couldn’t pull away from it, no matter how much it sent sharp lashes of longing through my chest. I refused to blink the burning moisture from eyes.
In my periphery, Slate nodded, releasing a heavy sigh. “I get that,” Slate started, “but now, we know Forest plans to use her.Surely, she’s not too unsafe anymore, right? If she becomes too powerful, he could turn her against us and—”
I slung my right arm to the side, slamming into his chest. On alert, he withdrew a dagger from his weapons belt a breath later. We stood in the wide-open city street on the sidewalk, where humans still strolled about at eleven o’clock at night. The light hoodie with a cloaked hood hid my currents and chromatic hair, while Slate’s black leather jacket and dark hair did the job just fine.
“Elemental,” I whispered, my eyes swiveling in all directions of the city lined with skyscrapers and streets as I tried to pinpoint their location. “Let’s go,” I murmured, motioning for Slate to follow me as I ducked into a dark alley to the right. Once we reached the back end, I turned left and followed the adjacent street we’d just been walking.
The familiarity of the Elemental aura sent shivers up my arms and neck the closer we approached. I strongly suspected who we’d meet in the end.
Slate’s shoulder brushed against mine as we stalked the tight, shadowed alley. Following the energy from the aura, I hooked a left between two buildings, coming face-to-face with Orion Silas. My uncle.
The Elemental Regent King stood before us, his chin held high and bare of any weapons. “Chrome,” he greeted. His sandy blond hair was swept to one side, highlighting his skin’s golden sheen beneath. Judging by his looks, he shouldn’t be older than thirty-three, but I knew better.
Holy shit, his aura was strong. I imagined feeding from it would be euphoric, no doubt making me more powerful on a level I never knew existed.
My heart lodged in my throat at my train of thought.Never.Not once in all the times I’d come in contact with an Elementalhad I desired to feed off their auric field. The disturbing craving had me reaching into my cigarette pack again.
“If you’re here to tell me—” I lit up again. I couldn’t stop the urge to suddenly chain smoke. I had never been one to do shit like that before, but the weight of everything had seemed to triple in recent weeks. At least the burn of the smoke down my throat was somehow soothing. I’d take anything that felt good at this point.
“I’m not. I’m here to talk to you about King Forest,” Orion said, his aura further enticing me.
I clenched my jaw and squeezed the tobacco stick wedged between my fingers. “What about him?” I said between clenched teeth, attempting to leash myself.
“He plans to start a war with us. Or more like frame us into starting one with him.”
I didn’t say anything. It seemed my suspicions were accurate, but I wouldn’t let him know that.
“Just be cautious. Use your intellect so you don’t fall prey to his schemes. Please don’t become a pawn in his lust for ultimate power.” Orion’s eyes narrowed, sliding his gaze down to the cigarette I held between my fingers dangling at my side. “Why are you smoking?”
I flicked the filter again, ash drifting to the concrete. “Because I want to.”
Orion stepped closer to me, his eyes searching my body and aura for something. “What’s happened? Something’s changed with you since the last time I saw you.”
I chuckled, desperate to mask my growing urge to feed from him. “Acting like you’re my dad now? Kindly fuck off.”
Orion ignored me and stepped closer, and Slate closed in on my side in my defense. Orion seemed unbothered. “Your energy…” My estranged uncle’s brows furrowed in concern.“It’s darker, like little blotches on the outer edge of it. What happened?”
I felt Slate tense beside me, suddenly shifting his attention to the space around my body in search of what Orion saw, but he wasn’t quite strong enough to see it yet. “Chrome?”
“It’s nothing. I’ll be fine. Just need to find the Endarkened that the king is hiding in the prisons,” I answered, stepping back to get some breathing space.
“I knew it,” Orion murmured, shaking his head. Up close, I could see the unique bright teal in the Regent King’s eyes, a physical trait of Elementals. They reminded me of the Caribbean sea. Now, they had shifted from the confident look of a leader to holding a wild fear within them, further unsettling me. “Come home, Chrome. Soon. Do what you gotta do, then come home.”
I held his alarmed stare in apathy, taking another drag, then let the smoke slowly drift from my lips into his face. “I don’t have a home.”
Chapter 26
Slate
