Slate
The door to my family’s suite clicked open. Walking home from the training room, I bounced on a cloud. My time with Gray had me in a different universe.
We’d spent the next hour of our session laughing and kissing, talking about mundane shit. She had a thing for finding old, forgotten things and collecting them, envisioning the object’s history with its original owner. And she loved frogs, which I found to be quite endearing.
I stepped into the foyer and leaned against the door, smiling from ear to ear. I couldn’t believe that happened. I had no idea where we stood now, but I knew what I wanted. The logistics were going to be a bit complicated, considering the king might shit a duck if he found out. We weren’t even a couple yet. At least I didn’t assume we were just because we kissed. That would be jumping the gun. But I certainly didn’t want anyone else’s attention or affection.
Relaxing against the door, I let my mind bumble through its racing thoughts, springing from one thing to the next, involvingall things Princess Gray. Nothing could bring me down from the cloud I soared on. I refused.
“What’s got you smiling like an idiot?” Hazel’s voice cut through my fuzzy mind.
I rolled my head to the side to meet her quizzical expression. “Oh, nothing. Just had a great day, is all.”
“Ah. Did it have to do with the princess, by chance?” she asked with a knowing grin.
I rolled my eyes. “That’s none of your business.”
“Which means that’s a yes,” she retorted, crossing her arms over her chest. “Spill it.”
I sighed, pushing off the door. That was my cue to go to lock myself in my room to process what had just happened. Gods, it was the best kiss I had experienced yet. I couldn’t imagine it being better with anyone else. And I didn’t want to.
The walls keeping the guilt at bay faltered, my euphoria plummeting to the pit of my stomach.Chrome.
The kiss couldn’t happen again. Chrome deserved better.
“I’ll pass,” I muttered, walking past her toward the hallway to my room. “See ya at dinner.”
As if repeating my thoughts, Hazel asked, “Have you heard from Chrome?” At first, I wanted to ask her how she knew about Chrome’s feelings for the princess, but it was the heavy concern in her tone that jolted me back to reality.
Fuck!
The prison mission. Oh, fucking gods, how did I forget?
My body went rigid, freezing my steps. The way my heart dropped to my stomach reminded me of that feeling when I underestimated a rooftop jump. Chrome, Peri, and Onyx were on a risky mission to the prisons in search of the Endarkened that the king was rumored to harbor. It was against Kinetic law to keep them imprisoned in our jails. A treaty with the Elementals had been put in place years ago that stated if anyEndarkened were captured by us, they were to either be returned to the Elementals or killed on sight if they posed a threat to any lives. But we were never, under any circumstances, allowed to detain them in our territories for risk of a breakout and the carnage they could create.
If other Kinetics discovered that Forest was, in fact, imprisoning Endarkened and using them to frame Elementals for the depletions of humans, he would be guilty of treason. But by who, we didn’t know, seeing as he held the ultimate control of the Kinetics worldwide, despite the Lords leading the other domains convicting him. His vote alone overthrew theirs.
Kinetics needed better checks and balances within our hierarchical government, but that would never happen as long Forest sat on the throne. Another reason why we needed to get him removed.
“No,” I said on a breath, immediately reaching into my pocket, pulling out my phone to check for any messages.
“Grim is looking for him,” she said, her shaky whisper betraying her. She wasn’t supposed to know anything, but, of course, she had overheard a conversation between Chrome and me at some point.
My face paled.
They should be finished by now, and I should’ve heard from Chrome already. I worked to stay calm, trying to ease the panic that had my hands quivering. Nothing had gone wrong. Everything was fine. And Chrome would work his way out of trouble with Grim.
My phone lit up, showing a new text message—a photo message to be more accurate—from Chrome.
Fuck.
Opening the text, my ears buzzed loudly, drowning out anything Hazel said. Chrome had sent me a photo of a cell blockfull of decaying Endarkened climbing the bars, their rotting faces pressed against them, teeth bared.
“Where is Dad?” I asked, my voice barren as I stared at the grotesque photo. The picture held me in a trance, jumpstarting my mind to leap into another crash course of spiraling questions.
“Still working,” Hazel responded.
“Where are Peri and Onyx?”
