Page 160 of A Reign of Chromes & Shadows

He seized the moment, peeling off his drenched shirt with deliberate slowness. The fabric clung stubbornly to his skin before he tore it free and tossed it onto the puddle from his jacket. He stretched his torso, muscles flexing, droplets of water sliding down his chest.

His father’s eyes flickered; uncertainty breaking through the mask.

Good.

“You sent me unprepared,” Rain said, voice low and dangerous. “Deep into enemy territory with nothing more than a request to retrieve an unknown. An unknown who turned out to be a dangerously powerful pyro-forged princess of the Red Kingdom. Without warning. I could have died.”

He stepped forward, boots squeaking against the marble.

“I knew you wouldn’t!” the king snapped. “I knew you could handle the task. I sent you with our most elite troops.”

“Ah yes,” Rain said, cracking his knuckles, ignoring the stab of guilt. “I had to kill one of them. That could have been prevented if I’d been briefed properly. If you’d treated me with respect. Or spoken to me directly.Treated me like your son. Your heir. Or at the very least like the bloody soldier you turned me into.”

He threw his hands up, exasperated.

“I’ve had enough of your pathetic war games. Tell me—who ordered this? Who are you working with?”

“I do not work with anybody! I am King, boy. I decide—”

“Enough!” Rain roared, cutting him off.

The guards’ hands flew to their weapons as Rain closed the gap between them. The air crackled with tension.

“Who is the Red insider who made a deal with you?” Rain demanded. “Tell me now, or I will use other means to get the answer. And believe me; I am incredibly motivated.”

The guards drew their swords with a slow, metallic scrape.

Rain shot them a cold, lethal glare.

Try it, he dared silently.

I will end you before you take a single step.

Behind them, the king stood rigid, locked in a stare he refused to break. But Rain felt the truth beneath the façade; fear, desperation, the frantic scramble of a male outmatched.

“I will not have you commanding me,” the king sniffed. “I will tell you, because I have nothing to hide. But perhaps it is time you understood your place. I may be your father, but I am also your King. What I command is your duty. You do not question my authority.”

Rain rolled his eyes.

Finally, the king got to the point.

“Your personal trainer—Sonatri, is it?” the king said. “He came to me at the request of his sister, who works within the Red palace. A close confidant of Drazier. We made a deal. You were to bring back the eldest daughter. Once in our possession, she offered to assassinate Drazier for us.”

He waved a dismissive hand.

“But we need her. So where is she? You can keep the other three. I don’t care what you do with them.”

Rain froze.

“You’re telling me Raymon Sonatri is your informant?”

He hadn’t expected that.

Not Raymon.

It made sense—painfully so—but Rain had believed Raymon would have confided in him. Raymon wasn’t just a trainer. He was a friend. Someone Rain trusted. Someone he thought trusted him.

Rain swallowed the bitter taste rising in his throat.