Chapter 26 #2
A burst of silver light erupted from his palm in the form of a ball.
It collided with the metal cuff and traced the band encircling my wrist until the shackles cracked up the center.
A half second later, he aimed another shot at the chain, severing it from the shackle.
He repeated the process on my other wrist and then on my ankles.
By the time he was finished, the cuffs slid from my limbs, and the chains were broken free.
But most importantly, my magic began to trickle through my bloodstream again, electrifying me with my Kinetic magic before my element rushed in with a vengeance, taking my breath away.
“Better?” Slate asked, his voice weak from what I presumed was exhaustion.
“Much,” I gasped, taking his hands into mine to give them a squeeze. “You need to sit.”
“I’m fine,” he exhaled, then cast his droopy eyes to look at the unconscious Chrome on the floor. “I need to be nearby when he wakes up.”
I followed his gaze. “What did you do to him?”
Slate shrugged. “Hopefully brought the real Chrome back to us.”
I drifted off to sleep, Slate sitting at my side while we waited in anxious silence for Chrome to awaken. Movement beneath my head jolted me back to the present. My head had been on Slate’s shoulder, and when he lurched forward, it snapped me out of my slumber.
“He’s awake,” Slate murmured, his muscles tensed.
I scooted away from him, being sure to put enough space between us.
It wasn’t clear if what Slate had done would heal Chrome, but even so, I didn’t want to give him the wrong impression and further agitate his instability.
Slate didn’t protest; in fact, he didn’t even acknowledge it.
A rush of gratitude flooded my chest at the simplest gesture. Of course, he knew my silent cues.
Chrome rolled his head to the side, his quicksilver gaze landing on me. “My Rainbow,” he whispered, a crooked grin peeking at the edges of his lips.
My heart split open, every dark and desolate emotion I’d suppressed for the past few months cresting into a torrential tidal wave of relief and guilt. I crawled toward him as he lifted his hand and held it out to me.
“Chrome.” My voice cracked as I crushed myself against his chest, all my previous anger toward him quickly dissipating.
Rough palms slid against my cheeks, lifting my head to face him head-on. “I’m so sorry.” Tears lined his eyes. “I’m so fucking sor—”
My lips crushed against his, and I melted into his embrace and touch. I shook my head, keeping my lips against his, not ready to end this moment between us. Hot tears dripped onto our lips, but he swiped them away with his thumbs.
Slate cleared his throat, and I immediately sat up, instantly feeling a twisting awkwardness unfurling within me. “I hate to do this after everything that’s happened, but Chrome, we really need to get to safety. You know anywhere that Celanea and Forest won’t find us?”
Chrome inhaled, drifting his fingers upward to comb through my hair, staring at me as if it were the first time. “Yeah. I think I do.”
Slate might’ve somehow restored Chrome to his true personality, but the curse making him Infernal still remained. He could no longer access his Elemental or Kinetic abilities, but his newfound darker powers stayed. The massive bubble of hope that had flared to life in my heart quickly popped.
“Whatever you do, don’t let go while I travel.” Chrome looked at me, his eyes softening. “It’s a bit different than fading.”
I swallowed. “I haven’t been able to fade since that day.”
“It’s because of our deteriorating bond.
It’s weakening. We’re tied to each other, and the powers that we came into once we began solidifying the bond disappeared when I turned Infernal.
Since I can’t travel anymore, neither can you.
” Chrome laced his fingers between mine, absentmindedly caressing his thumb over my hand.
I nodded. “That makes sense.”
Slate dropped his chin but reached to grip onto Chrome’s wrist. “I suspected as much, but I didn’t want to give inaccurate information.”
“I’m gonna find a way to restore you to your hybrid nature, Chrome. I promise.”
Chrome offered me a sad smile before quickly glancing at Slate. “I’m just glad I get to steal these moments with you. But I’m going to get you to safety.”
Before I could respond, Chrome snatched us from the depressing prison cell in a pillow of shadows.
Like fading, we disintegrated into the ether, but instead of moving through what felt like the cosmos, now it felt as if I were being ripped through a vortex and stretched into shards. Quite uncomfortable, really.
I kept my essence latched onto Chrome until we landed with a harsh jolt on pebbled ground.
I spun around, spotting a forest behind us that bore grey trunks and sprawling foliage, horseshoeing us onto an open cliff.
Their limbs swayed as if they were fully conscious beings.
The sound of crashing waves in the distance and the smell of saltwater in the brisk wind garnered my attention.
Slate stood alert, his shoulders tense and eyes sweeping the area for any potential threats.
I did the same, as the energy of this place felt different from anything I’d ever experienced before.
My element, on the other hand, was thrilled as it breezed through me in jubilant strides.
It was stronger than ever, almost suffocating.
“Where are we?” I asked, as Chrome guided us closer to the cliff that sounded like it dropped off into a violent sea.
“We’re in the Kingdom of Wind. It’s a territory belonging to the Druids. Just one of several,” Chrome said. Like Slate, he stood on alert, almost as if he were waiting for someone to appear.
“You found them?” Slate asked, not bothering to hide his surprise.
“Yeah, there was a tome about them in the Goshen Kingdom. I researched them when Celanea directed me here in search of the Seraphite Stone.” Without removing his fingers from mine, he ran his other hand through his wavy locks. The familiar motion tugged on my heart.
Chrome must’ve felt it through the bond because he glanced at me and squeezed my hand.
Slate’s expression fell. “She knows where it is?”
“I have no idea if it’s truly here, but it does appear that she has a hunch. And I don’t have long before I’m supposed to deliver it to her and Forest,” Chrome added.
Slate opened his mouth to protest, but a gust of wind breezed through the narrow spaces between trees.
It circled us three times before flames blossomed in the stream of wind, encircling us by a ring of fire.
Shapes morphed in the flames. I wondered if I was beginning to hallucinate, because for fuck’s sake, was that a face in the fire?
Chrome squeezed my palm once more before releasing it and stepping forward. “Brecken,” he said, positioning his hands by his head in a gesture of surrender. “I’m here in peace this time.”
A voice broke from the inferno. “I thought I banished you from these lands.” Sweat began to trickle from every pore in my body.
Chrome dipped his head. “You did. But I was…different then. I’m myself now.” Dropping to his knee, he went on. “I came to ask for your help.”
“Why should I ever grant you a favor?”
“Because this is for their protection.” My Twin Soul looked at me, more guilt and shame sitting in his eyes than I’d ever seen before. This was his attempt to right all his recent wrongs. “From me.”
The flames continued to flicker around us. Heat kissed the nape of my neck, but I wouldn’t show my discomfort. “Who are you?” I asked.
A pair of aged eyes within the fire swiveled toward me, narrowing as if noticing my presence for the first time.
“Ah,” the voice whispered, although it carried way further and louder than a typical whisper ever should, somehow reaching right into my soul as it was directed at me.
“It’s been a long time since we last spoke.
Arcadia is in this state because of you.
Why should I protect you now?” he asked.
“My sole purpose is to protect this realm, so how do I know that this time, you have the best intentions for Arcadia?”
I glanced at Chrome, then Slate, in confusion. “I have no idea what you’re talking about. This is truly my first time in Arcadia. I have nothing to do with this…” I trailed off, searching for the correct term for “infection.”
“You say that you don’t remember,” the voice stated.
The fire continued to swirl around us. Slate stepped forward, blocking me from the flames in a protective stance.
“But my people have ways to change that. If I take you under my protection, then know that you’re under the rule of Druid law.
You won’t be a prisoner, but you will not be trusted.
No harm will come to you, but given your past transgressions, you will be monitored.
And I presume that once you learn the truth of those, you will understand why I feel the need to take such precautions. ”
Slate spoke up. “She doesn’t go anywhere without me. I’m her Guardian.”
The fire exhaled, embers puffing outward and nearly singeing our clothes. “Well, that could’ve been useful about a thousand years ago. But very well, what about you, young king?”
“While I’m grateful for the chance to be back to myself, I don’t know how much longer I have. I need to make use of my time to sabotage Celanea and Forest while I can,” Chrome answered, looking at me with a pained longing in his silver eyes. “I’ll find you again,” he promised.
My throat seemed to swell shut. I went to protest, but before I could, the man in the fire—Brecken—interrupted. “It is done.”
With that, the world went black. The last thing I saw was the pain that shone in Chrome’s vulnerable eyes, the slump of his shoulders, and his lips shaping two words I didn’t have the chance to respond to.
I’ll always forgive you.