Chapter 5 #2
A combination of emotions flitted across her face, each more distinct than the next, even deep in the shadows of this abandoned hallway.
Recognition rolled into fear after she squinted her eyes, followed by shock, then replaced by awe and then confusion.
Finally, I glimpsed a storm brewing within her eyes that reminded me of dangerous skies.
More than anything, I felt my emotions become mixed with hers, but I noted hers clearly.
Resentment and anger throttled me as her emotions grew stronger.
Hope lifted me in its fragile arms at the prospect of her recognizing me as the boy from the playground.
But I swiftly free fell when I realized that she might’ve been pissed I hadn’t spoken to her since then.
Despite my anxiety, I felt compelled to find out for myself.
The princess flattened her legs on the floor, pressing her hands to the glistening marble as if to push herself up to retreat. “I was just leaving,” she clipped.
“Don’t,” I said, holding my hand out placatingly. Licking my lips, I stuttered, “St-stay with me?” I wanted to throw up from the nerves, fully expecting her to decline my plea. Judging by her reaction to me, she most likely would.
Gray’s eyes widened and darted around the dead end as if she expected me to be talking to someone else. Once she realized I spoke to only her, she settled her stare on me. Her glare pierced through my defenses, making me feel stripped and exposed as if all my secrets were written on my body.
Her mouth opened and closed, but no sound left her lips.
I didn’t think my heart could handle the suspense much longer, but I remained stoic, waiting for the impending rejection.
At last, she nodded and scooted over an inch as if that would give me more room. “Sure.”
I eased out the breath I’d been holding as I closed the distance between us and lowered myself on the floor beside her, my back against the locked door.
A veil of silence slid over us like a cloak in the darkened corridor.
“So,” I started, “it’s nice to finally meet you,” I lied, knowing we’d met before.
She wasn’t supposed to know that, and I didn’t think she recognized me from that day on the playground through my glamour.
The era before my rise to notoriety. She wouldn’t have had a reason to recognize me, especially since our parents were determined to keep us separated since birth.
But I’d known of her.
“You’re Chrome.”
I angled my head. “The one and only,” I remarked, sarcasm heavy in my tone. “And you’re Princess Gray.”
“Yeah.” She shrugged, picking at a loose fabric on the pleated skirt of her school uniform.
My breath caught in my throat as a glamoured ice-blonde strand of hair fell over her eye. I fought the urge to brush it aside, holding my wrist that draped over my knees to restrain myself. “Well, it’s an honor to meet you, Princess.” I offered her a soft smile.
“Really?” she questioned, her nose scrunching up before she dropped her gaze to the notebook in her lap.
Before she could slam it shut, I glimpsed a sketch of a dude oddly resembling Forest. The headshot was quite gruesome as the man’s eyes rolled back in his head, blood dribbled from his lips, and a dagger skewered his skull, going from temple to temple.
I couldn’t hide the dark smile that formed. Clearly, she had a darkness brewing within her, too.
With a frantic slam of the notebook, the air whooshed from the pages, coating my skin in goosebumps.
I wiped the grin and nodded. “Absolutely. You’re…
” the girl I’ve been pining over from afar for the past six years.
“…a little bit of a savage.” Chuckling, I tipped my chin downward at the notebook, recognizing that fire inside her eyes for what it was.
She was like me, living with a beast within us that was ready to unleash hell upon those who deserved it.
Taken aback, she jerked her head. “What?” A rosy flush began to coat her cheeks as she realized that I had seen her drawing.
My grin widened. “Trust me, you just are…”
“You’re the savage one,” she muttered, caught off-guard, tucking that stray lock of hair behind her ear.
I shrugged. “Yeah, I am when I need to be,” I said unapologetically. “But you? If that drawing is any indication…” I paused, not wanting to say too much and scare her off. “You have no idea what kind of beast lies dormant inside you.”
“How…would you know?” Gray asked, nervousness creeping into her voice.
I inhaled a deep breath. “I see things.” My tone dropped, wanting nothing more than to pull her into my arms and hold her to my chest. Something told me it would soothe some part of me that had always craved comfort. The only touch that I truly wanted.
Gray’s glacial eyes clashed with mine. We held each other’s gazes in the darkness, a silence once again settling in the small gap between us.
I didn’t breathe, scared to break the moment. Just being beside her was enough. Despite the fact I wasn’t breathing, her presence alone brought a level of safety and peace I hadn’t felt…ever.
“I’ve never seen your face clearly before. Why is that?” she whispered. “How is it that they parade you around yet manage to keep you vague?”
I forced my lips to move up into a saddened smile. “Because they want to control me. They want to use my name for people to look to for morale. Yet, they don’t want me to have too much freedom. They especially don’t want you to know my face. Can’t have us teaming up together, right?”
Gray’s brows furrowed in thought as she dropped her gaze to the floor. “But why would we?”
“One day soon enough, it’ll all make sense to you,” I said, wanting nothing more than to whisk her from her father’s grasp. I had no doubt he treated her like shit. I only hoped that he had some decency enough not to physically harm his daughter, even if she was part Elemental.
With a quirk of her head, she narrowed her eyes at me. “Tell me now…please.”
Alarm shot up my spine at the Kinetic energy approaching us at the end of the corridor. I jumped to my feet. “I gotta go,” I said, knowing I’d have actual hell to pay if we were seen near each other like this.
Gray’s eyes widened. “Wait!”
“Someone’s coming…” I whispered, then glanced down at her braceleted wrist. “I hate they make you keep it on. Makes you so vulnerable.” My nostrils flared at the thought of something happening to her because she failed to sense danger before she could protect herself.
Gray’s eyes widened, her fear striking my heart along the vibrational tug.
“I’ll find you again,” I promised in a hushed whisper.
The presence was too close, and between her all-consuming fear, the nearing energetic presence, and my own sense of urgency, I didn’t realize just how close the presence had gotten.
I turned to leave, but pulled to a sharp halt. My nose came inches from a man’s chest. Knowing exactly whose head perched atop that chest, I raised my chin to meet the smug smile on Grim’s face.