Chapter 9 #3
I pivoted to face Hazel at my back. “Let’s get our plates and sit. There’s been some new developments.”
Fifteen minutes later, Onyx entered the dining room, a plate loaded with food in hand from the kitchen. I was sure that was the last of the food Mom had cooked. He beamed wide as if the scene earlier with Royal had never happened. “What’d I miss?”
“Nothing, son,” Smokey said, wiping the corners of his mouth with a cloth napkin before placing it back in his lap. “We were waiting on you.”
Onyx’s smile didn’t meet his eyes as he took his place on Chrome’s right. “Sorry about that. I didn’t know she’d show up here.”
My father cleared his throat. “We apologize for not allowing Royal to be present. But according to Slate and Chrome, there are some new developments that require full disclosure.”
Onyx angled his head to meet the pointed glance between Chrome and me, confused. “Oh, yeah?”
Chrome ignored him, setting his fork down. “This past Thursday night, Slate and I were sent on a mission to The Phantom.”
Sensing that we were officially starting the meeting, I followed suit and set my silverware down as Chrome continued, despite my stomach’s outcry.
“The reason we didn’t get the second Elemental that night was because first, we got split up in the dense crowd.
Second, I got caught up in the bathroom by a strange man.
I have no idea who he is or where he’s from, but it’s clear he wasn’t normal.
Neither Kinetic nor Elemental. And especially not human. ”
The lines on my father’s forehead deepened as they nearly reached his receding hairline. “What do you mean, Chrome? And why have you not mentioned this until now?”
“Because I wasn’t sure if I should believe him,” Chrome justified, casting a confident glance at me from the side. “Until yesterday that is.”
I didn’t know how much Chrome planned to divulge or what he even planned to share. So, I stayed silent and let him take the lead, trusting that he knew what he was doing. Hoping we wouldn’t live to regret it.
“The man said the king has plans for me and the princess. Apparently, Forest intends to wield us as weapons one day. The dude didn’t say when or how. Just that he plans to harness our power.”
The adults around the table shared looks of concern as the table fell quiet. “What else did he say?” Cotton’s father asked, his voice gruff. “What else about the princess?”
Chrome inhaled sharply at the question, to which I clenched my jaw. He still planned to keep the secret about his dual nature. And the princess, too, apparently. Surely, he could trust this group with that knowledge?
“He said he’s been keeping her isolated to keep her weak and insecure so she doesn’t fight back one day with a mind of her own,” Chrome explained, his tone clipped. “He said that we need to get the princess trained. That she’s the key, and I’m the lock. Whatever that means.”
“Why should we trust this man? Did you even get a name?” my mother chimed in, directing everyone’s attention to her.
Chrome shook his head. “No. He wouldn’t give me a name.”
Another lie.
“So,” Smokey prompted. “Why should we take his word? How would he know this?”
“I can’t answer how he would know this, but yesterday, Slate and I ran into the Elemental Regent King Orion Silas,” Chrome stated with matter-of-fact certainty.
The tension that encompassed the dining room was thicker than the mashed potatoes on our plates.
Silverware clattered against ceramic plates as disbelief snatched Smokey and Sage back into their chairs.
My father’s lips thinned, and his eyes hardened in the way that was ingrained in him as the top Warrior leader.
His throat bobbed, trying to absorb the anger I saw simmering beneath his skin.
“You…what?” the Supreme General gritted out through clenched teeth.
Fuck, I hadn’t thought about my father’s anger once he discovered I’d hidden something so huge from him.
Chrome, completely unphased, shrugged. “Yeah. He and two other Elementals approached us. Told us that we needed to get the princess trained.”
Did he, though? What the fuck is Chrome doing? The Elemental king had said shit more along the lines of Chrome being the Elemental prince and heir, as well as the princess being an heir as well.
“Why are you just now saying something?” my father demanded, then shot his scrutinizing glare at me. “Slate? Care to explain?”
Forcing myself to settle within my skin, I held my shoulders back as I met his scowl head-on. “We figured it’d be best to wait until everyone was together.”
“You are only teenagers!” my father boomed, shoving from his seat, making Hazel jump. It was rare when our dad lost his temper, but when he did, it could be downright scary. “Who gave you permission to withhold crucial and sensitive information like that?”
My mom placed her hand on the Supreme General’s arm. “Honey, calm down. You’re being too loud.”
Everyone at the table held their breath as my father breathed deeply and harshly, closing his eyes to force his calm.
He pulled the chair back to the edge of the table and took his seat.
“My apologies,” he said, clearing his throat.
“But you are just teenagers. Do you realize how dangerous that was? Three Elementals, the Regent King at that, against two teenagers?”
“Do you realize which two teenagers they faced off against?” Chrome asked with an icy calm in his tone that rarely drifted to the surface.
Whispers of ice slithered down my spine at the sound.
“Did you forget that I have forty-seven fucking Kill Marks?” he asked, not even bothering to lift his sleeve to show.
Everyone at this table had been to every single branding ceremony.
“And Slate, your son, is next with fifteen. At fifteen years old…sir.”
My father’s nostrils flared. “I’m aware, Chrome. But it doesn’t matter. That was the godsforsaken king.”
Chrome shrugged. “It doesn’t matter who the hell he was.
I’d kill him and be done with it all. Doesn’t change the fact that the princess needs to be trained to fight.
The sooner the better.” With the authority a sixteen-year-old boy should never harness, he quipped, “Let’s make that happen, sir.
” Chrome picked up his fork, ignoring the stillness smothering the room.
“Oh! And one last thing. Slate’s gonna be the one to do it. ”