Chapter 12
Chrome
Me
We got a mission. Meet me in the garage.
Slate
K. See you in 15.
Isighed, locking thoughts of Gray into the dark corners of my mind after yesterday’s events.
I couldn’t believe she was so miserable that she’d try to take her own life.
How had I missed that? I was a mess of negativity, all self-inflicted.
I had been too absorbed in my own suffering to piece together the fact that Forest had been hurting her as well.
According to my mother, an Elemental sighting in a crowded Downtown Atlanta shopping mall had been shortly followed by a human dropping dead in the same place.
The authorities had ruled it as a heart attack, but we knew better.
So now, Slate and I were being sent to hunt down either an Elemental in the early stages of devolution or an Endarkened to prevent any more bloodshed.
The Regent King of Elementals had confirmed that Forest was lying about Griffin Silas ordering the attacks, creating the perfect scapegoat for Kinetics to turn their anger toward, given that the “lost Elemental Prince” was partially a fake entity.
Either way, it was still possible that an Elemental could’ve lost control while replenishing their magic and depleted someone’s energy.
After changing into my gear and grabbing weapons, I set out to the parking garage to meet Slate.
The anticipation of a fight buzzed in my veins, ready to unleash the warring emotions I worked tirelessly to contain.
It was exhausting, but showing any emotion other than calculated malice in front of the king and his two sidekicks was considered a weakness.
A weakness that they joyfully exploited.
Once again, Slate arrived before me, casually leaning against his bike. “Where to?” he asked as I approached.
I straddled the motorcycle, throwing the helmet on and ensuring the visor was down.
“Downtown. Peachtree Center. An Elemental depleted a human, and they dropped. So, we’re either looking for an Elemental in the early stages of devolution or an Endarkened.
” I cut the ignition to the bike and twisted the throttle, just as Slate did the same.
Without wasting another second, we sped out of the garage, blasting onto the Atlanta streets. Rain sheeted down, making the drive a bit riskier, but I craved the danger; at least I felt something other than rage and self-loathing.
Puddles splashed beneath our tires, threatening to hydroplane as water pelted my leather jacket and slid down my helmet’s visor. Depending on the flow of traffic, Slate either rode beside me or right on my tail, keeping up with me.
At last, we reached the congested shopping center and parked a few a blocks away to avoid paying the meters on the street. As the rain battered us, we removed our helmets, and I tossed my hoodie over my head to hide my hair and silver currents since I removed my Kinetic bracelet.
Focusing on the energies around us, everyone seemed and felt human. There were so many of them in such a tight radius that it overwhelmed me. But over the years, I’d learned to block it out and sift through them, searching for anything other than human.
“Feel anything?” Slate asked, adjusting his hoodie as well, obscuring his gold currents.
I shook my head. “Not yet,” I muttered as we approached the shopping center’s main entrance at The Hub. “Honestly, though. Why would the Elemental or Endarkened stay here where they just depleted and killed a human? That doesn’t make sense.”
“I was thinking the same,” Slate responded as he also took note of our surroundings. He could sense the energetic signatures, but not on the scale and precision that I could. Something told me that Gray was the only other person able to sense them like I could.
I wiped the water that dripped into my eyes as I came to a stop. Slate drew up beside me, aware of what I was about to do, keeping watch of any potential threats. Closing my eyes, I focused on the energies around me, putting more effort into separating the thousands of humans nearby.
At last, I felt it and even saw its trace flash in my mind’s eye. The signature was faint, but it was there. A street away, squeezed between a bank and the Westin Hotel’s entrance, an Elemental retreated, presumably trying to leave the area.
I snapped my eyes open. “Got him.”
Slate and I dashed into a sprint, heading toward a backstreet behind the row of buildings while keeping my hold on the signature.
Finally, the Elemental’s trace was so strong I knew we had found it as we weaved into a narrow alleyway behind a building.
It stood vacated. On the ground, at least. I looked up, noticing how the buildings had flat roofs and were close together.
I pointed to the sky as rain continued to downpour, signaling to Slate the direction where the Elemental fled.
Slate tipped his head upward in acknowledgment and glanced toward the roof.
A dumpster was pressed against the building.
We jumped to its lid and scaled the building’s rough exterior to the roof with ease.
Once we both made it, we bolted into a sprint.
Slate kept up with me, staying by my side, and making the leap from one rooftop to the next.
We flowed in tandem, knowing each other’s smallest ticks and moves. The pair of us made great partners since we grew up and trained together. As I progressed, I passed on my knowledge to him. Now, he was the second highest skilled Kinetic of our age group, exceeding the others by years.
I focused on the Elemental fleeing atop the building ahead. “We’re closing in. They’re tiring,” I said as we leaped to the next building, not slowing down from the jump.
We converged on the Elemental. I could see him ahead, and I pushed harder; our target vaulted to the next roof, but I had him. Slate matched me, and I thanked every god that potentially existed that I’d trained him to be able to keep up with me.
My lungs began to burn, but I pushed through it.
The Elemental slowed down as we narrowed the distance, but that only fueled me more, not thinking of anything else but the violence that beat war drums in my veins.
With a glance at my cousin, we made the final jump to the next building.
The Elemental’s speed waned, sluggishly jogging in a desperate attempt to escape.
My leg muscles blazed from exertion, but I ignored them, rolling the landing and springing to my feet.
I broke into another sprint, closing the distance between the Elemental man and me.
I wrapped my arms around his chest from behind and fell backward intentionally.
He struggled against my front, but I squeezed him tightly against me while I waited for Slate.
Air hurtled from my lungs, but I didn’t care. I’d black out if I had to. After several seconds, Slate arrived, plunging his dagger into the man’s shoulder, eliciting a cry of pain. I shoved him off me before rolling to the side and rising to my feet.
I focused on the iron in his blood and drew it to the surface. Slate snatched his dagger from the man’s shoulder and wrapped his arm around the man’s neck, capturing him in a chokehold with his blade pressed to Elemental’s throat.
I sucked in a sharp breath, stepping toward him until I stood nose to nose with the brunette man, his burgundy eyes begging me to spare him.
“I didn’t deplete that human,” he pleaded.
I chuckled. “Right,” I said, unable to hide the mocking edge in my voice.
The man shook his head, wincing when the move drew blood down his throat from Slate’s blade, who remained stoic. “I didn’t do it,” he heaved. “I was there to stop…what was…was happening.”
A menacing chuckle climbed my throat. “Oh, yeah? Care to explain?”
The man’s mouth opened and closed. “It was you…your people.”
I bit my bottom lip and gazed up at the raining sky, watching the water droplets fall just before they pelted my eyes. “That makes no sense.” I said, not wanting to believe him.
“I’m not lying.”
Slate spoke up, not removing his dagger from the Elemental’s throat. “What happened?”
“I tried to stop him…”
“Who?”
“The guy with black hair…”
“You do realize how many living beings have black hair in this world?” I asked, not even bothering to hide my skepticism.
“I mean it.”
Triggered, any emotions I had shut off like a switch, as an image of Grim striking the princess flashed in my mind. “Fuck off,” I snarled, driving a knife into his stomach. It sunk into his gut, his eyes widening in shock and pain.
I felt nothing but relief from taking his life, as if killing him would give me back a childhood that I’d been robbed of. “Now, why would a Kinetic do something like that?” I asked in a lilting tone.
The Elemental wheezed, only held upright from Slate’s grip around his throat. “Your…” he gasped, a whistle following his breath, “…king…” A choked cough came from his throat, black blood pooling around the corners of his mouth. “…wants a war.”
I stared at him, bored. “With who?”
The man’s knees gave out, but Slate caught him under the arm to hold him upright. “Us. Elementals.”
“Why?” I knew he told the truth, I felt it. It was a suspicion I’d been having since learning that I was the Elemental Prince. But if he were right, that meant that I’d been killing innocents this whole time on behalf of the king. Potentially even family members. I couldn’t accept it.
The man’s eyes drooped, his body going slack in Slate’s arms. “Ultimate…power.”
I deadpanned. “Okay. We know Forest is an asshole. That’s nothing new. If what you’re saying is true, then how is he making us believe that Elementals are depleting humans?”
“Your…prison.” It was all the Elemental said before he collapsed, his weight too much for Slate to hold up any longer.
That caught my attention. If there was one thing I was unfortunately familiar with, it was the prisons beneath the palace. It held any Kinetic guilty of committing crimes against the crown and any Elementals captured. And myself, on occasion, obviously.
So, what would be down in the prisons that would allow Forest to trick everyone into believing that Elementals were depleting humans?
I couldn’t piece together how he could even pull off a deception like that.
It began to appear that the Elementals were innocent after all.
Aside from my own conflicting emotions, the implications of that accusation were monumental.
If the man I’d just killed had been telling the truth, what future atrocity were we unknowingly contributing to?
“He’ll be dead in about five minutes,” Slate said as I stood there staring off into the distance as the Elemental’s words struck home, further ripping apart everything I believed to be truth.
I remembered Valik’s warning of Forest in The Phantom’s bathroom, followed by the Regent King’s words just a few days ago.
Forest orchestrated my birth and the princess’s to create two weapons in order for him to obtain power.
He also lied to his own daughter about being adopted, hid her true nature from her, abused her, and isolated her.
Not to mention the treatment he sanctioned for me.
The man had proven he would go to any length to get what he wanted.
“I need to see what Forest is hiding in the prisons,” I said after a long pause.
Slate walked to my side, his eyes narrowed in confusion. “You…believe him?”
As much as I didn’t want to, I admitted, “I think Forest will do anything to get what he wants. Including starting a war and blaming the Elementals for it.”
“Are you thinking like this because you’re potentially the son of their deceased king?” Slate asked, a brow raised in doubt.
I huffed. “Hardly. Even if they are completely innocent, I don’t even know them.
They haven’t tried to help me or Gray. So why would I help them?
” I explained. “It’s because if he starts a war and gets what he wants, it could devastate the whole world.
Who knows what he’s after, but apparently, he’s been crafting his way toward it since before I was born. ”
Slate nodded, crossing his arms as he chewed on his lip. “It would make sense why he lied and turned you against Elementals.”
The crisp breeze seemed to grow thick and stagnant as I realized that Slate was right. I had played right into Forest’s hands by believing him about who my father was. I became his perfect soldier.
“Like I said, I need to find out what’s in the prisons,” I repeated.
“I’ll go with you,” Slate replied.
I shook my head. “No. You can’t. Too risky for you.”
Slate’s expression turned appalled. “And it isn’t for you?”
“No. They can’t kill me. So, it doesn’t matter if they catch me. But everyone else is expendable in their eyes, even you,” I said, meeting his gaze.