Chapter 19
Chrome
Alcohol buzzed through my bloodstream, but it didn’t hinder my ability to drive.
My eyesight remained sharp, and my senses remained attuned to my surroundings.
Just as if I were leaping from one rooftop to the next or locked in a fight, it seemed my body could purge the inhibition from my system whenever the situation called for it.
But more than anything, I wanted to succumb to exhaustion.
Peri drove back with Hazel on the back of her bike. She never got drunk, knowing she had to drive home, but I drove behind them anyway to ensure they made it back to the King’s Palace safely.
Throughout the entire ride back, my mind raced, making me ache to push my bike to outpace the tail-spinning thoughts.
Slate’s weirdness before I left the rooftop plagued me.
I tried to piece together where he planned to go, but nothing came up.
Something didn’t sit right with the whole exchange, as if he harbored secrets.
But I trusted him. He was the only person besides Peri I could trust wholeheartedly—more so, in some regard.
He was like my brother. Slate would never betray me.
A red light slowed Peri to a stop, and I pulled up at her side. I glanced over at my sister, our helmets shielding our faces, but we had our own language. I nodded at her before she turned forward again, anticipating the light shifting to green.
Several moments passed as I waited for the traffic light to change, contemplating how I was going to get back into the King’s Palace without getting caught.
There were times when I miraculously got spared, but there were others where I wasn’t so lucky.
It was always a gamble. It helped that Grim was supposed to be out tonight.
The light flashed green.
Peri lurched forward, spurring Hazel to lean into my sister’s back, hugging her tighter around the torso as they took off down the nearly vacant street.
Only a second later, I followed suit, launching after them, speeding up to closely tail my sister as we raced back to the King’s Palace.
We roared into the parking deck, lodging our bikes side by side. I hesitated, a sour feeling twisting my gut at the empty spot on my right, indicating Slate’s absence.
The girls and I rushed to remove our helmets, dismounting from the bikes in silence. I met my sister’s eyes, the corners tightening as she sucked her cheeks inward to bite them, her tell that she was anxious.
“Come on,” Peri murmured lowly. “Maybe Mom’s asleep.”
I swallowed, glancing at Hazel before settling on Peri’s pale purple hair. “And Grim’s supposed to be out?” I asked, double-checking.
Peri nodded, looking down at the concrete as we hurried our pace. “Should be until morning.”
I held my breath, the ever-present and overbearing sensation that something would go wrong thrumming in my core. I couldn’t just go out and have fun and get away with it. That just wouldn’t stand in our household.
“We’ll take the side entrance,” I muttered. “I know the cameras’ blind spots.”
The elevator ride to the twenty-eighth floor was overpowered by oppressive silence. All three of us were too scared to speak. I didn’t know why because Peri could easily mute our voices from any guards, making us utterly soundless.
When the lift jolted to a stop, accompanied by the loud ding that announced its arrival, Peri’s magic suppressed its sound waves from being heard by any passersby.
The doors slid open, and Hazel stepped out of the metal box, waving goodbye to us with a shy grin before turning toward her family’s suite.
Once the doors shut, Peri and I met each other’s gazes. Our expressions mirrored one another—jaws clenched tight and shoulders tensed.
“It’s going to be fine, Chrome,” Peri said, her airy voice firm. “Just trust me.”
“I trust you,” I argued. “But I just have this feeling—”
“I know.” Peri ran her fingers through her loose waves, having let her hair down before she put the helmet on to drive back to the palace. “But it’s all going to be fine.”
The journey to the next floor was fleeting, yet it seemed like the oxygen had evaporated from the metal box.
Peri grabbed my hand upon entering the suite, giving my palm a squeeze of reassurance. It did nothing to ease my anxiety, but I returned the gesture all the same. I didn’t dare breathe as Peri opened the door, silencing the click of the door handle and keypad.
Obsidian shadows submerged the foyer—no light indicating anyone was awake or home. I released my breath, relief making my limbs go weak.
I had fully expected Grim to be standing on the other side of the door, ready to haul me back to the prison or, better yet, put the princess through another round of public punishment to teach me a lesson.
“I told you,” Peri whispered as we moved to the hallway that housed our rooms. “Everything’s fine.”
I nodded, my heart rate still slow to catch up with the relief as it continued to thunder in my chest. “Good.”
“I’m glad you got to get out tonight; you needed that,” my sister said. “It’s been a while.”
I couldn’t help the smirk that crept upward at the vision of Onyx hugging the edge of the building by his armpits. “It was nice—”
“About time you made it back.”
Every muscle in my body locked up, throwing my heart back into overdrive, my mouth going dry at Grim’s voice behind me.
Peri’s eyes widened for a fraction of a second before she directed her attention to her father, a doting smile encompassing her face. “Dad!” she exclaimed, wrapping her arms around his waist to be pulled into an embrace.
“Hey, pumpkin.” Grim’s insidious voice shifted into the softened tone it usually did when he spoke to Peri. I was pretty sure she was the only living being he actually cared for. It didn’t mean he wouldn’t use her to punish me, though.
Bitter bile threatened to purge the stale alcohol sitting heavy in my stomach. I refused to turn and look at him.
“Glad you made it back,” Grim said, and I imagined he was inspecting her body to see if any injuries marred her skin as he typically did. “Chrome finally did something good, I see.”
I ground my teeth together, forcing my hands not to clench into fists at the insult, wishing I could disintegrate into black particles to blend in with the shadows.
“Where have you been?” my stepfather demanded, directing his voice to the back of my head. Even my hoodie couldn’t shield his corrupted energy from penetrating me.
Before I could form a lie, Peri answered.
“Mom sent us out. She said she needed to have a quiet night to herself with zero energies distracting her. So, Chrome and I went to the movies and then to Waffle House. You know I love their chocolate chip waffles, and I was craving them so bad! Chrome didn’t have a choice because I wasn’t going down without a fight about it. ”
Grim hesitated before responding, surely questioning the validity of Peri’s claims, but he trusted her. “Is that so?” he murmured. “I’ll be sure to ask her about that.”
“That’s fine, Dad. You’ll see,” Peri assured. “Would I lie to you?” she asked in her sweet and innocent tone.
“No, pumpkin,” Grim responded. “Never you,” he followed up with a sharp edge, cutting it toward me. “Just don’t let that brother of yours steer you wrong.”
I swallowed my anger at being talked about as if I weren’t standing right there. Never mind the fact that I was the last one threatening to corrupt Peri.
“It’s late, Dad.” My sister yawned. “We’re going to go to bed.”
“Okay, pumpkin. See you in the morning,” Grim said, and I felt him step closer, presumably to give her a hug goodnight.
I took that as my dismissal, not willing to stand in his presence any longer than needed. Walking as quickly as I could, I reached my room, unable to get away from him fast enough. Once inside, I leaned my back against the door and gasped for air, pressing my palm flat against my chest.
Beads of sweat raced down my forehead and temples, my hands sticky from clamminess as I fought off the onslaught of memories—old and new—that I wished I could permanently banish from my mind.