Chapter 23
Slate
Two more weeks had passed since Chrome had last been seen. My anxiety about his well-being began to morph into true panic.
It was extremely unusual for three whole weeks to go by with no sight or word of his whereabouts. After the night on the rooftop—Friday the thirteenth of all nights—he’d completely vanished. A dark feeling told me it had everything to do with the king, Grim, and Amethyst.
“So,” Hazel said, snapping me from my thoughts.
She sat beside me on a park bench, watching the human kids run and squeal on the playground nearby.
With the warmer weather, humans walked their dogs on the path surrounding the park while getting their own exercise.
Greenery and flowers began to rebirth for the season, bringing life back to the landscape.
“Have you heard anything from Chrome? Or have Mom and Dad said anything about where he could be?”
I shook my head, now glamoured to appear brown with my currents hidden from view. “No,” I sighed. “I’m starting to worry that maybe Forest and company discovered something.”
“About the insurgency?” Hazel asked, her brows dipped and head tipped to the side in concern. The silver bracelet she wore disguised her bronze hair. She tucked a thick lock behind her ear as she narrowed her eyes at me, her black currents hidden from sight.
“Yeah,” I exhaled, leaning forward on my elbows to rest on my knees. “That would be all kinds of shit if they did.”
Hazel sat back on the bench, slumping down. “Maybe that’s not the case. Who knows what the king put Chrome up to now? He could be in another country being showcased as ‘the next legend of our generation’ for all we know.”
Mindlessly, I watched the little ones scream and disperse from the slide after a silly game went awry. “Let’s only hope that’s true. But it wouldn’t hurt to have a backup plan in case it isn’t.” I couldn’t get my racing heart to slow down as my thoughts took a turn for the worst.
“I need to talk to Smokey.” My chest began to tighten as my worry spiraled. I had this…new thing going on inside of me that I had no idea how to control and no one to talk to about it. Chrome was the only person who could possibly understand, and he was nowhere to be found.
I needed to do something to banish the negativity infecting my mind and be proactive instead.
“Valor?” my sister asked, her face twisted in confusion. “Why?”
“He’s Chrome’s trainer, and he works closely with the king. He’d know of his location more than anyone.” I picked at the fringed strands coming from my black pants to keep my fidgeting hands occupied.
“True,” Hazel conceded. “Hopefully he knows something.”
I nodded and dropped my head, lacing my fingers together on my knees.
Several beats of silence passed between us as we contemplated the implications of what it meant if Forest and company found out about the insurgency and our plan to overthrow him. “How’s training going with the princess?”
The corners of my mouth lifted into a faint smile as I reflected on our brief time in training. She was learning the basics rather quickly, and despite her initial repulsion to running, her endurance vastly improved more and more each day. “Good,” I said, ignoring the annoying skip of my heartbeat.
“Is she going to be ready to fight within the next year, you think?”
“Well, she’s not training to be a Warrior, Hazel. But yeah, I think she’ll be quite the formidable opponent for anyone who tries to fuck with her.”
“When can I meet her? I thought I was supposed to become friends with her like you are?” Hazel pouted, crossing her arms, her rare petulance making an appearance.
I rolled my eyes. “In good time. Your chance to win her over will come soon enough. But we have to be careful by avoiding being too obvious.”
Hazel groaned. “Fine. I’ll be patient just a bit longer, then.”
“Yes,” I insisted. “You will.”
Hazel narrowed her eyes at me and chewed on her lip, like I did when lost in thought. “But the real question is this,” she started, sitting up and crossing her legs underneath her. “Will she be able to win over the Kinetics to lead them once the insurgency’s plan to kill Forest has been—”
“Shhh…” My spine straightened, as did my sister’s, both of us quieting as we scanned the surrounding area.
“Come on,” she said, standing up in a hurry. “We need to go. I feel like we’re being watched.”
I didn’t question her, her intuition having always been much sharper than anyone else’s, aside from Chrome’s. Jumping to my feet, I assessed the park.
“You feel it, too?” she asked under her breath.
I nodded. “Yeah, not their energy. Just that…someone’s there.”
Hazel spun on her heels and took off at a brisk pace through the city park, heading in the opposite direction of the King’s Palace.
“Where are you headed?” I murmured just loud enough for her to hear.
Scooping up her glamoured light brown hair, she tied it in a ponytail at the top. She shook her head and scowled at me over her shoulder. Using her index finger, she placed it over her lips, ordering me to be silent.
I rolled my eyes, rushing to keep pace with her but focused on remaining vigilant to our surroundings. I reached for the dagger in my weapons belt for reassurance but kept it sheathed.
As we put more distance between us and the King’s Palace, we entered a city street. We rounded a corner and came to a stop at a busy intersection. Hazel appeared to know where she led me, although I shifted around beside her, uneasy, as cars whizzed past.
“Where are we—”
“Stop asking. You’ll see…” Hazel cut me off, waiting for the pedestrian light to let us know we were safe to cross the street.
I pinched the bridge of my nose. “Hazel, just tell me…”
“It’s not safe, dumbass. Just pay attention,” she hissed over her shoulder.
“Fine. Then how’s training going for you?” I asked with a huff, attempting to bring normalcy to our demeanor in the event we were being watched.
“It’s going. I managed to take out Marigold the other day.” The smug smile she tried to hide told me she was revisiting the memory.
“Hell yeah, Hazy. That’s great. Did you do the hold I showed you?”
A wide grin spread across her cheeks, still holding some baby fat she hadn’t quite grown into yet. “I did. Next time, I’ll lay on the kick you taught me.”
“But you’re not allowed to start hitting or kicking yet. That’s not for another few months at least.”
Tucking in her lips and casting her gaze to the ground, she bit back a grin. “Yeah, well…what the trainers don’t know won’t hurt them, right? Just Marigold and her arrogant attitude that has her thinking she can—”
The hairs on the back of my neck rose as needle pricks crawled down my spine. I stiffened, placing my hand on her shoulder.
“Run,” I murmured, cutting her off. Call it intuition, but in a busy intersection full of humans, I couldn’t remove my bracelet. I struggled to pinpoint the threat. I only knew danger was near, and we needed to get somewhere we could fight back. “Now.”
Hazel’s eyes widened, but she heeded my order as she took off down an alleyway on the right.
I stayed behind her, protecting her back as I unclasped my silver bracelet, feeling my magic flood my veins, wishing I had more weapons on me.
I had a dagger and a knife, as we carried our weapons at all times, whether inside or out of the King’s Palace.
“Take off your bracelet,” I demanded urgently. I didn’t know what enemy we were about to face, but I suspected they were Kinetic. “Stop here.”
Coming out of the alleyway, I turned left.
Empty. The space had been vacated by a restaurant that had gone under, noting from the discarded commercial kitchen appliances out back.
I reached up my sleeve, retrieving the knife I kept there and handing it to Hazel before snatching my dagger tucked in the weapons belt beneath my hoodie.
“You don’t know how to wield that yet, so try to avoid using it unless you have to,” I instructed as we slowed our breaths.
Hazel nodded quickly, holding the knife with shaky hands. “Who is it?”
At her question, I focused on the energy surrounding us. Despite the hoard of humans on the other side of the building, I could sense it. The presence fast approached, seeking a fight.
Upon sensing it, icy sensations washed over my skin, locking up my muscles as my heart pounded harder at the confirmation.
Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.
“Kinetic,” I whispered. “Shit, Hazel. Go hide.”
“No,” she said, determination set in her clenched jaw and pinched brow. “I’m not leaving you.”
“But you’re not trained enough for this…”
“I don’t care. I can help. My magic…” she said, waving her arm at me, showing off her black currents, indicating the power of X-ray.
“Mom and Dad would kill me if—”
“It’s fine. Focus. I’ll stay out of the way but will help if needed.”
I clenched my jaw and faced the approaching Kinetic. Five, four, three, two….
Rounding the corner, a male Kinetic with neon-green hair came into view. Blue currents glowed on his neck beneath his jacket. I could only assume he’d overheard our conversation in the park. I recognized him from the training room, and he was someone who took his job very seriously.
“Well, the king will be shocked to hear that treason runs high in the palace,” he greeted with a confident grin. “Best to inform him early before the infection spreads.”
“Treason? Who’s committing treason?” I played dumb. The fact he ran into a back alley and found me wielding a dagger in broad daylight with my currents exposed gave away my lie.
Kale Brighton cocked his head, observing me with a sly grin. “That’s interesting. You might not be planning to kill the king, but did I hear something about an insurgency involving Chrome? Imagine the palace gossip once that gets out.”
I squinted at him. “You’re jealous, bro. Everyone knows you’ve been aiming for Chrome’s spot for a while now.”
Kale scoffed. “He can’t have it all, can he? Someone else needs a chance to win the Kinetic Tournament in the next fifty years. It’s hardly fair he has it all.”
I shook my head. “That’s pathetic.”
“No,” he said, hardening his expression, his nostrils flaring. “Being an accomplice to killing the king is what I consider pathetic.” Taking a step closer, he asked, “Why? Why does he want to?”
“First of all, I don’t know what you’re talking about.” I pulled my magic close to me, feeling the power of light waves warm my veins.
“And second?”
I shrugged. “Go fuck yourself.” I threw my palm out, aiming at Kale with the goal of blinding him. He jerked his arm to cover his face, blocking it. I took the opportunity to go on the offensive, charging at him with my dagger directed at his face.
I punched his jaw, knocking his head to the side. Holding the side of his face, he stumbled back a few steps. I maintained the upper hand, pushing forward, kicking at his feet.
Kale sidestepped in his stumble but soon recovered.
I feinted a jab at his head to get him to open up, but he slipped it.
Suddenly, a loud shriek stabbed my ears.
Thousands of knives seemed to puncture my brain.
I fell to my knees, still gripping my dagger while I clutched my ears.
I cried out, sure my eardrums would start bleeding if it lasted much longer.
“Slate!” Hazel’s distant scream burst through the screeching in my head. I had to do something. I had to protect her.
Focusing on the dagger in my grasp, I slashed the blue glowing blade at Kale’s leg. It nicked him, but it was enough to make his concentration falter. Rolling away, I shut out the agony that split my brain and eardrums.
Before I could stop her, a thick, white laser struck Kale in the stomach.
Hunching over, he cupped the singed open wound of Hazel’s X-ray power.
I spotted her standing with a hand twisted downward, fingers facing the concrete, and palm directed at Kale.
My sister’s black currents raced up and down her arms and neck at a speed I hadn’t seen on her before.
Kale gasped, looking up at the fourteen-year-old he had underestimated, eyes wide and mouth gaping open. “I’ll…heal.”
“Not before I fucking kill you,” came a guttural voice from the shadows.
I snapped my attention to the opening in the alleyway, spotting a hooded Chrome standing there.
Despite his haggard appearance, the flared nostrils and tensed jaw displayed his barely contained rage, freezing his crystalline eyes in violent malice.
With labored breaths, his shoulders shook harshly.
Chrome peered from beneath his hood with glacial malevolence that promised nothing short of devastation.