Chapter 24
Slate
Pushing past the confusion in my ringing mind, I rose to a knee, ready to attack. Chrome pulled two swords from his back, the blue casting an ominous hue to the alleyway.
I kept hold of my dagger and met Chrome’s eyes, both of us nodding as we closed in on the injured Kale.
Even through his pain, Kale pulled free a sword of his own and found his footing, bracing to take us on at the same time.
I let Chrome attack first, one sword coming down above Kale’s head with excessive force.
Kale lifted his blade to deflect it, his arm shaking from the effort it took him to hold off Chrome’s strength.
I took the opportunity to slice his torso in several quick successions since he exposed his side.
Kale grunted and flinched, weakening his hold on Chrome’s overbearing force.
As I continued to methodically splice him in precise movements to weaken and distract him, Chrome bashed the hilt of his other sword down into Kale’s temple.
Kale collapsed to the ground, dark pools of blood expanding around his body. But the hatred and determination in his eyes didn’t dim. If anything, it only grew, seeming to give him the life he needed to keep fighting.
Neither Chrome nor I assumed Kale being down as a victory. Chrome took one side while I took the other. Chrome rushed to drop to his knees, grabbing Kale from behind in an unbreakable chokehold, squeezing his trachea within the crook of his arm.
Meanwhile, I retrieved his sword and tossed it to the side.
A sudden scream pierced through the alleyway, making the blood drain from my face.
I whirled around, finding Hazel’s face contorted in agony as she clamped her palms to her ears. “It’s too much! Stop!” I realized with horror that Kale directed his magic on Hazel, my weakness in this fight.
Fuck. I was torn between running to help my sister and finishing Kale off myself.
Hazel’s screams distracted Chrome, too, because, in the next second, Kale slid out a knife he’d stashed in his pants leg and reached behind him, stabbing Chrome’s thigh.
Chrome released his chokehold on Kale just a fraction, but it was enough for Kale to scramble and get the upper hand.
The buzzing feeling returned to the back of my neck, and I looked down at my hands, finding them illuminating a silvery hue to the usual pale white light.
I kept my fists clenched and rushed to the brawl happening on the ground.
In my dash, I swept up the sword Kale had tossed to the side. Upon my touch, its sigils ignited blue. I approached the two of them as they traded heavy hitting blows to the face. Before Chrome could flip him, because it was only a matter of time before he did, I snuck up behind Kale.
I jabbed the edge of Kale’s blade against his throat. “Release my sister,” I muttered, an unforgiving hardness to my tone, especially as Hazel’s screams continued to wail louder. I didn’t need to look behind me to know that she had curled in on herself on the ground.
Kale laughed. “No.”
Hazel screeched. Fuck. I worried about her permanent hearing if he didn’t stop soon.
Chrome grabbed my attention as he rose to his feet. “I got it, Slate. Go to Hazel,” he said, removing his black bracelet.
The sword grew weightless in my grasp as if someone had grabbed hold of it, but it was simply Chrome’s element.
I nodded to him and sprinted to my sister, who lay in the fetal position. Dropping to my knees at Hazel’s side, I pulled her into my lap, protecting her head with my body as if it could stop the onslaught that Kale inflicted on her ears.
I dared a glance in Chrome and Kale’s direction just in time to see Chrome release an implosion from his body. The blast struck Kale, incinerating him into dust. The small particles plumed into a cloud before scattering in the alleyway, slowly floating to the ground.
Hazel trembled in my arms. An eerie silence drifted through the alley, announcing the severity of the crime that had just been committed.
Chrome just killed a Kinetic Scout.
“Chrome.”
Through the loose strands of short chromatic hair that fell over my cousin’s eyes beneath his hood, his chest heaved as he met my gaze.
A dark acceptance settled behind his metallic stare before squeezing his eyes shut.
Without saying a word, Chrome snapped the black bracelet into place, his gilded skin returning to its usual tan and his eyes to their crystalline blue.
“I had to,” he mumbled, lowering his chin to his chest. “I couldn’t let him tell.”
Hazel shook in my arms, but she sat up, not seeing Chrome’s Elemental traits before he covered them again. I gave her a once-over to make sure she was okay. She nodded at me as she recovered on the ground, telling me to go to Chrome.
I rose to my feet, meeting Chrome’s gaze. Unlike Hazel, he wasn’t okay. “It’s fine. We’ll deal with that later,” I assured him. “But where’ve you been?” I asked as I approached, resting my palms on his shoulders.
Chrome tensed at my touch, jerking his shoulder away. “Locked up.”
I pulled my hand back to myself. I knew he didn’t like to be touched. Mentally, I kicked myself for forgetting. “What? Why?”
With a shrug, he answered. “Training.”
“Training? In the prisons?”
“My powers. They want to test my powers. They finally let me replenish my magic and released me about forty-five minutes ago.”
So many questions swirled in my mind. “How did you know where to find us?”
Chrome’s hollow gaze clashed with mine. “When I was released, I was told by your mom that you and Hazel went to the park. And by the time I got there, I felt him…” he said, jerking his chin at the piles of dust splayed across the concrete.
“As I closed in on him, I felt your energy.” He held up his wrist, showing his glowing silver currents.
“Didn’t bother putting my bracelet back on.
Not after…” He clenched his jaw and squeezed his eyes shut as if to block out a memory in the forefront of his mind.
I didn’t push, noting it was something too difficult to speak on.
“Okay,” I breathed. “That’s fine. I’m sure no one saw you.
” I double-checked his attire. His hoodie covered his currents.
His hair wasn’t quite hidden but could be passed off as dyed with the hood over it.
“Hazel and I can get rid of the evidence. It’ll be fine. ”
Chrome stiffly nodded. “How’s the princess? Is she okay?”
“Yeah. She’s fine. We’ve been training.”
“Is she progressing?” he asked, his eyes narrowed.
“Yeah. She’s coming along. She’ll be deadly in no time.”
Some tension relaxed in his shoulders. “Good. Thank you. Nothing can happen to her. Do you hear me, Slate? You’re in charge of keeping her safe and alive. If I could, I would, but…”
“I know. It’s fine. You’ve got enough to worry about right now. Besides, she’s not too bad to be around,” I said. A soft, wistful smile pulled up the side of my face as I thought about my time spent with the princess.
The exhaustion from Chrome’s expression suddenly hardened, his blue eyes turning to ice as he cocked his head to the side, scrutinizing me. “What does that mean?”
I stepped back, my lips parting to answer, but unsure what happened. Pinching my brows in confusion, I said, “Nothing, Chrome. I just like being around her.”
“In what way?” Chrome demanded through clenched teeth, holding back his anger.
“Just as friends. Is there something I’m missing here?” I asked him, wondering if his ability to feel her emotions was something more.
Closing his eyes and breathing a deep breath, he finally answered, “No. It’s nothing.
” With a shake of his head as if to clear it, he said, “Sorry. I’m just worked up after everything.
” Chrome swallowed, and it seemed to take some effort to say the next words.
“There’s nothing between us, but just keep her safe and protect her with everything you have. ”
I frowned. “Of course, I will.”
Chrome ran his hands over his face. “Keep her trust,” he sighed, indicating there was more that needed to be said.
“I overheard Forest tell my mother that he plans to make Gray an Assassin soon.” He cracked his knuckles.
“Now that the king sees her value, he intends to make her into another weapon…like me.”
Hazel and I cleaned up the mess left in Chrome’s wake.
Due to the heavy shade pitched by the surrounding buildings, I cast my light for her to be able to see.
Using her X-ray ability, she incinerated anything behind—particularly blood—leaving no evidence except for ash and dust. We then grabbed objects from behind the vacated restaurant to use as makeshift brooms to sweep and scatter it away, not giving the king any sign that a fight had transpired.
He knew what Chrome’s Kinetic magic was capable of, so it was important to hide it.
I watched Chrome out of my periphery as I swept. The legendary Kinetic Warrior sat against the brick wall, knees drawn up to his chest with his arms draped over them. His head drooped as he stared at the rough concrete between his knees, motionless and quiet.
A broken Warrior.
Whatever he’d experienced the past three weeks haunted him.
I didn’t want to ask, but curiosity burned an insidious hole in my brain, much like the lasers that shot from Hazel’s palms. I wouldn’t press, of course.
I’d always known that Chrome had been treated much worse than the rest of us, pushed harder and held to higher expectations, but I never pressed for the full extent.
That was going to change soon. He was defeated, and it was clear he needed help.
News of King Forest’s plans to turn Gray into an Assassin within the Guilds unsettled me.
It meant that the king had found a way to use her to his benefit.
Seeing as she could be as powerful as Chrome, having her allegiance to her father didn’t bode for us.
Training the princess to be able to protect herself was important, but now that the king saw her potential, the game had suddenly changed.