Chapter 29
Chrome
Shadows enveloped me, obscuring me from the side of the training room’s doorway.
It had taken me several moments to spot Slate and Gray, but finally, I found them by the sparring beam.
It shocked me that Slate had already taken her there.
But I reminded myself that she was like me, a hybrid who would be exceptional in her physical ability.
Pride for her progress bloomed in my heart.
I didn’t have long to stay and watch, but I just needed a quick glimpse of her. I needed to see if she was okay. Her emotions were all over the place. One minute, they were terrified; the next, sad. And minutes later, they would be full of excitement.
I tensed at the sight of Gray’s deer-in-headlights stare as if she were frozen to the spot by something Slate had said. I felt her confusion and…guilt?
My hands shook against the door. I closed it into a fist, trying and failing to make it stop, but I kept my focus on the princess. What had Slate said to give her that type of reaction?
Finally, she turned to walk away. I released a breath, the relief from my lungs sending a rush of oxygen to my brain.
As soon as I relaxed my shoulders just a fraction, Slate walked toward her, grabbed her wrist, and spun her around to face him.
My breath once again seized in my chest, not even making it to my windpipe.
I couldn’t tear my eyes away from the way he tugged her against him, cupping her cheek the way I had on the rooftop not so long ago.
My heart cracked, straining to withstand the pressure, when Slate leaned down and kissed Gray. But it wasn’t until he pulled back, and I heard her demand, “Kiss me like you mean it,” that it finally collapsed and shattered.
Slate obliged, making things instantly worse when an overpowering sensation of lust from Gray slammed into me like a boulder, threatening to make me vomit.
The arm supporting me against the wall fell away, and my hand immediately slapped against my chest, clutching the organ as if I could heal it on the spot.
Unfortunately, our magic didn’t heal emotional wounds.
Not from lack of trying, though.
Clenching my jaw and nursing my heart, I forced myself to take a step back. Then another. And another. One at a time until they were no longer in my view.
I felt so stupid for feeling this way. We had only shared one kiss.
Only a handful of moments. It was time for me to accept that we were doomed to fail from the start.
Slate would be better for her, anyway. I didn’t have shit to offer her, even if by some miracle we were allowed to spend time together.
I was broken. A Warrior for the ages, but a Warrior who wasn’t even allowed to own his body, much less his love life.
It was better this way. At least she would be safe with Slate, as much as they shredded any morsel of hope that I clung to.
Before rejoining my sister and Onyx in the corridor, I paused for a moment to regain my composure. I had an important and dangerous mission. My focus needed to be there, or we’d all be fucked.
Closing my eyes, I went to the dark and distant space in my mind, a pitch void where nothing existed. And if nothing existed there, then nothing could hurt me. It was the only place I could find solitude and peace. For years, it had been conjured visions of Gray. But now, that was no longer safe.
I dove deep into my void—deeper than ever before—into dark depths that remained untouched and unexplored. Once I felt the wave of nothingness wash over me, I opened my eyes.
The shield over my emotions and thoughts had me feeling freer than I had in years. I might’ve gone too deep into my void, but I didn’t care. I couldn’t risk fucking up this mission.
Nobody within the insurgency besides Slate and Onyx knew about the prisons, so if things went tits up, then we were on our own. It was my call to keep everyone else in the dark, unwilling to risk others while being able to potentially salvage the plan if we were caught.
I pushed open the door, finding Peri and Onyx waiting for me with curious expressions. “All good, bro?” Onyx asked, a black brow arched.
I nodded. “Let’s go.”
Icould’ve used my Elemental magic to open the door from the stairwell into the prisons, but Onyx would’ve detected it, so I kept my black crystal bracelet intact.
Peri used her magic to smother any sound waves emitting from our movements and voices, while Onyx focused on keeping our energies undetectable.
I resisted my body’s natural urge to recoil from the sight and stench of the prisons. I walked ahead, Peri and Onyx flanking both sides of me. Every time I’d been down here, Grim or the king escorted me themselves. Mostly Grim. So I’d never been able to get a proper glimpse into the cells.
As we passed each cell along the main corridor that led straight into the interrogation room at the end of the hall, I tried to make out the inmates taking up residence within. Most of them were Elementals, either sleeping, pacing, or slumped against the wall—dejected by their known fates.
Other cells, however, harbored a few Kinetics. Some would run to the bars and cry out, begging us to set them free. They pleaded for the chance to prove their innocence, claiming that they were framed or that their crimes were a misunderstanding.
The temptation to absorb their energies grew with each soul we passed, and each Kinetic and Elemental varied in their strength of their power. The curiosity to pull from them, even just a bit to sample, was too strong. With my sister and Onyx beside me, I refrained.
I shook my head. My patience with Kinetics outside of my circle ran thin.
They were nothing but willing sheep led to slaughter by a wolf with green fur.
Most Kinetics craved power and control, even if it was a microscopic amount, but it was ingrained into our culture.
Power equaled strength and respect. The more one had, the more relevance they held.
The fact I had been roped into this twisted society at such a young age repulsed me every day.
Once we reached halfway down the long corridor, I murmured to Onyx, “I need you to cover me.”
With a dip of his head, he closed his eyes the way he had back in the weapons room, directing his magic to latch onto my essence so he could mask it. “Got it.”
I shot him a quick thanks, concentrating on my life force and stretching it throughout the prisons in search of the hollow energy’s location.
All I knew was it was deep within the maze of cells.
I had been too out of it that night to place the creature, but it was undoubtedly concealed well within the prisons’ depths.
After several soundless moments—except for the moaning pleas coming from the prisoners—I managed to latch onto the devoid energy.
Dreadful. Sickened. And hungry. Awake and conscious, I confirmed that the energy undoubtedly belonged to an Endarkened.
Having come across a few in the past two years; their energy was unmistakable.
“Follow me,” I murmured, pivoting sharply to the right down the next corridor. The energy guided me, but I realized with some measure of panic that the longer I held onto it, the more it drained my strength and power.
I bounded into a sprint.
Onyx and Peri ran to keep up. I couldn’t worry about them. I had to get there…and fast. “Go back,” I said over my shoulder, heaving from the exertion it required. “Just hold your magic for me. If you hear anything, take Peri to safety.”
Onyx tried to protest. “But no…”
“Go! Now!” I ordered, leaving no room for argument. “Protect her!”
“Chrome!” Peri shouted, our voices and steps muted to the outside world.
“No! Go, now!” My steps slowed as I struggled to pull in air. Fatigue rapidly weakened my muscles, my power dwindling fast.
Onyx and Peri fell back, and I thanked the gods that they listened to me. I glanced over my shoulder as I hooked down another corridor past a new block of cells to find the pair gone.
I didn’t have long to locate the Endarkened before it completely drained me, leaving me nothing but a limp body on the floor.
If I could just find it and see them with my own two eyes for confirmation, then I could get word to the insurgency.
I needed to provide proof. Claims like these would not go over well for the others if there wasn’t hard evidence to back it up.
Slowing to walk now, I turned once more down another block. A long corridor awaited me, although no light hung above like the others before it. A vicious darkness beckoned me forward, taunting me to follow it into its depths. Every follicle on my body raised to attention.
I heaved for air, my limbs molten like jelly. My power was nearly depleted. Exactly like being locked in one of these cells again with Grim after he emptied my magic. I grabbed hold of the cell bar, barely keeping myself upright with what little strength remained.
My fingers slapped against the cold steel as I passed, uncoordinated, hardly able to lift my arms to grasp the metal.
I only had to make it to the end of the corridor. The Endarkened lurked around the pitch black corner. I felt it.
I pushed forward, digging deep within myself to take faster steps. All my life, my body had been one of my strengths, so I’d be damned if I let it fail me now.
Step after sluggish step, I clumsily made my way down the hallway.
An incomprehensible darkness awaited me. Icy fingers of dread and death cinched my lungs tighter. I tried to release my essence’s grip on the Endarkened’s lifeless aura, but stumbled at the resistance.
Oh, shit.
The Endarkened wouldn’t relent, continuing to feed on my essence, depleting me.
The frigid, hard floor smashed into my kneecaps as my legs gave way at last. I fought to regain control of my essence, knowing if I didn’t, I would die here with no evidence to prove.
I couldn’t see the ghastly creature because of the lack of light, but if I could just…
With numb and leaden arms, I fumbled for my phone in my pocket. My clammy palms struggled to grip it.
I fell forward, catching myself on my exposed side. I was dying. Again. The Endarkened drained my life force faster than I could think to stop it. And I was okay with that, but I needed to capture the fucking photo of the beast first.
Then maybe I could die in peace. Gray could find some sliver of happiness with Slate. Peri would be safe and protected. Slate would protect Gray and take over in my stead for the insurgency.
Maybe this time, I wouldn’t have a random being from another world come and somehow snatch my soul back into my body. This was no life for anyone to live. I wanted out.
I groaned as I did everything I could to lift my hands, feeling like three-ton cinder blocks hung off my wrists.
The phone was so fucking heavy, and with the coordination of someone who was nearly paralyzed, I swiped my thumb upward on my phone, igniting the LED from the screen.
It asked for a passcode. Fuck, there was no way I could type numbers accurately. But I would die trying.
I angled my arm, sluggishly sliding my thumb to type in the four-digit passcode. It was clumsy, failing on the first two attempts as I hit one digit off each time. But at the last second, my phone accepted my input, bringing me to my home screen to tap the camera icon.
Based on the throbbing in my ears, I couldn’t tell if my heart punched my chest bone or if it only fluttered. Simply too weak, my body sensed its desperate attempt to stay alive. My physique was in peak condition, but it fought a losing battle, so it made sense my body was confused.
My arm shook, but I managed to turn the flash on, aiming it loosely in the direction of the corridor shaded with a black too deep to exist in this world.
Touching the red capture button to take the picture, the flash ignited.
Blinding light sent off a chain reaction of screeches, piercing my eardrums.
My heart slowed as my head began to swim. I rasped for air, unable to get a full breath.
Oh, fun. I’d suffocate to death.
Hoping I’d snagged a snapshot of an Endarkened on my phone, I slid my thumb across the screen to the icon that let me share it via text message. The screen began to blur with the blinding light of the LED, but I caught Slate’s contact icon and managed to hit send.
Good. My job is done.
Before I allowed myself the freedom to succumb to the blackness swarming my vision, I once again forced my thumb to hit the trash bin icon to delete the photo.
Before I did, I glimpsed the horror show in the image.
The camera’s flash illuminated the entire hallway, revealing pale, monstrous faces pressed against the bars.
Dull gold skin peeled in thick layers and dark gray blood oozed from open wounds.
If I died here, I couldn’t leave any evidence that Slate knew about the Endarkened.
Just one more hoorah, Chrome. Protect them all.
My heart pounded a weary beat in my ears, slowing down in its defeat.
My vision blackened on the edges, and I labored to navigate the text messages in my phone.
It took everything left inside me, but I found Slate’s thread, sliding it to the side until the red icon appeared to delete the last message.
My vision winked in and out as I wheezed in a wispy breath. The moment my sight flickered into focus, I dropped my thumb on top of the delete icon. My hand crashed to the floor. Mission complete.
I didn’t know what the insurgency would do with this information, but I prayed to the gods it would be enough to overthrow the king from his throne.
I wouldn’t die for him to continue beating the princess, for my sister to live in fear, and for the world to crumble in his quest for ultimate control and power.
With a final gasp scraping from my stiff lips, I counted the last thuds of my heart and fell into the darkness, knowing this time, Valik wouldn’t be here to stop me.
Thump. Thump.
Thump.
Pause. Thump.
Pause. Thump.
Th-thump.
Finally. I was free.