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Still shaking, his frenzied gaze pleaded to me. “I need your help.”

I frowned. The longer I remained there, the more my gut twisted. “What can I do?”

“I…I…just…” He chattered through gritted teeth. “Just…be…be near me. It helps.”

I nodded. “Okay,” I whispered and sat on the prickly grass, patting the spot next to me.

He hesitated for a moment, jerking his head around in paranoia. He took a few shaky steps and settled beside me, shoulder brushing against shoulder.

He held out his hand. “Touch,” he said through gritted teeth. “I need it.”

I bit my lower lip, my frown deepening. None of this made sense, but if he thought it would help him, I’d oblige. To see someone of his strength and caliber crumbling before me cleaved my soul.

So, I placed my golden palm, alight with my currents, in his. His silver currents complemented mine, but I shut down the thought before I could let it gain any traction. “Talk to me. About anything,” I said, noting his clammy hand.

Chrome squeezed my fingers like it was a lifeline, sending a tingle up my arm that spread to my chest at the feel of his calloused skin on mine. “I…I’ll try.” That tone, so hopeless,twisted my heart.

“I’ll go first,” I said, wracking my brain for something remotely interesting. But then it hit me. I looked sideways at his profile, noticing the gauntness. “I’m sorry for what I said yesterday. I didn’t mean it.”

His chin dropped to his chest—his head seemed too heavy to hold upright any longer. He chuckled with no sign of amusement. “No, you were right. If…if only you…you knew…you’d see how disgusting I truly am.”

I shook my head. “No,” I said, my voice growing sharp. “Don’t. Don’t do that to yourself. You’re struggling with…something, but look at what you’ve done. At what you’re doing. You’re far from that.” I focused on the lodge ahead of us, illuminated by the moonlight on the hilltop. “I said that because I’ve never had any control over my life. Every action I’ve ever made has been monitored by my father or someone he appointed. Hearing that…struck a nerve. And I didn’t handle it well.”

Chrome shook his head. “No,” he said, his voice growing even more hoarse. “You don’t understand,” he said. “I wish I could tell you, but…it could…ruin everything.” A hard shiver wracked his body, and he groaned a pain-filled noise, fraying a thread on my heart.

“Then, tell me. You said I could help, right?” He didn’t respond. His head hung low, resigned to whatever fate he’d convinced himself awaited him. “Look, I trusted you enough to not lock me up, torture, and kill me when you brought me here. Everything inside me screamed I was walking into a trap, that I was a fucking idiot for entertaining the thought you weren’t the heartless killer I believed you were.” I released his hand and cupped his jaw, stubble poking the skin on my palms, and forced him to meet my eyes.

Empty shells hollowed out those fierce eyes I knew. Broken. “I trusted you enough when I shouldn’t have. You can trust me, Chrome.” I held his gaze, willing him to start somewhere, anywhere.

Several beats of silence passed. He gave nothing away—not even a blink. I was about to accept defeat and withdraw my palms from his face. He wrapped his long fingers around the tops of my hands to stop me, shifting them to rest between us without letting go.

Chrome faced forward again, gazing at the back side of the lodge. He took a shuddering breath to steady himself for what he was about to confess. I was scared to breathe—afraid any sound or movement would make him change his mind.

“You know how I was conceived. Amethyst…she’s twisted on a level few are aware of. Not even you,” he said and shook his head, his metallic hair catching in the moon’s rays like a halo. “She and your father knew how powerful I’d become. They had bred me, after all. But they needed to control me. I needed to bebroken…from a young age.”

My gut sank, preparing for the horrific tale I knew was coming.

“Amethyst and Grim got together right after I was born. They formed a sick type of bond that centered on depravity. By the time I turned one, they were married. Then, Peri was born the next year. Amethyst never loved me. Hell, she never even liked me. She hated me for who my biological father was. But Peri, she wastheirs.” Chrome took a deep breath before he continued, squeezing my hand again. “I loved Peri, too. She was my baby sister, and I felt this intense need to protect her. She was just…the embodiment of light. A joy. They doted on her and luckily spared her from their twisted shit. But me? No, I was the abomination, but one they’d use to their advantage.

“They beat me—a lot. But after a while, I’d grown desensitized. I’d manifested my Elemental powers way before the natural age. And then, a few days later, my Kinetic magic awakened with you on the playground. Orion and I believe it’s because the abuse fueled it, but also, there was something about you and me that sparked it into manifestation,” he explained. He’d regained color to his pallor since holding my hand. Steadiness returned to his voice, and the shivering was receding. But his hand never wavered from mine. Now, he was only a touch of gold and madness, instead of a full blown assault.

“I was ten years old. And that day, they realized my strength. Theyknew. They knew I could easily overpower them and feared I’d one day retaliate for all their abuse. But instead of changing course, they doubled down. Grim…he,” he whispered, looking too ashamed to say it out loud.

I felt sick. The alcohol burned my stomach, threatening to retch at where this was headed. But I stayed still, willing myself not to react, to allow him this safety.

“He violated me.Ownedme.” His voice broke.

My free hand covered my mouth, tears blurring my vision as I choked down emotion. “Chrome…”

Chrome shook his head, forcing himself to push forward. “They needed me to know they were my masters, no matter how powerful I was. They needed me broken—spiritually and mentally. So, I went on to become the person every Kinetic reveres. But the people only knew the persona they’d crafted as the face of our kind. It was a role. And I played it well while becoming what they wanted. I had no will to fight them, even when I became their personal lab rat.

“They would take me down to the interrogation room and push me to the brink of death. They’d torture me, starve me from replenishing my reserves from either form. All so they’d see what I was capable of and what they were dealing with. But they fucked up.” He paused and bit the inside of his cheek.

This horror story was about to worsen.

“The worst happened when I was sixteen. Weeks went by, and I hadn’t replenished either form. My Elemental form was going insane. It was such a hell that I couldn’t think straight. I needed to feed from an aura. It didn’t matter whose it was or how much I’d take. I didn’t care whether I depleted them, even knowing the risk. Add to that, I was starved from my Kinetic energy, too. It was the worst form of torture anyone could imagine.

“So, when they brought someone in the room, I was mindless. Their orders, however, were for me to restrain myself. They wanted me to have self-control while in a depraved state. And they assumed since they brought the one person I cared about the most, the one person I’d do anything to protect, I’d be able to achieve it.”