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On the outside, my cackling made no sense. I probably seemed fucking insane in all honesty. But I understood it. All the restraint I had been clinging onto for the past few weeks dissipated with the rush of the powder as it swam in my veins.

After several minutes of unprovoked laughter, my breaths finally began to slow and some of the weight lifted from my chest and shoulders. I licked my lips. Good. They were numb; I needed all the parts of me that mattered to remain that way.

Aside from the buzzing in my head, the echoes of quietude caressed the inner recesses of my mind. Taunts from the darkness were effectively shut out, and I couldn’t help but be grateful for the powder. I had never been one to indulge in drugs in the past, but it helped numb my mind and deathly urges, allowing me the chance to think. To form a plan.Slowdown. Prepare.

I wasn’t sure how long I’d need to wait for the princess to flee, but I knew eventually she would. The king wouldn’t tolerate her failure to kill me. Too many Kinetics waited for the moment she lapsed—to the point that her lifewas no longer worthwhile. The Kinetics were cold with their own people in that way.

A wave of instinctual anger boiled to the surface. I had no reason to feel any sense of protectiveness toward the woman, but yet, the thought of others harming her pissed me the fuck off. I clenched my fists and jaw, angling my head from side to side, cracks popping down my neck from the action.

I hadn’t thought much about that moment I had with her on the train. The one where a potential lost memory surfaced by the contact of her skin, that was. Could that even be called amomentwhen she was unconscious and unaware of my presence? The memory was probably something fabricated by the voice to control me, to fuck with my head even more in order to push me over the edge at long last.

Glass crunched near the front door, eradicating the silence in the deserted hookah shop. I stilled, waiting for the intruder to approach me. Adjusting the grip on the knife in my fist, a slow grin began to pull up at the edges of my mouth, feeling my inner predator rise.

“There you are.” The teenage boy rounded the corner, and upon seeing me, his eyes went wide in response to the feral grin on my face. “Uh…why do you look excited to murder me?”

“Didn’t know it was you,” I said, shoulders dropping and turning toward the table again. “Now I’m sad.”

“Sorry to disappoint,” Dash said, sighing as he moved to take a seat beside me on the couch. “Hogan sent me with the radio so you can monitor her movements.”

With a nod, I straightened and focused on the teen boy next to me who’d far surpassed anybody’s expectations of him amongst the human rebels. Like most humans, he’d lost a lot, including his youth and innocence at a young age. Now, he was the best shot in Hogan’s crew. “You come to keep me company, kid?”

His small, unruly afro bounced with the overdramatic snort he released. “Please, Griffin.” Crossing his arms, he leaned back into the couch and met my gaze with a deadpanned stare. His huge brown eyes were magnified bythick-rimmed glasses as he said, “As much of a stud as you are, I prefer company of the feminine variety.”

I rolled my eyes. “Do you even know how to be around females?”

Affronted, Dash scoffed. “Of course! They love a man with confidence. Flattery goes a long way, ya know. Like, you pick one of their features and just basically smother them with how much it turns your dick hard. You don’t leave any room for them to question whether they like you or not.”

“Oh, for fuck’s sake,” I said, pinching the bridge of my nose. Gods, I felt bad for women these days. With the dwindling population, men were becoming desperate—even more so than they had been before Devolution Day. “Dash, you’re about to become my prime source of entertainment.” My voice was muffled in my hands as I cradled my face with a shake of my head.

Thankfully, I had no desire to procreate and bring a child into this fucked-up world, while simultaneously damning them to share in my genetics. And I had no intention to burden a woman to love a man as monstrous as myself. I mean, there’d have to be something seriously twisted within her ifIwas what she wanted.

I hadn’t always been this way. In fact, I had worked my ass off healing myself from my past, but this affliction had muddied my mind and emotions to the point I didn’t know what was real or not half the time—and that was the scary part. I could turn on my loved ones any day because the demon convinced me they were a threat.

“Take notes, Griff-Daddy,” Dash said, pulling me from my inner thoughts, “Watch and learn. This is a new era, old man. Chivalry died with half the population on D-Day.”

Oh, how well I knew that to be true. “Yeah, you have no idea, kid.”

Chapter 8

Gray

“Speak!” Jacob Smart, my personal bully, screamed at me.

My ribs felt broken. The bruises from my father this morning only intensified the pain. It hurt to breathe, much less to speak.

After a long silence, Jacob spoke again. “Fine. I’ll make you, then.”

I braced for the next wave of pain. My eyes squeezed shut, and I tightened my hold on my ailing ribs.

Sudden agony erupted from my shin like someone slammed the hilt of a warrior’s sword into the bone. But it was merely the toe of Jacob’s boot—such a strong kick for an eight-year-old human.

A scream tore from my already raw throat.

Twice in one day. It wasn’t exactly a record, but it wasn’t common. Usually, I had time to heal between beatings. I hadn’t been so lucky that day.

Even without our magic awakened, our bodies healed faster than a human’s. However, it was slower than a Kinetic with manifested powers.

It became difficult to breathe as silent tears streamed down my dirty cheeks. All I could do was hope it wouldn’t last long.