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Turning her head, she met my eyes with a look I’ll never be able to scrub from my mind. Her sword slipped from her hand, clanging to the floor just before she collapsed to her knees, blood pooling from her mouth.“Help,”she guttered out.

Smirking, Forest casually spun on his heel and returned to his table.

In haste, I released a small pulse at my mother’s chest to keep her subdued. Nothing else mattered as I sprinted toward Gray, sliding on my knees across the concrete floor, taking her face in my palms. “No, no, Gray. You’re gonna be okay. You hear me?”

She shook her head, eyes wide in fear and pain. “P…po…poison.”

I searched her eyes frantically before shifting around to her back. I reached for the hilt, but I noticed that the blade was precisely lodged in her lower spine. If removed incorrectly, she could be forever paralyzed if the antidote wasn’t given to her in time. And where the fuck were the antidotes, anyways? Fuck, fuck, fuck.

I forced my mind to slow, to allow the inner beast to rise to the surface, even calling for the affliction. I needed to be able to fuckingthink.I moved back to her front, gently lying her down on her side, careful not to jostle the sword, and placing her head in my lap.

She looked up at me with fading eyes. What remained of my soul shattered.

Hot, angry tears burned down my cheeks. “Don’t you fucking leave me, Gray Monroe. I swear to…” I bent down and peppered her with urgent kisses. “Stay with me.” My voice broke, choking on clawing panic. “You promised to stay with me!”

The light waned from her rainbow eyes with each labored blink. She gurgled on her poisoned, obsidian blood with each breath. “I’ll fucking find you. I promise,” I whispered against her blackened lips.

My chest heaved, as I went to the darkest place I’d gone yet. I wanted the fucking world to burn. If she wasn’t in it, then the world didn’t deserve to stand.

As Gray’s lashes fluttered closed and her breaths came to a stop, I slowly lifted my head. The affliction was back. I embraced it this time. I wanted its help. Except the voice was no longer Grim’s; it was Gray’s. A twisted version of it, but it matched what I felt, so I didn’t question it.

Kill him. Look what he did to me, Chrome.

“Forest!” My voice boomed off the walls in the interrogation room. Gently, I laid Gray’s head ever so softly on the floor. I checked her pulse with my fingers. It was faint, but her heart remained beating.

“What did you do to that sword?” I stalked toward him. “Black crystal shouldn’t affect her that fast.”

Unconcerned with my fury, Forest chuckled, standing with the black book back in his palms before he snapped it shut. “Ah, yes. I dipped that blade in redfern and black crystal before you two woke up.”

I nodded, not surprised in the slightest. I needed to know what was necessary to heal her in time. But Forest needed to die first. This was the only way I’d take this kill from her, was if she couldn’t do it herself. I’m pretty sure she’d forgive me for this.

I summoned a knife from the ceiling and launched it at Forest’s head at the speed of light. But it bounced off an invisible shield, clinking to the floor. “What the fuck?” I growled.

Forest’s smug grin taunted the feral beast inside me. “Oh, that nice little spell I was telling you about. Protects me from any attacks.” He boastfully waved the book at me. “I knew you’d lose your fucking mind again like you did when you killed Peri. You still don’t have any control. What a fucking waste.”

Any shred of restraint I had snapped. I honestly didn’t know how I hadn’t yet. I was trying to hold on for Gray’s sake, using the beast to my advantage. But this motherfucker…

I whirled around, my nostrils flaring, sensing the strong magic of my mother standing at the back of the room, observing everything from afar.I let the energy of her magic lull me to it. It wasintoxicating. I didn’t fight the desire this time. My mind slipped further and further away with each step I took until I closed in on her.

Her deep purple hair was disheveled, and her blue eyes widened in fear, the realization of what I was about to do clicking into place. “Chrome…no…” she whispered, shaking her head. “I never wanted to do it. You have to understand…It was…”

I didn’t give her a response. As I did when I replenished my Elemental magic, I absorbed the energy from her aura. Like the other two times I depleted, this time felt euphoric—except better. It was everything I’d been missing out on. I needed more. I need it all. I felt the strength of her power stitch into the fabric of my soul, bolstering mine.

My mother gasped for air as if I had robbed her of it. “I’m sorry. I love you, son.”

At those words, memories of her checking to make sure Grim carried out his punishment of rape floated through my mind. I replenished my magic, letting it build to an unfathomable limit. It fueled power through my veins, reigniting something that had just died inside of me. I watched the life force leave her eyes as she crumpled to the floor. Gone. My mother was dead, and I felt nothing but joy.

My mind, body, and soul overflowed with power, which was the point. I needed to destroy something. What was I supposed to destroy?

Feeling full and whole for the first time in…ever, I turned around and faced Forest again. That smug grin from before was beaming wide. “Perfect!”

I looked down at the girl impaled on the floor.Gray.

I scanned the room, searching the debris for any antidotes left behind. Through the wreckage of mine and Gray’s magic, I began to lose hope, thinking that there was no way that Forest would have one for us. But if he needed us alive like his plans indicated, then it would seem he wouldn’t risk our deaths.

Five seconds passed. Ten. Fifteen. My eyes darted in every direction while Forest straightened his suit. Finally, I spotted one discarded in the corneramongst the pile of papers and other useless items. I sprinted, retrieved the syringe, and ran back. Fading would actually take longer in this instance, although the thought occurred to me.

Crouching down, I carefully removed the sword from Gray’s back, gentle not to sever anything vital. “I got you, Rainbow. You hear me? It’s gonna be okay,” I whispered, wondering if she could hear me. I should’ve felt remorse for what I’d just done to Amethyst, but I didn’t. Not when I knew what I had to do next would require the amount of power I’d just obtained. It was the only way.