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“Stop, you little bitch…” my father growled and then dropped me when I clamped my teeth hard on his bicep.

I collided with the hard ground. More pain. Another blow, this time to my jaw, before he snatched my head back by the roots of my hair, forcing me to meet the black depths in his eyes. Fuck, he was gonna take a chunk of my hair.

I bit my cheeks until they bled to deny him the satisfaction of my cry.

His hot breath stung my nostrils as he leaned in close, his voice just as poisonous as his magic. “As soon as Celanea is finished sucking your magic dry, I will personally rip out your throat and make Chrome watch with a smile on his face.”

Another blow to the ribs, this time with his fist.

“Touch another fucking hair on her head, Forest, and see what happens…”

I must’ve been hallucinating because there was no way that voice was here. Not now.

Forest stilled, fear briefly flashing across his features. His eyes widened as if he’d seen a ghost. Perhaps, it was.

“You’re supposed to be dead,” he seethed.

A knife whizzed over my head and embedded in Forest’s shoulder, knocking him on his ass. He scrambled to get away.

“Close your eyes, Gray,” the deep voice said from behind me. No problem. My eyelids were so damn heavy. Too much today.

Through my closed lids, a bright light illuminated. Light Kinetic. Who the…

No. That’s not possible.

“Back the fuck up, Forest.”

That voice again. I couldn’t process everything happening.

My body jostled again, this time in gentler arms with a familiar scent. One I’d almost forgotten, bringing another onset of tears to my eyes.

“Slate?” My voice broke as I cracked open my eyes.

“Nice to see you again, Princess,” he said, his tone soft as he scanned my abused body with a grimace.

“How?” I whispered, scared if I spoke too loudly that it would all come to an end. Surely, I’d blacked out and was dreaming. This couldn’t be real.

“Long story. But I never died.”

My heart couldn’t handle anymore. What the fuck did he mean he never died? Where the fuck had he been? And why did he abandon me like that?”

“Shh,” he said, struggling to reach into his pocket. He came up with a small tin canister. “Chrome just gave me this. Said you would need to take it so you can fade us back to the Hollow.” Gently, he adjusted me in his arms, as desolation consumed me. “Forest took off. We need to go.”

Chrome? Excuse me?

My already ravaged world tilted over the cliff, careening out of control. He might as well have just stabbed me twice more in the heart with as much of a betrayal that was.

“I can imagine you’re pissed but I’ll explain everything once we get the fuck out of here. Celanea will be here to collect you. We gotta go.”

He dropped the pinch of Mushweed on my tongue, and kept scanning the barren wasteland anxiously while we waited for it to take root enough for me to fade. Once I felt cognizant enough to realize that this was not a horrific nightmare and that Slate had been alive this entire time, I envisioned the Hollow.

“I’ll never forgive you for this,” I forced out through the tears steadily trailing down my cheeks. My throat was too tight, making it hard to breathe.

I felt my body begin to disintegrate, catching the flash of hurt in his eyes.

“I know,” Slate whispered. His words were carried away on the wind as we turned to ash, drifting through time and space while leaving my mangled heart and beaten soul in the rubble of the King’s Palace.

Chapter 60