Page 104 of A Touch of Gold and Madness

Tears slid down his cheeks, the wetness darkening the gold skin on his profile. “Peri didn’t stand a chance. I fed from her aura…and…and Icouldn’t stop. Gray, I couldn’t fuckingstop.” He shoved his free hand into his hair as he wept, his shoulders shaking with silent sobs.

My heart splintered, slicing my soul. Hot tears streamed down my cheeks alongside him. This was beyond sadistic. How was he even still going?

“I depleted her,” he whispered. “I killed my baby sister, the only person who had ever shown me any love. My best friend.”

I wrapped my arms around his shoulders, pulling him into me. Words wouldn’t suffice for something like this. Hell, I wasn’t good with words, to begin with. So, I remained silent, holding him in his pain.

I felt it again, the humming tug on my heart chakra. Then, a soul-splintering ache erupted in my chest as if it were my own. I knew it was his emotions again, like I’d felt his anger the day before. I took it in silence and grieved with him. The least I could do was give him the chance to finally not bear this loss alone.

“It wasn’t your fault, Chrome,” I said through choked sobs.

Chrome buried his face in the crook of my shoulder. “I killed her. I should’ve stopped.”

His emotions were like a torrential storm finally being set free into the night. Even the soothing comfort of air within me couldn’t appease the pain. I wanted to scream at the pale beacon in the sky to do something. To bring her back. None of this was fair. How did no one know about this?

“No one could’ve withstood that temptation,” I said. My tears soaked through the black fabric of his hoodie.

“I was supposed to, and I failed. So, I deserve to suffer for it.”

I sucked in a breath and pulled away, forcing him to meet my eyes again. I’d never seen such a broken look on a man before. Bracing his face in my hands, I said, “No. No, you don’t. They do. And they will. We will take their heads, but first, they will pay for what they’ve done.”

The liquid metal in his irises twitched again, wanting to stir at my words. Chrome’s jaw tightened. His beauty was drenched in his tears. Slowly, without breaking eye contact, he regained control of himself with a harsh sniffle. I could sense the strength rebuilding—see it hardening in the steel of his eyes.

“Yes, we will, my little savage,” he said, his voice but a mere rumble in his chest. His warm breath washed over my own tears. Lifting a hand, he slowly—oh so slowly—combed his fingers through my marbled locks. “They have so much to answer for.”

His gravelly voice, hoarse from the turbulent emotions, brought a heat to my chest that had nothing to do with anger. It spread, warming me against the crisp night air. My lungs constricted at the intensity of his gaze that pinned me in place. That gaze that said he saw it all, feltit all. The look that’s unnerved me since the moment I held my knife to his throat in the speakeasy.

I nodded, unable to form any coherent thoughts between the shift in his stare—now shining vibrant with life—and the large hand that cradled the back of my head with renewed strength.

“You look so fucking beautiful in your full form,” Chrome whispered. “You’re my rainbow. My beam of hope.”

My cheeks flushed hot. I sat there, too captivated by him to do anything but hold his gaze. Something kept tickling the back of my mind. Something that kept begging me to speak on it, but I couldn’t bring myself to focus. I was lost, drowning in whatever thrall he seemed to have me in.

“Thank you, Gray,” Chrome murmured.

For what?

But after a moment, I shook my head, forcing myself to regain my senses again. I squeezed my eyes shut, willing myself back to reality, to the present.

I cleared my throat. His hand remained fixed on the back of my head as if he was afraid to let go. “No, thank you for trusting me with such…” I trailed off. That niggling thought persisted.

The pieces clicked together. If he…

“Wait…” I froze. My eyes widened, heart racing. “If you depleted her, that means…” I whispered, scared to voice it aloud.

Chrome’s eyes fell away from mine. As did his hand, leaving an icy shiver in its wake.

“Yeah,” Chrome said, shame filling his tone once again. He squared his shoulders. “When I depleted Peri, it thrust me into devolution. I’m becoming Endarkened.”

Chapter 39

Gray

Someone took a serrated dagger to my heart. Or so it felt.

How was I supposed to react to that kind of news? Becoming Endarkened was a fate far worse than death.

I immediately thought of the woman we’d faced back in the deserted small town. How her skin was gray—peeling—while blackish blood oozed from her decaying flesh. How mindless she had been.

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