Page 156 of A Touch of Gold and Madness

“Cotton,” I whispered. “It’s okay. We’re here to get you out.” Cotton darted his suspicious gaze between Chrome and me, wondering how it was possible. His stare lingered on my bloody appearance. Shit, I probably looked horrific. “I’ll explain later, but we gotta go. Now.”

I moved out of the way while Chrome warped the metal bars on Cotton’s prison cell, as he had with Scarlett’s. Cotton hesitated for a few breaths. Each one felt like another second closing in on our lives. “Comeon.”

Shaking out of his stunned state, he pushed off the cinderblock wall of the cell and hurried out. In the faint light of the hallway, I spotted dark bruises marring his cheeks and jaws, as well as deep cuts and a swollen eye.

“Where’s Hazel?” I asked, searching the cells beside his.

Cotton’s features fell, and then he dropped his gaze to the floor, a heartbreaking sadness washing over his defined features. I reached for his shoulder, anxious for a response. He raised his sodden head and narrowed his eyes toward a cell across from his. I followed his gaze, my heart plummeting as bile rose in my throat.

My hand covered my mouth. “Hazel…no,” I whispered. The bronze-haired beauty hung from a noose crafted out of the thick linen of her pale blue dress. Her body dangled, hanging lifelessly from the horizontal beam that supported the vertical bars of the cell door.

Chrome spun with Scarlett in his arms. “Fucking shit,” he spat. He squeezed his eyes shut, bowing his head to his chest. “Godsdamnit,” he growled to himself.

I felt the onslaught of his warring emotions as they passed through him: anger, shock, sadness…guilt.

The elevator doors ground open down the hall, snapping us out of our moment of shock over Hazel’s death. Chrome pivoted to face Cotton. “Can you carry her? I have a feeling I’ll need to fight.”

We needed to get to Forest, but I wasn’t sure how we were going to manage that with Cotton and Scarlett in this state.

Cotton hesitated, shaking out his arms, which I assumed had been injured. He nodded, extending his arms to cradle his closest companion.

I pinned him with scrutiny. “If anything happens to us…run. Get the fuck out of here. Do you hear me?”

Cotton studied me with his head cocked to the side, and his eyes squinted in thought. I assumed he was trying to figure out my motives, but he nodded again.

Footsteps echoed down the hallway toward us. I released a small blast of magic with the jerk of my hand while summoning a breeze to carry my electrical strike far enough to hit the suspecting guard. The footsteps halted, followed by the heavy thud of a body hitting the floor.

“Okay, let’s go,” Chrome said, turning to me. Before he continued onward, he did a double-take in a nearby cell, squinting his eyes intothe darkness. Suddenly, he spun around to face another cell. A look of confused shock painted his expression, and then he rotated to face another.

I followed his gaze, curious about what threw him off. A motionless, shadowed figure knelt hunched over in the first cell. Squinting to see through the darkness, I saw that they knelt with their forehead pressed to their knee. I spun in a slow circle, noticing all the remaining figures mirroring the gesture.

The groaning had ceased once we made our way deeper into the prison. The sight was as eerie as they came. Had the Endarkened filling these cells been kneeling this entire time for us? I locked eyes with an unnerved Chrome. “Rise,” I said, and they did. “At ease. And go rest.” The moaning continued, but the shuffling of feet told me they followed my command.

“Let’s go,” Chrome said, his voice unsteady, clearly perturbed by the sight of so many kneeling Endarkened.

I nodded and cast one last glance at Hazel’s limp corpse hanging from the cell door. I was gutted. It was another Helair taken from this world. My stomach burned at the thought of leaving her here like that, knowing she wouldn’t get a proper burial. If only I could’ve gotten here sooner…

I let the emotion sit heavy on my heart as I began to half-walk and half-run down the corridor with Chrome at my side.

With a glance over my shoulder, I saw Cotton following behind, squeezing Scarlett protectively against his chest as he worked to keep up with our pace.

“We’re gonna try and make it to the lobby, and when we do, you run. Do what you have to do to escape with Scarlett. Okay?”

Cotton’s expression was hard and focused. If he was at full health and didn’t have his magic suppressed, he’d be a huge ally to have on our side. He and Scarlett both, but I wouldn’t risk them when facing against Forest and, more than likely, Amethyst, too.

Our new fading ability was untested in many ways. I’d only done it once. And even though I’d witnessed Chrome do it with Onyx during the battle, it wasn’t worth the risk in this type of situation.

As we rounded the corridor to the stairwell, a familiar voice that oozed down my spine like dirty oil broke the silence. “Ah, so nice to have you back, Princess. Things have been quiteinterestingin your absence.” My magic went cold in my veins, completely shut down while my currents and gilded skin winked out.

The three of us slammed to an abrupt halt. Chrome drew two swords free from the holster strapped to his back. “Touch her,” he challenged, a viciousness I hadn’t yet heard coming from him. It was hair-raising. “Ifuckingdare you.”

Grim Valor leveled his beady black eyes toward Chrome, and an excited smile spread across his gaunt face. A smile like that on a man like him was nightmarish. Nothing good ever came from it. “Ah, well, if it isn’t my favorite stepson returned from the dead! Welcome home, Chrome. Or should I say,Griffin? I believe we have a fine score to settle for the murder of my daughter.”

Chapter 56

Chrome

My chest heaved. It took everything inside me to keep from attacking irrationally. I knew how dirty he was. He wasn’t above cheap tricks to get the upper hand. And naturally, my magic was shut down, thanks to his ability to absorb others’ magical energy waves. It was Grim’s only true weapon in this cutthroat world. A parasite—that’s what he was. A godsdamn parasite.

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