Page 87 of A Touch of Gold and Madness

Without lifting a hand, Chrome conjured a dagger from his weapons belt. It hovered from behind him, the point facing downward, floating to me. Once it was inches away from my face, it rotated sideways, serving as a mirror.

Icy, blue-gray eyes had always been my color. I mimicked Chrome’s reaction at first glance. I lifted a hand to cover my mouth, leaning forward to get a better view.

The first thing that caught my attention was the shimmering gold skin on my face. It was as if someone had glazed the most vibrant and saturated shade of metallic paint on top of my skin, then sprinkled shimmering gold flakes over the top. I looked and felt ethereal. Otherworldly.

I glided my fingertips from my temples down my cheeks. It felt like skin, not like dried flakes that would peel off. But once I settled from the shock…

My irises drew my attention next. Instead of the subdued blue-gray hues, they now displayed every color of the rainbow as if they served as a color wheel chart. They were so vibrant—not a word typically used to describe me. “They’re…”

“A rainbow. All the colors on the spectrum. They’re light and dark, and everything in between,” Chrome said in a tender tone, still kneeling beside me. “They’re perfect.”

Warmth spread through my chest, heating my cheeks and neck. He looked at me as if...no. I would not go there. The air within me—or, at least, it felt like it was within me—answered my call to chase away the telling flush with soothing wisps. I gave him a slight smile before looking back at my eyes in the dagger’s reflection.

“I can’t believe this is real. That my father went to such lengths to hide this from me. How did I never suspect it? I mean, there must’ve been times when this side of me peeked through somehow. There’s no way it’s been able to remain hidden this long, right?” I inspected the girl in the reflection. A version of me that was old but new. A version I’d never known existed. Who was I really? Who could I be if I wasn’t so fucked up from the trauma of my past?

Chrome nodded in my peripheral. “That’s been a debate between Orion and me for years. He believes you had to have noticed something at some point. But I know what Forest is capable of. And there’s no way he’d ever allow you to know the truth. He’d do whatever was necessary to prevent that from happening.”

I squinted. “What are you saying?”

Chrome paused and looked away, focusing on the leaves drifting from the autumnal branches. His lips pursed as he chewed his cheek in contemplation. “I think…” he finally said. “He awakened your Elemental side the day we met on the playground.” He turned his head to look at me, his steel eyes showing me the conviction in his words.

I lifted an eyebrow. “I think I would remember something like that happening. Especially that day.” That day was forever entrenched in my mind. It was something I’d never understood.

When we’d touched, a powerful force collided, exploding between us. Skittish teachers had snatched Chrome away, whereas they’d guided me to the vice-principal’s office. Father had been immediately called and informed of the events.

Of course, he hadn’t been too pleased when I came home from school that day. I must’ve repressed the punishment that ensued because, for the life of me, I could never recall it.

“I think he had your memory wiped,” Chrome said. The floating dagger backed away and tucked itself into Chrome’s weapons belt.

I shook my head, running my fingers through my hair, still trying to remember what happened after I’d returned from school that day. “How is that possible? I don’t know any ability capable of doing that.”

Chrome snorted. “Oh, it’s possible, Rainbow.”

I gave him a deadpan expression. “Don’t call me that.”

“I’ve seen him do it. Not with his power, of course, but those with magnetic and electrical abilities. They can go into the brain, target the impulses of neural pathways in certain memory centers, and just…short-circuit them.”

The world around me seemed to slow, my heart rate picking up in speed in contrast. My nails dug into my palms. “Oh god. How did this never occur to me?”

The liquid metal in his eyes seemed to swirl faster, fueled with an emotion he worked hard to hide from the world. His jaw clenched so tight I thought his teeth would shatter. “It’s one of his well-guarded secrets.” He closed his eyes and forced a deep breath into his lungs. When he opened them, the quicksilver eyes might as well have glowed red. “I’m going to kill that motherfucker, Gray. For every ounce of pain he’s ever inflicted on you. His life is on loan because I will fucking own his fate when I get him in my hands. And he’s known it for years.”

With a humming sharp tug, a blazing rage suddenly scorched my heart. I waslivid. And as much as it pissed me off about everything my father had done and lied about, this unyielding fury didn’t feel like it belonged to me. My breaths came in short, my nostrils flaring. I couldn’t think past the turmoil.

The air stirred around us, lifting the colorful leaves from the ground and tossing them haphazardly about in changing directions. Chrome crinkled his brows as he shifted his eyes from the accelerating wind back to me. “Gray?” he asked, caution lacing his tone.

The anger was hot. It threatened to incinerate me into a black pile of ash left for my wind to carry away. My breaths became raspy. I didn’t know from where this wrath derived, but it consumed me.

“Gray,” Chrome said, his voice commanding with authority. “Look at me.”

I did. The wind whipped through his metallic hair, leaving it mussed. Concern threaded knots in his eyes as he reached out to rest his palms on my shoulders. His head dipped, and like a receding tide, the anger went with it, leaving me drained.

“What the fuck just happened?” I asked, breathless. I searched around, the wind dying away as it returned the leaves to the earth to decay.

Chrome looked up at me. Guilt pressed on his beautiful features as they dropped in resignation. “I’m sorry,” he whispered.

Ifrowned, confused. “Why? What did you do?”

“I didn’t do it intentionally. I should’ve realized…” he said, scooting backward using his hands and feet.

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