Page 95 of A Touch of Gold and Madness

I smiled. “For holding out on River’s collection.”

His jaw gaped wide. “Wait a minute,” he said, recovering enough to hold up a glowing orange hand. “Shestolethat priceless collection. I figured it’d only be right if the entire set was stolen, too. It’d make it even more rare and special, ya know? If you start something, you gotta see it all the way through. Don’t get lazy at the end.”

Kodiak rumbled a deep laugh between the two of us. “You’re a piece of work; you know that, O?”

“What? You can’t tell me you don’t see the value,” Onyx said. “Come on.”

River cleared her throat. After having inspected, cleaned, and stashed away the blade, she returned her attention to the conversation. She pushed her plate aside, then clasped her hands together delicately. “Onyx, the point is…” She flattened her severe features. “You’re a shithead.” Then she turned her intense stare on me. “Now you know.”

I bit my lip to keep from laughing and looked down at my plate, spearing some fresh and seasoned green beans.

“Who cooks the food here?” I asked anyone willing to answer. This food was fucking divine.

“My mother,” Kodiak said from beside me. “Like me, she’s an earth Elemental.”

“Your mom cooks thisfoodof the gods? No wonder you’re fucking built like that.”

Onyx choked on his food while River chuckled. Kodiak fought to hide his smile but wasn’t successful. “Yes,” he said, wiping his mouth with a cloth napkin. “She runs the Elemental’s farming operations.”

“Why doesn’t she get others to cook, then? Surely that would be less work for her?”

Kodiak offered a wistful grin. “She loves it. Cooking is her passion. She always says she wants everyone to experience some sliver of happiness in this shitty situation we’re all in. That if she can contribute by providing delicious food, then she is happy.”

“She sounds lovely,” I said, averting my eyes back to the food in front of me. A deep sense of longing nestled deep in my heart, wishing I’d been raised here rather than at the King’s Palace.

My heart dropped to my stomach, remembering that I had a session with Chrome. But then I cursed the flutter that quickly followed.

I cleared my eating area, trying to hide the mounting nerves. “I gotta go train with Chrome.”

“Uh,” Onyx piped in. When I looked at him, he was glancing between Kodiak and River.

“Out with it,” I sighed, deflating the tension I’d worked myself into.

But it was Kodiak who answered. “Chrome isn’t able to work with you today. He didn’t get the chance to tell you himself, but he went out on a small mission.”

My brows pinched. How come I didn't know about this? Was he purposefully ignoring me after yesterday? Would he not be training me at all anymore? I couldn’t blame him if that were the case.

“Oh,” I said, relaxing back into my seat, embarrassed. “Thanks for telling me.”

“We’re headed to the training arena to squeeze in a sparring session. You wanna join?” River asked, surprising me.

I didn’t want to intrude or interfere with their plans, so I scanned their faces. Onyx looked hopeful, while Kodiak gave an encouraging soft smile. “You’re welcome to join us. I’m supposed to be training with you in physical combat, anyhow,” he said with a nod.

“I don’t want to interfere…”

“You’re not. Swear it, Gray. It’ll be fun to train with a Kinetic again. Keep me on my toes,” Onyx said, assuring me.

“You think you can keep up?” I taunted, surprised at how natural it felt.

Onyx gave a devious grin, a challenge written all over it. His pitch-black hair glinted from the sunlight filtering through the glass doors. “You’re on, Princess.”

The four of us paired up into teams of two in the training arena: guys versus girls. It was River’s idea. She’d said the men around here were weak compared to the females.

Kodiak also wanted to sense my skill level—like Void had—so he could better train me.

I stood beside River in a sparring stance, shoulders squared, knees bent, and hands facing outward. We stood against the two men before us. One happened to be a giant in his own right.

I felt confident in my chances of taking out Onyx. We’d trained in the same place, likely by the same people—his father being one of them. But Onyx had earned himself an esteemed reputation within the Guilds as a guard back at the Kinetic stronghold. Well, not just at the Palace, but amongst the Kinetics all over the world.

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