Page 103 of A Sun Scorched Bloom

The king exhaled in a sigh, leaning forward and placing his palms flat on the table. He held Lea’s stare for several moments before he shook his head and walked onto the balcony to face the sea.

Chapter 67

Lea

Climbingthehundredsofstairs to get to the top of Eudora’s tower was no easier the second time around. Lea set the pace and Gray followed behind her while she focused on using her training to help her endurance, sending healing energy to her lungs and her legs with every inhale and exhale. As they trudged higher, Lea told Gray about her meeting with the witch, what she’d said about how to use the moonflowers and the fact that she'd refused to tell Lea how to break the curse regarding Gray’s family.

Gray looked furious; his shadows twisted and grew with every word she spoke, his eyes darkening with wrath. Over and over he clenched his hands into fists, his shoulders raising toward his ears. While he didn’t chastise her for making a bargain with Eudora, it was obvious that he wasn’t happy about it.

"She’sgoingto tell us everything we want to know. Tonight, if she wants to live," he grumbled. "We need to return to Bearswillow. Something doesn’t feel right. I’m not sure what, but first the portal, and now your vision? Something's coming."

Lea nodded in agreement, unable to speak as she struggled to breathe.

By the blessing of the gods, they made it to the top of the tower, where the plain wooden door sat at the end of the stairs.

"Are you sure about this?" Lea asked. Smoke rolled from the small crack beneath the door as if a dragon was waiting to cremate them upon entry.

"You said she wants to help Tanad, and she’s not powerful enough to kill us. Not the both of us together, at least. We have no other choice." Gray lifted his hand to knock, but before he could touch it, the door cracked open, an eeriecreakechoing from the hinges.

"Did I not say when the tides were right and the stars were willing, I would find you?" Eudora’s voice slithered into the hallway. It was full of warning, but Gray wasn't deterred as he shoved into the room.

"You’ll still get whatever it is you want from our deal, Eudora. But I’m done waiting."

The witch stood by the window, turning and narrowing her eyes as the door slammed against the wall with acrack. "You’re here because of the portal?" she guessed, and the room grew darker instantaneously as Gray’s shadows spread into every corner of the space.

"Youknew? I thought you wanted to help the king!" Lea stepped forward, her blood heating in fury.

Eudora wiped her hand through the air as if shooing away a bothersome fly. "I saw your mate destroying it. There was no reason for concern."

"You could have saved that village!" Gray seemed to grow larger, along with the shadows around him.

"I could have. And maybe lost the war," the witch said slowly, deliberately. "If you want my help, I suggest you reevaluate how you speak to me." Eudora stalked to a large cauldron in the corner of the room, the source of the smoke. She stirred the potion four times clockwise, then twice counterclockwise. The bubbling liquid hissed and spat frothing, deep red sludge as Eudora uncorked a black, jeweled glass bottle and pulled several dried petals from inside of it.

"If you’d like to keep your tongue," Gray retorted, enunciating every syllable with controlled rage, "I suggest you use it to tell me how to break the curse."

Eudora’s silver eyes narrowed, and in the blink of an eye, she was standing only inches from his face. She trailed a finger from the corner of his ear across his throat to his collarbone, circling him with fluid, easy steps.

"What do you know of sacrifice, King?" Eudora asked, her voice as sweet as honeyed wine, but laced with an undercurrent of something wicked that Lea couldn’t quite place.

Lea couldn’t help the anger that flared through her chest. Gray knew nothingbutsacrifice. He'd all but damned his soul as he’d watched his father destroy the kingdom, waiting for his chance to act. He lived a life that wasn't his own, one in which he dedicated every second to trying to save his people—a life he was willing to surrender for it.

"I think you know the answer to that question," Gray said coolly, his face as impassive as if it had been carved from stone.

"When I granted your wish for the spell I so graciously cast for you after your sister died, it was forged in equality. Your father could not kill you or your mother or brother, and in turn, you could not kill them. Undoing the spell only for your sake would disrupt the balance of the universe. Unless, of course, something of value is given freely."

"What is it you demand?" Gray strolled to the shelves of bottles, studying them like they were the most interesting thing he’d ever seen.

"Would you sacrifice anything at all? Your mate, for example?" A slow, vicious smile spread across Eudora’s face.

Gray froze, as did his shadows, just for a moment before he raised a hand and lifted a golden jar with a black tendril, then sent it crashing to the ground. "You are alarmingly close to sacrificing your own life just by uttering those words. This is your only warning. She lives. No matter what," Gray seethed, tilting his chin up in a challenge.

Eudora paused. "Would you really doanythingfor her to live?"

"If you valued your life, you would know the answer to that question. Gray pushed Lea protectively behind him with a thick, black mass of shadows.

Eudora’s grin only widened. "I was hoping you would say that. You’ll be surprised that in this instance, the cost for your answers is not something I demand at all. I will break the spell, but a sacrifice will have to be made."

"You will not trick me this time, Eudora. You cannot have her. I’ll give up my magic, my throne—"

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