Page 118 of A Sun Scorched Bloom

It took only a second for Gray to find her, his green, smoky eyes locking on her immediately. She felt that familiar zing of electricity across her skin, a sensation that she’d grown so accustomed to that it barely registered anymore.

Gray bent his head to say something to Vincent, then strode to Lea with long, confident steps. "I knew you wouldn’t sleep for long." He frowned at her. "Are you rested enough? You lost a lot of blood last night."

"I’m just fine. Never been better." She bounced on the balls of her feet. "Where should I start?" she questioned.

"I thought we could try giving away a bit of your magic, testing to see if you’d really be able to see through someone else’s eyes."

Lea’s magic stuttered in response, repulsed by the idea. As if sensing her discomfort, Gray grabbed her hand and led her over to where he had stood with Vincent in the middle of the room. "We’ll only give the smallest bit, only to a few people who we know would allow you to take it back."

Lea nodded, forcing her magic to calm down. If they could see the whole battlefield from different perspectives, it would be a clear advantage. "Who do you think I should try it on?" Lea asked, looking around the room.

"I already asked Janelle if she’d be okay with it." Gray gestured to where Erik sparred with Janelle, sweat dripping from his brow as if she was giving him a run for his coin. He paused their fight, and Janelle took the opportunity to slam her leg into the back of his knee, causing it to buckle. Erik’s eyes went wide with a mixture of pride and surprise as he fell to the ground with a thud.

Erik raised his hands in the air in surrender, and Janelle stopped her attack, offering him a hand and pulling him up. Inclining his head to the doorway, Gray grabbed Lea’s hand and lead her out of the training room, Erik and Janelle following behind.

"It will be easier to focus out here." Gray pulled out a chair for her at one of the tables in the common area. "Janelle, sit here next to Lea."

Taking her seat, Janelle reached out her hand and grabbed Lea’s. It was so uncharacteristically affectionate of Janelle that it almost made Lea cry. She wasn’t sure what exactly was going on with her and Erik, but whatever it was, it was good for her friend.

"Now, Lea," Gray sat down across from them at the table while Erik continued to stand, his hand on his sword as if he might need to use it. "I don’t think you need to give much magic. If I were to guess, the key would simply be to have your essence inside someone else to where you could call upon it. Does that make sense?"

Lea nodded, remembering the pain she’d felt when she cut away the Queen’s magic.

"Try whatever you did last night to give my mother her powers back, but this time, isolate a bit ofyourmagic. Only the smallest amount."

Closing her eyes, Lea imagined the flaming dagger in her mind. It was far less difficult to picture this time, and as she delved into her chest, she separated her magic into a ball of light and dark, like rays of sun peeking out through storm clouds. Using the white-hot dagger, she pictured nicking away the smallest bit of magic and pushing it to the side, separating it from the mass of power next to it.

With slow, controlled breaths, Lea plucked away the tiny speck of magic and pushed it out of her chest and down her arms, through her hands, into her fingers, and then, with a deep exhale, she forced it beneath Janelle’s skin.

Her friend gasped, pulling her hand away as a static shock zapped between them.

"I’m sorry!" Lea looked at her fingers. "Did I hurt you?"

"No, it’s just—It was a strange sensation," she muttered.

"Do you feel it?" Gray asked Janelle, who closed her eyes as if searching for the magic. After a few seconds, her mouth twisted into a smile.

"I do. It feels like you, Lea. Like light and hope, with a pinch of stubbornness and bad decision making."

Lea reached out, biting back a laugh as she swiped at Janelle, who was trying to hit her in the arm. Gray caught her hand in the air with a pitch black shadow.

"There’s no time for joking," he snapped.

"Who said it’s a joke?" Janelle retorted without missing a beat. Erik leveled her with a look.

"What? I could have said much worse," Janelle argued.

"Enough." Gray held up a hand. "Lea, can you find it?"

Lea wasn’t sure if it was because Janelle sat so close to her, or if it would always be easy to find that piece of herself she’d lent to her friend, but she knew exactly where her magic was. She could feel it, pulsing and calling to her. Without Gray needing to tell her to, she closed her eyes and followed it, allowing her power to wrap around her consciousness like a warm blanket.

Janelle’s thoughts began banging around in her head, but Lea constructed a shield of darkness in her mind, silently thanking Erik for all the hours he’d spent in Calir forcing her to work on shielding, both physically and mentally. Her friend's innermost thoughts were none of her business.

With all the focus she could muster, she willed the magic inside Janelle to show her what she saw.

Lea blinked, and suddenly she was looking at herself through Janelle’s eyes. She jumped backward, nearly falling on her ass as she scrambled away from the table. "Oh!" she gasped.

"What happened?" Gray asked, placing a steadying hand on Lea’s elbow.

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