Page 127 of A Sun Scorched Bloom

Every few minutes, Lea shuffled through the many different vantage points she could observe through their soldier’s eyes, but the royal army was nowhere to be seen.

Through Thomas’s eyes, she could see that Emma laid in Lea’s old bed, tucked as far away from the battleground as possible. It looked like she was sleeping, or it would, if not for the gray tint to her skin and sheen of sweat across her pained face. How long would the potion even last? How long until it completely drained the life out of her without the moonflower to bring her back? The thought made nausea churn in Lea’s stomach.

Lea grew even hotter as her magic crackled along her hands and arms, expanding in her ribs and begging to be let loose. The crack in her chest had widened, allowing more raw magic to seep out. The urge to destroy the floor all together and allow it to burst free was intoxicating, but the thought was overwhelming. Instinctively, Lea knew that to allow her primary magic to take over would be to surrender her reason and critical thinking. Even the small amount pounding inside her was enough to cloud her mind.

"Not yet," Gray said, clearly feeling the pull of her power through the bond. His tone was firm. "Not unless it’s absolutely necessary."

Lea tried to push the magic down, but it refused. Instead it continued building, stretching as if it could rip through her skin and escape to wreak havoc on the world. Lea felt a sudden tug in her chest, distracting her. She reached her hand out to grab Gray’s arm, grounding herself before following the tug of her magic.

Suddenly, she was seeing through Murray’s eyes. Lea had never met the man before, but he was one of the soldiers that Gray had trusted enough to let hold a piece of Lea’s magic. Her eyesight transformed, fading from looking out over the grassy, green field to looking through the dirty, cracked glass window of a bakery, witnessing a hoard of soldiers walking in perfect formation.

They were coming. But, why now? Had they won the standoff? Had Alaric really given up so easily?

The uniforms of the royal army had changed. Instead of a deep navy, they were now blood red, with thick leather breastplates and the royal crest embroidered on the left pocket. Except now, the crest depicted only a sun, surrounded by fire. The first six rows of soldiers were clearly Fae, with at least twenty men in each row. On their chests, stitched right next to the royal crest, were their insignias of magic.

"They’re here!" Lea cried out in her mind, unsure if she’d spoken the words out loud back in the field or into Gray’s mind through the mate bond, but hoping she had. Lea quickly gathered as much intel as she could before pulling herself back into her own body.

"They’re coming.Now!" Lea shouted the moment she was back in control of her own vision, but Gray had already turned to signal Erik. Gray’s eyes swam with darkness, his shoulders back and his posture confident. He looked like a warrior, almost like a god, as he barked orders, shadows stretching out around him in every direction.

"Get our troops ready!" Gray shouted to Erik, who rushed to assemble the army as Janelle scrambled to her feet from where she sat in the shade with her eyes closed, searching for danger.

"We need to split into two groups. I feel a threat coming from behind!" Janelle called out as she sprinted to Gray. She closed her eyes again, her face scrunching in concentration.

"Go tell Erik to station a third of our troops around the perimeter with Vincent." Gray ordered. "Put the sick in the middle. They fight as a last resort." Janelle nodded, sprinting to where Erik was assembling a line of young, wide-eyed soldiers.

Lea turned back toward town, searching for fragments of red between the old stone buildings. The clanging of weapons and the thunder of feet behind Lea told her that their army was almost in formation, just as another tug at her magic caught her attention, this time from a different direction. Her sight was now that of a soldier she had met in passing, Casey, who had impressed Lea with her ability to hit a target the size of a pea with an arrow from a hundred yards away. She was hiding behind a large rock near the stream Erik and Lea had walked by before the Fenrir had attacked, her bow and quiver strapped to her back.

There are soldiers here,the voice sounded in Lea’s mind as Casey crouched further down behind the rock.At least two hundred, maybe more.

Lea pulled herself back, quickly shuffling through the rest of the open connections to her magic. Soldiers were splitting up and spreading throughout the village. There were some heading toward the cottages near where Thomas lived. Others approached the woods. There had to be thousands of them, and they wereeverywhere.

"They’re surrounding us, Gray." Lea grabbed her mate’s arm.

"We’re still in the safest spot." His eyes were black, but his shadows were somehow even darker. "The woods are too dense for them to fight efficiently. Vincent’s men will take care of it if they attempt to enter from behind us. The only other way they can approach is from straight ahead through town, and we have the high ground," Gray repeated the reasons they’d chosen this location as if convincing himself they’d made the right decision. "Do you see Alaric?"

Lea searched the images in her mind again, but she didn’t see him anywhere. Panic immediately consumed her, her heart thundering and blood roaring in her ears. "No. What if he’s not coming? What if he’s not here, Gray?" If Alaric hadn’t traveled with them… Lea couldn’t even think about what that would mean.

"He’ll be here." Gray’s dark, gravelly voice was full of confidence and his jaw was set in determination. "He infectedhundredsin our army. He doesn’t have the self-control to let that magic go to waste. If nothing else, he’ll be here to take their powers once they die."

Another tug—Janelle.You only have minutes,she heard Janelle say once she was in her head.Be careful.Lea wished she could speak to her friend, but she hadn’t had success projecting her own vision to those with her power. Every time she tried, her head swam and her stomach churned before she was thrown into someone else’s sight. So instead, Lea pulled back and focused on her task. Black flames burned the grass at her feet, and her shadows whipped around her along with her hair in the stagnant summer air.This is it.Lea grabbed her sword. She had imbued it with Thomas’s powers the previous night, and it thrummed beneath her fingers, shadows and flames and death vibrating through the metal.

"It’s time." Lea’s voice sounded foreign as it left her mouth, and Gray grabbed her hand, intertwining his fingers with hers as he pulled his own sword from his back.

"To whatever end," Gray squeezed her hand tighter, "I willalwaysbe with you." His eyes never left the streets below him, and Lea wondered if it was because he was watching for the royal army, or because he couldn’t bear to look at her as their probable death approached them in the form of thousands of blood-red soldiers. "Remember your ultimate goal, Lea. Grow the moonflowers,no matter what. You’re the only one who can save us." Gray rasped as the first line of Alaric’s men appeared from below, their bows pointed at the sky.

Flaming arrows rained down around them, dotting the darkening sky with deadly falling stars of fire. With an explosion of shadows, Gray gave the command to attack. A flash of gray lightning crashed in the middle of the soldiers closing in on them, throwing royal soldiers to the ground as pieces of cobblestone rained down around them.

With Gray’s order, chaos ensued. All at once, both armies ran toward each other, the rebels stopping at the top of the hill to maintain their advantage of elevation. Lea had been correct that Alaric had placed his soldiers with magic at the front lines, and she dodged a small ball of fire that flew at her head.

Gray’s shadows ripped from his body, wrapping around soldiers necks and plunging straight through leather breastplates and deep into their chests to rip out their still beating hearts. Lea threw a blast of fire out in a shock wave in front of her, and black, smoky flames incinerated the soldiers immediately, white shards of bone crumbling into piles.

Widening the hole in her chest, she finally allowed the magic that had once terrified her to escape. Death’s grip overcame her, and now, in the midst of battle, Lea no longer feared it—shebecameit.

A battle cry tore from her soul as Lea turned to her left, shielding herself with shadow to protect her body from arrows. Her sword was as light as a feather in her hand, crackling black flames surrounding the metal. The sword tugged her hand left and she turned, listening to the way her weapon seemed to be trying to direct her movements. Metal hit metal, her sword vibrating with an intensity that made her arm ache as she blocked what would have been a fatal blow. Lea pulled the sword back, then stabbed forward into the enemy soldier’s stomach.

Instantaneously, the soldier burst into flames, screaming as death’s grasp pulled him under. Before he could take his final breath, Lea kicked the dying soldier’s sword from his hand. Emma had been very clear; do not allow the enemy to die with a weapon in their hand.

Sweet agony filled her chest as she sucked more magic from deep inside herself in preparation to attack a group of royal soldiers who had broken through to their side and were approaching the sick, who stood weakly with weapons raised in their bloody hands. Every piece of her wanted to rain down death and destruction, but the enemy was too close to their own soldiers, so she held her darkness at bay.

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