Page 131 of A Sun Scorched Bloom

Withtremblingfingers,Leareached out to touch Alaric’s wall of fire. Her heart pounded, and she struggled to breathe, her lungs paralyzed by the distance between her and her mate. She winced, cursing under her breath as the fire burned her skin.

She could part her own flames, touch her own fire, but she couldn’t get through Alaric’s, couldn’t control his magic.

The fire, Azalea! Pull Erik away!Gray’s voice shouted into her mind. Panic flooded between her ribs and up her throat. As fast as her feet could carry her, Lea sprinted around the circle of fire to where Erik still laid unconscious, the flames creeping slowly toward his feet.

Lea dropped to her knees next to Erik, her hands cradling his head where blood leaked from a long, jagged gash. Flooding light into her fingers, she sent healing energy down his spine to stabilize it before focusing on the cut, watching intently to ensure it closed fully.

Erik moaned, stirring, but remained unconscious. As the fire licked at his boots, Lea ran behind him and grabbed his arms, dragging him backward with every ounce of strength she had until he was a safe distance from the growing inferno. With a groan of pain, Erik rolled onto his side. Lea pushed more light into his body, but still, he didn’t wake.

He’s breathing.He’s moving,Lea reassured herself as she scanned Erik's unconscious body for anything she might have missed.He's going to be fine.There was nothing more she could do for him, except ensure the fire didn’t get close enough to burn him. Her sword vibrated in her hand, and Lea latched onto the power, pulling it inside her.

As she pulled at that string of power that flowed from inside the metal, the wind stirred. She fastened onto it, commanding a gust to blow the flames away from Erik. The fire bent and bowed, submitting to her will. The fire flickered, and through the smoke, Gray and Alaric appeared. Blow for blow, they met one another, their swords moving so fast Lea could hardly keep up.

She pushed even harder, directing smoke into Alaric’s eyes as his flames died off, unable to maintain their heat. Alaric stumbled, coughing on the thick, black fog, and Lea ran to Gray’s side, arcing her sword overhead and bringing it crashing toward Alaric’s neck.

He was too fast. With the wind still whipping around them furiously, Alaric’s fire was unable to spark. He spun in a circle, dodging her blow while sending long daggers of ice shooting from his hands.

Gray cried out as ice embedded itself in his calf, and Lea threw a shield of shadows over them as he yanked the melting shard from his skin. Sweat dripped from his hairline, and ash spotted his face as he focused on healing his wound.

Lea leached Alaric’s new power into her sword. Pulling moisture from the air along the blade, the sword cooled to near freezing. Lea raised it overhead, then swung it forward as hard as she could, hurling a spear of ice at Alaric.

As he covered his head with his arms, his concentration snapped. Calling on her wind again, Lea blasted him backward, raw magic crackling in her blood.

"Erik!" Janelle’s scream broke through Lea's rage, her wind faltering as she tore her eyes away from Alaric and to the front of her house where Janelle was sprinting to get to Erik while Thomas carried Emma down the hill toward safety.

"No!" Lea screamed at her friend as Gray stalked toward his brother, his sword gripped in his bloody hand.

Alaric’s eyes locked onto Janelle as she raced to Erik, throwing herself on top of his still-unconscious body. A smile that looked more like a snarl pulled at his hollow cheeks, and he raised his hands toward her friend.

He’s going to kill them. Get Janelle and Erik out of here,Gray said into her mind as he sent bolt after bolt of lightning down in front of Alaric. He strode forward like the God of Death, his bloody arms bulging as shadows whipped around him in a fury.And then help me finish this.

Lea screamed again, her feet moving as quickly as they could toward Janelle and Erik. Lea pulled Janelle off him, shaking her violently. "You have to get out of here!"

"I’m not leaving him!" Janelle scrambled back, reaching out for Erik. "Wake up!" She patted his face, and his eyes cracked open.

"Where am I?" he rasped.

Lea wasted no time. Now that Erik had regained consciousness, she placed her hands on his head, easing whatever headache remained and pulling him to sit. "You’re in the middle of a fucking battle, Erik! Get Janelle out of here. Now!" Lea looked over her shoulder to where Gray and Alaric fought in a swirling fog of fire, shadows, and ice.

As if a bucket of freezing water had been dumped on his head, Erik jumped to his feet, his eyes darting toward Gray as he ran to where his sword lay on the ground and picked it up.

"Janelle, if you’ve ever listened to anything I’ve asked of you, please do it now. Run," Erik begged. With a glance back at Janelle, his eyes full of things he didn’t have time to say, Erik took off toward Gray. The second Janelle stood on shaking feet and turned, Lea sprinted back to her mate.

The world exploded in a violent flash of light and a sudden, agonizing scream ripped from Lea’s throat as she was thrown backward. She rolled to her side, trying to breathe through the excruciating pain, certain that Alaric had snuck up behind her and stabbed her through her spine. Lea threw up, struggling to get enough oxygen as the pain in her chest intensified. Nothing she’d ever felt before had been even close to this torturous. She was dying. Shehadto be.

Lea pressed her hand against her chest to stop the bleeding, and Janelle was suddenly at her side, her hands trailing along her body. "What is it?" Janelle asked frantically, her eyes wide with terror. Lea couldn’t speak through the pain.

"Lea! Stay with me!" Janelle pleaded as she lifted her hands from Lea's body to grab her face.

Herhands…They were clean.

Chapter 86

Gray

Harnessinghisfury,Graystruck his lightning again. But with a wave of a hand, Alaric blocked it as if it wasnothing. The lightning ricocheted off the hard shield of smoke and air, causing the ground to erupt at Gray’s feet. He dodged left, forming his shadows into a long, sharp tendril. If he could distract Alaric, maybe he could plunge it into his chest, wrap it around his heart and rip it out. He just needed to get close enough.

As Gray circled his brother, he sent more shadows and lightning, striking at random in an attempt to disorient him.

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