Page 132 of A Sun Scorched Bloom

Alaric laughed, completely unfazed, his eyes manic. "Do you not understand the power I have in here?" He beat his chest like an ape, so hard that Gray was certain that he was bruising his own ribs. He was frantic, frenzied. Past all logic and reason. "I should just kill you now. I would. But I've fantasized of this moment for too long." He grinned widely, blood bubbling between his teeth from the wound on his cheek as he thrust his hand out toward the shadows Gray commanded. Instantly, they turned into flames.

Gray roared, cutting off his flaming shadows before they could incinerate him.

"I’ll tell you what, little brother. Surrender, and I won’t kill your entire army. I won’t even kill your friends. Consider it a kindness," Alaric offered, spitting blood onto the ground.

"And you’ll what? Take our power and become our father? A power-hungry monster who murders and steals until this kingdom has nothing left? I'll die before I surrender."

The fires froze, and Gray felt an energy buzzing in the air. Something was building, something terrible. It reminded Gray of when he gathered his shadows and darkness inside his chest, honing them into a weapon to unleash in a sudden torrent of power—but whatever he was feeling was bigger. Whatever this was, it was sucking the very life from the world.

The grass turned brown beneath Alaric’s feet and Gray's lightning crackling in the clouds overhead dimmed.

"If that is your wish," Alaric hissed, throwing his head back and his arms out to the side.

An explosion unlike anything the world had ever felt before detonated in a blaze of blinding, earth-shattering light. It was pure energy, erupting in a white hot flash of fire that burned Gray’s skin and sent him flying. Gray was completely powerless to stop himself as he was ripped backward, his spine hitting the ground with a sickeningthud.

The breath was stolen from his lungs and black dots appeared in his vision as flames ignited his pants. The fire rapidly spread higher, burning his chest and arms, his skin bubbling and turning black wherever it touched. Gray fought through the pain to find his shadows, using them to suffocate the fire before shooting them toward Alaric. His shirt fell apart as he lifted an arm to order his darkness to grasp Alaric around the throat and rip him to his knees, but once again, Alaric was too fast. Gray tried to sit up, but he couldn’t move below the waist.

Before Gray could heal himself, Alaric darted forward, plunging his sword just below Gray's chest with a howl. Gray cried out, grabbing the sword in his fists and attempting to pull it out. If he could just get up…

But he was too weakened, and his brother too powerful. Alaric placed his foot on the base of Gray’s sternum just below the sword, then, with inhuman strength, ripped it upward, tearing straight through Gray’s breastbone. Blood bubbled from his mouth as Alaric yanked the sword from where it now sat at the base of his throat and threw it on the ground. He bared his teeth, his face dotted with the crimson evidence of his hatred as he pulled a dagger from a sheath at his thigh and sank it between Gray’s ribs. Once, twice, then a third time.

"I told you it would be my face you saw as you took your last breath. I hope it haunts you for the rest of eternity."

Chapter 87

Lea

Leapressedashakinghand to her chest again, then pulled it away to inspect her skin.No blood… Why was there no blood?Understanding crashed over her, stealing the air from her lungs.

"No!" she shrieked, somehow dragging herself to her feet through the pain and stumbling toward Gray and Alaric, rage pooling in her gut, so potent it almost blinded her.

The agony was too much—she couldn’t think, couldn’t process what this amount of pain meant. Lea began to tear at the remaining floor inside herself where her magic hid. She needed the darkness to consume her—needed something big and powerful to fill her until there was no room for anything else. It was her only chance to defeat Alaric.

She plunged deeper into the cavern of her power, ripping apart the floor until it shattered away into nothing but rubble. Her dark magic finally broke completely free, exploding inside her in a burst of energy that set every inch of her body aflame, clearing her mind and dimming the searing torment that had been spreading up her sternum. There was no space for pain, there was only pure, undiluted power.

Her vision darkened, or maybe the world around her did. She wasn’t sure. Lea could feel death hovering just above her shoulders, but instead of fearing it, shecommandedit. The grass beneath her feet turned to ash as black flames completely surrounded her, whipping savagely, waiting for instructions from their master.

Lea’s eyesight sharpened instantly. The twists and swirls in the ash falling all around her looked like the intricate patterns of snowflakes, and the flames caressing every inch of her body glowed in shades of darkness she'd never seen before. The heavy scent of soot filled her nostrils as the crackling of fire overwhelmed her. Energy flooded her limbs, her muscles tightening and her body almost buzzing. She felt stronger, almost superhuman. Invincible.

As the thick, shadowy smoke cleared, Lea flung out her darkness, grabbing the back of Alaric’s shirt and ripping him back from where he stood over Gray.

"Get away from him!" Lea hissed in a voice that sounded so different from her own, shielding her mate completely in shadow at the same time she threw her hands out, ordering her silver-blue lightning to crash into Alaric's chest. The blast threw him backward, and he flew through the air until crashing into the base of a tree at least twenty feet away.

"Heal Gray!" she shouted to Erik as he rose from where he’d fallen during the earth-shattering explosion, holding his head. His skin was slightly green, and he wobbled on his feet, but he would have to push through. He needed to help her mate, because she was the only one who could finish this.

Lea wanted desperately to run to Gray, to heal him herself and see how far his injuries went. But Alaric had to die. Only one brother could survive, and she’d be damned if it wasn’t the man she loved.

Every fiber of Lea’s soul begged her to incinerate him, to turn the monster into nothing more than embers in the wind that would blow away and never return, but she needed his blood. Without it, Emma would die. And Janelle and Thomas and Erik, along with half of the rebellion or more.

Erik dashed to Gray’s side as Lea sent her shadows to wrap around Alaric’s neck. He tried to burn them away, but Lea funneled more energy into them. Shewouldbe stronger than him. There was no other option.

Lea squeezed her sword tighter in her fist, the cool metal thrumming in her hand, pulsing as it absorbed her raw power, the primary magic she was finally allowing to escape after so long. Alaric fought against her shadows, struggling to his feet as he set the field surrounding Lea's house on fire. Red flames mixed with black ones, shadow and smoke swirling around them as the wind blew violently across the hill.

Alaric raised his hand and his sword flew through the air, the hilt landing firmly in his palm. With his lips twisted into a snarl, he threw fire straight at Lea’s head, but it was absorbed by her own flames, only adding to their intensity.

Roaring in anger, his face turned red and his jaw clenched so tightly that Lea thought she heard the crack of his teeth. Wave after wave, Alaric attacked, but it only added to Lea’s fury as she deflected his advances.

Alaric’s attacks were becoming sloppy, his eyes wide with a hint of fear, as if in complete disbelief of Lea’s power. Sensing his distraction, she struck Alaric with a spear of shadows, but this time, he was prepared. He threw a ball of fire above his head, sparks raining down as he lowered his chin and directed streams of ice at Lea.

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