Page 27 of A Sun Scorched Bloom

"Evander Jonitan Nestruir," Erik spoke so fast, Gray worried Lea wouldn’t understand his words in her weakened state. "Do you bind yourself, body, mind, and soul to this woman? Do you pledge to love and protect her until your last breath leaves your tired body?"

Gray could hardly breathe. Despite the magic eating away at Lea's skin, she was the most beautiful woman he had ever seen. The shining light in the vast darkness that was his life, and she washis. "I vow it to you, with the gods as my witness," Gray whispered to Lea. His voice cracked with emotion as he continued to stroke her face, trying to hold her pain at bay. The words struck too close to his heart as he held his mate's exhausted, failing body in his arms.

"Azalea Delphinium Astrantia, do you bind yourself, body, mind, and soul to this man? Pledge to love and protect him until your last breath leaves your tired body?"

"I vow it to you," she coughed, blood splatting across Gray’s shirt. "With the gods as my witness." She forced out the final words, sagging into his arms in exhaustion.

"As a child of the gods, here to witness your vows in truth and of your own free will, I declare you husband and wife. From this moment on, nothing shall separate you, whether on this earth or beyond the veil. And may the gods annihilate any who try."

The ground shook, Gray’s storm clouds vanishing from overhead as the wind picked up, blowing them from the sky. The moon shone brightly, illuminating Noah, Janelle, and Emma hiding behind the smoky entrance to the clearing, safe behind the magical barrier.

The world froze, seconds moving like hours. Hours in which even the gods watched with bated breath to see if they'd said their vows with enough time to stop death. Gray brushed Lea's hair from her face, holding his breath as he waited for her ashen face to flush with blood. Slowly, her body started to knit itself back together, her wounds scabbing over and her breathing becoming even once again.

"You’re okay," Gray said, a guttural sob escaping his throat. He still felt physically ill remembering the moments in the past few hours that he hadn’t known if she would survive. His body ached, fully expended from all the magic he had poured into Lea, desperate to save her, but he didn't care. He squeezed her tighter, embracing the feeling of her strength returning. She’d been so weak—he’d hardly been able to feel her through the bond as the illness had progressed. But the brightness in her eyes confirmed she'd come back to him.

"I can’t breathe," Lea sputtered, and panic settled like a rock in Gray’s gut.

"That’s impossible." Gray’s blood pounded in his ears.What went wrong?"The spell won’t allow you to die. What are you feeling?" Gray began to lift her from the ground, but Lea wiggled backward.

She sucked in a deep inhale. "I’m okay." She leaned back into him. "You were squeezing me too tight." A small smile danced on her lips as Gray released his grip on her, allowing her to take a deep, restorative breath.

A barking laugh erupted from his chest. The whirlwind of his emotions was too much. He wanted to drizzle down warm rain to wash the blood from Lea’s skin, to rejoice and weep and never let her go, but he also wanted to hand her to Erik and find a way to kill his father. Alone. Without risking his wife’s life. The urge to release his shadows and storms in a powerful gust of rage against him was almost all-consuming.

Hiswife. Gray's heart soared, then sank. It was more than he'd ever let himself hope for. And unless he was willing to tie her life to his, the most he might ever have.

"She’s okay, Gray." Erik patted him on the shoulder firmly before dropping down onto his butt with a sigh and collapsing onto his back. "She’s okay," he said again, this time whispering softly to himself. As sound and life returned to the forest once again, Erik took a deep breath, releasing it slowly as he drug his hands down his face.

Gray was vaguely aware of Janelle and Emma running toward them, collapsing onto their knees to hold Lea’s hands. Noah hung behind, standing several feet behind them as if worried he was witnessing something private.

"I’m okay," Lea said to them all, her voice quiet as a soft smile crossed her lips. "Don’t worry so much, husband of mine. Or you, my loyal subjects." She offered a weak smile to her friends, and Janelle rolled her eyes.

"Glad to see your sense of humor didn't suffer," Janelle said with a huff, but Gray didn't miss the way her hands still shook.

Placing a hand over Lea’s heart, Gray savored the regular, steady beat as his own heart slowed to match its rhythm. She was okay, safe from his father and brother, and he was damn sure going to keep it that way. The urge to seal the bond thrummed through his entire being. He'd be able to hear her thoughts, be able to heal her more easily. But if he died, she would lose her life as well. He couldn’t live with that. "I’m sorry," Gray whispered as he squeezed her tighter.

"Commander… look," Noah said breathlessly, interrupting Gray’s thoughts as he nodded toward the sky, and Gray shifted to allow Lea to look with him. Above their heads were dozens of sparkling silver-blue stars shooting southwest in a magnificent display of magic. As they watched the beauty in silence, several turned to hundreds, then thousands. The black sky was full of glittering trails of beauty. It was breathtaking, and it reminded him of his mate in a way he couldn’t quite place. They were hopeful—barging forward on a path toward something magnificent and important.

"It’s a message," Lea whispered, struggling to sit on her own, her body exhausted from the battle it had fought over the past two days. "It’s a message for me."

"What do you mean?" Janelle asked, giving Erik a sharp look as he opened his mouth to speak.

"My mother’s letter," Lea wiped a tear away with the heel of her still bloody hand. "There are answers you may someday seek to questions you do not yet know—the stars will guide you to them. Let them.It's her. I can feel it,here." She placed her palm on the middle of her chest, just above where her magic lived. "When I was sick, the goddess showed me these stars. She’s telling me it’s time to accept my fate."

"Your fate can wait. You need to rest, Little Flower. We’ll go to Bearswillow, give you time to heal."

"No, we can’t. If we want to win this war," Lea's voice grew in strength and resolve as she nodded to the stars, the incandescent reflection of their light in her eyes, "then we need to follow the stars."

Chapter 16

Lea

Theshootingstarsstreakingacross the night sky were the most exquisite thing Lea had ever seen, more beautiful even than the flowers from her garden or the shimmering magic that bent the trees and filled the air every sunrise and sundown. They were calling to her, forcing her eyes toward their faraway destination and urging her feet to follow.

"This war has been underway since my father took the throne. A few more weeks won’t change the outcome. Erik, where are your horses? We’ll leave for Bearswillow immediately," Gray barked at his second, interrupting the peace of Lea’s stargazing.

"The horses need to rest. We rode them nearly straight through the day and night to get to you in time," Erik said, ignoring Gray’s snappy tone as he stuffed some nuts and dried berries into his mouth. He held out his hand, offering some to Janelle, then Emma.

"And we’re not going back to Bearswillow," Lea argued, trying to squirm from Gray’s arms to stand. She couldn’t very well argue she was strong enough to fight her way through the Wicked Wood when she was a puddle in Gray’s arms. "I already told you, we have to follow the stars."

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