Page 48 of A Sun Scorched Bloom

"But not until we have a little fun," Stefan laughed as the men descended upon her. She felt a blade slice through her skin as a boot kicked her in the eye. Someone ripped at her shirt while someone else stomped down on her leg, cracking the bones in one excruciating blow.

Janelle shrieked, an echo of her screams from the night Stefan and his squad had "taught her a lesson," as they had called it. That she was a worthless human, undeserving of a Fae soldier’s affection. Of anyone’s affection.

Blood coated her mouth as Janelle pulled her knees to her chest, hoping that death would come swiftly.

Chapter 29

Erik

Itwassuddenlyfreezing.Erik saw his breath in a puff of white air, reminding him of the day everything had changed for him. He’d been only a child when he’d come upon his father beating his mother in the early morning hours, just after dawn on a cold winter day. He’d gasped, his terror escaping in a cloud of frosty breath, revealing his location. It had been the first time he had realized that he wasn’t safe, and people weren’t good. Not even his own father.

He’d sworn to his mother that evening as she’d held a cold cut of meat to his lip that he would never grow up to be like his father. That he would be kind, gentle. That he wouldn’t allow his soul to be hardened into that of a killer.

"And yet, how many lives have you taken?"

That voice… It couldn’t be. Erik ripped his sword free, the hiss of the metal grinding against the sheath ringing out through the woods. Standing before him was his father, his cropped blond hair and stern expression unmistakable. In his muscular hand was a familiar blade pointing straight at Erik’s throat. "You are more like me than you will admit to yourself."

"I am nothing like you.Nothing!" Erik shouted, his voice shaking with rage. "I would never hurt someone innocent. And I would certainly never claim to love them!" Erik flew toward his father, grabbing him by his uniform and slamming him into a tree. His father’s sword tumbled from his hand as Erik warmed the hilt to near molten, burning his flesh.

In a blind rage, Erik smashed his fist into his father’s nose. "I wouldneverstrike a woman I love! I would never harm a child!" He punched him again. "I would rather die!"

"And yet you strike me!" Herald said through bloody teeth. "Your own father! You’reexactlylike me! You’ll destroy the ones you love. Every last one of them. Just wait." The man smiled. Actuallysmiled, as if the thought of his own son becoming a monster was a joyous one.

Erik flew into a blind rage, dropping his sword next to his father’s and repeatedly slamming his fists into his jaw. The king’s second coughed up more blood as he laughed, completely unaffected.

"Is that all you have? You areweak," Herald spat.

Slamming him against the tree again, his father’s head cracked against the trunk. Erik wrapped a flaming hand around his throat before closing his eyes and squeezing, unable to look as his father fought for air. He would never be like him, took no pleasure in ending his father’s life. But it was necessary.A swift death is more than he deserves, but I’ll settle for it,Erik thought as his father stopped fighting. He held on tight for another minute, ensuring that he was truly dead, that his heart had stopped beating, before letting go and allowing his father’s body to crumple to the ground.

Erik opened his eyes, forcing himself to look at what he’d done.

Disbelief and horror filled Erik’s gut as he retched onto the ground. "No, no, no…" Collapsing, Erik screamed, his grief so potent that his roar caused the trees to lean away from him.

"No, Janelle! Wake up!" Erik cried as he lifted Janelle’s lifeless body against his chest and roared at the sky.

Chapter 30

Noah

NoahpulledthecloakErik had lent him around his body tighter. It was suddenly so cold, and he found he was grateful Erik had offered his spare to help keep him warm. It was far too big, but as the chill became almost unbearable, he knew that without it, he’d be miserable.

"Noah," Gray’s voice cut through his thoughts. "I think I heard an animal, just up ahead. Can you track it? I’d like to have more than nuts and dried fruit for dinner."

"Yes, Commander," Noah said, a bubble of pride inflating in his chest. He’d wanted to find the Eclipsed King for so long, and now he was actuallyhelpinghim. He could be of service, valuable, and he couldn’t help but think that somewhere beyond the veil, his father was proud of him. Noah didn’t just want to be part of this war, he wanted tomatterin it.

Kicking his horse, Maple, in the side, Noah trotted ahead. Reaching out with his powers, he searched for the animal Gray had heard. He let his energy travel outward, along the ground, and up the trees, twisting through the rotting branches up toward the sky, but there wasnothing. Nothing alive for as far as his magic could reach, and now that he was focusing, Noah could tell that nothing alive had traveled through this part of the woods in weeks, if not more.

He turned Maple around. "I’m sorry Commander, but—" Noah’s stomach dropped. Panic unlike anything he had ever felt before caused his hair to stand on end. On their knees with terror-filled eyes were Gray, Lea, Erik, Janelle, and Emma. Several soldiers Noah didn’t recognize held gleaming swords across their necks. They were statue still, and Noah had the sinking suspicion that they were simply waiting for the order to kill. While he’d been focused on tracking ahead of them, the Royal Army had found them. Noah drew his sword, his hands shaking.

"You really thought you could escape us?" It was Jordan, a lieutenant for the Black King that Noah had served under. "We suspected thattheywould be traitors, but you?" Jordan tsked. "We had such high hopes. You were moving up the ranks so quickly. So much potential wasted."

Noah called on his flames, imagining them wrapping around each of the guards' hands, hoping that maybe they would drop their swords if he burned them. But Jordan threw up a shield, stopping his magic as if it was nothing.

He sighed. "Again, you betray us?" Jordan stepped forward, jabbing his boot between Emma’s shoulder blades and shoving her to the ground. In less than a second, his sword was embedded through her hand, pinning it in the dirt. "I was just going to kill them, but it seems that you need a lesson, soldier."

Emma screamed in agony as Jordan twisted the sword, creating a gaping hole in her palm. "You can kill them. A clean strike. An honorable, painless death. Or I can cut them apart piece by piece. And I assure you," he said with a grin. "It will be anything but quick and painless."

Noah’s vision went hazy at the edges. "No. I—Please." He couldn’t kill them. He’d never killedanyone. He was likely the only soldier in the Royal Army whose sword hadn’t been stained by blood. "Please," he begged, jumping off the horse and pushing down the urge to vomit. "You can do the right thing. You can join us."

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