Page 44 of A Sun Scorched Bloom

Lea gritted her teeth in frustration, and her face turned red from holding her breath. "Dammit," she hissed, funneling more power into the air in front of her. "It’s not—"

A small puff of smoke erupted in front of her. It wasn’t much, no more than what accompanied a strong strike of flint, but it was enough to cause a small fire to hover just inches above the forest floor. It was no bigger than her fist, and it wasn’thers. Lea reached for her magic, finding every bit of it tucked away firmly in her chest.

Lea’s eyebrows shot up in surprise, an expression Erik appeared to mistake for excitement.

"All right!" Erik clapped his hands together with a massive smile on his face. "Time to rest. Lea, keep it burning all night. We need warmth, but using kindling will create smoke and make us a target."

"This is ridiculous," Gray snapped. "She needs to sleep. We all need our energy if we’re going to make it through the next few days here. That includes Azalea."

What’s happening? Erik didn’t do it, and Gray can’t create fire…

Someone cleared their throat to her left.

"And she can sleep." Erik was still arguing with Gray. "You know as well as I do that our magic never sleeps, that it comes from a deeper part of us. If she commands it to be so, it will burn through the night."

"And it will drain her!" Gray argued.

"And it will replenish with the dawn," Erik replied calmly, biting into an apple.

Someone coughed, clearing their throat again, and Lea leaned forward, turning toward the sound. Noah was staring at her, a playful smile on his lips. He winked at her, wiggling his fingers. The fire grew just a bit, then receded.

Lea bit down on her lip to keep herself from smiling. He was pulling one over on ErikandGray. If her mate wouldn’t sever his head from his body, Lea could have kissed him. Thoroughly relieved, she latched her magic on to Noah’s; the fire growing with her own flames now that it had something to hold on to.

Noah’s magic diminished, so much so that Lea could barely feel it. But it was there. "In case you need it," Noah mouthed.

"She’s not doing it. Not all night," Gray was beginning to rise, so ingrained in his argument with Erik that he didn’t notice her relief through the bond. She had help.

"I think she’ll be just fine, Commander," Noah pointed toward the perfect tinder-less fire.

"Did I ask your opinion, soldier?" Gray's fury was palpable, but only until he looked at the fire. Gray tilted his head, his eyes narrowing.

"All your arguing is giving me a headache," Janelle said.

"Better than freezing your tits off," Erik replied with a sly smile as he threw her a pointed look.

"I’ll do it." Lea nodded, sitting cross-legged and staring into the fire.

"Fine," Gray sat back down. "Noah, a word?" Gray stood without waiting for an answer, stalking away with shadows trailing behind him.

Throwing another mischievous smile at Lea, Noah obediently rose to follow.

"Glad that’s settled," Erik said as he crouched in front of her. "Poor kid. It was brave to stand up to Gray like that. Hope he’s not too hard on him."

It had been brave, but Erik was wrong about why Gray had pulled Noah away. Through the bond she felt only gratitude. Gray had known the fire hadn’t just been of her making. It was the only reason he’d relented in his argument with Erik, and Lea was confident that Gray wasn’t scolding him. He wasthankinghim.

"We’ll get started on the bedrolls," Erik continued. "Gray’s right, you need to sleep tonight. Imagine what you want to happen, and your magic will know what to do. But if you truly need me to take over, I’ll be right over there." He nodded to the other side of the fire, patting her knee and leaving her alone to master her flames.

Chapter 26

Janelle

ToJanelle‘ssurprise,Leahad kept the fire burning through the night. It had grown a bit since she’d fallen asleep, and Janelle woke up with a sheen of sweat along her back. She’d slept facing away from the fire, preferring not to see her death coming should Lea lose control and destroy them all in a fiery explosion. But somehow she was alive,andher tits were warm.

It wasn’t that she didn’t trust her best friend—she would trust Lea with her life. It was that this was all new. Lea barely knew how to control her powers any more than she did. Janelle wasn’t even quite sure what powers shehad. That prickling sensation she felt on her neck that had warned her of trouble, of getting caught, it had always just seemed to be a part of her nature.

Janelle had assumed that she was simply more aware of her surroundings than most people. But now, looking back, she realized that those sensations had only occurred during the daytime. She never stole at night. Not once, since the night she had tried to sneak some cookies from the white and blue porcelain jar in her dark kitchen and her mother had caught her.

Actually, that wasn’t true. The night of the escape she’d felt it. But how? Was the god of the sun watching out for her, or had the goddess of the moon granted her temporary use of her day magic at night? Because since then, there had been no awareness of danger after the sun went down. No prickling, no warnings.

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