Page 51 of A Sun Scorched Bloom

Lea shook her head. "What was that?" she asked, pointing to the smoking, cremated remains of the horrendous creature. Noah, his face ashen, grabbed his stomach and turned away, as if the sight of the monster might make him physically ill.

"A tirror." Emma stood on shaking legs. "The dead tried to warn me, but it appeared too fast, invaded my mind before I could hear their message."

"Did you see us all dying of the Lonely Death?" Lea shivered, the image of those black welts fresh in her mind.

"No. It was different for me." Emma’s voice was weak, haunted. "It was the dead. There were so many of them, and they were so angry… They wanted to kill me, because I can’t help them."

Lea felt a pang of sorrow for her friend. Her worst fear was being unable to help others, even those beyond her help. Her magic was a part of her, a curse that would follow her for the rest of her life. "Gray?" Lea asked, unable to feel anything more than the ferocity of his anger through the bond.

"My father was stealing your magic. He was going to kill you," Gray said through clenched teeth. "I should have known that it was just another damned monster." Shadows floated through the still smoky air, electricity crackling within them as if feeding off the heat. Lightning crashed in the distance as Gray’s eyes filled with rage.

"None of us knew, Gray." Erik placed a hand on his shoulder. "Stay calm. We’re safe now. She is safe."

"Lea knew," Janelle corrected quietly. "Thank you, for killing it."

Nodding at her friend, Lea took in her appearance. Dark circles bruised the skin beneath her eyes, and a sheen of sweat still glistened on her face. She was pale, and her fingers subconsciously traced her hip and side. Lea cocked her head. She hadn’t seen Janelle do that in a long time. It had been a nervous habit once, around the time Lea’s mother had died. Something she'd done whenever she was anxious or troubled.

"What did you see, Janelle?" Lea prodded gently. Something wasn’t right. Janelle was fearless, but right now? She seemed absolutely terrified.

"I don’t—I need to sit down." Janelle paled even further. Erik was at her side in an instant, helping lower her to the ground.

"It doesn’t matter what any of us saw," he said reassuringly, keeping a hand on Janelle’s back and rubbing in slow circles. "None of it was real. Whatever it was, it can’t hurt you."

Janelle nodded, taking slow, steadying breaths.

Gray grabbed Lea’s shoulders, turning her to face him.

"Are you sure you’re okay?" He ran a finger down the side of Lea’s cheek. "How did you know what to do?"

"You were all dying." Lea pulled aside the collar of Gray’s shirt, tracing a finger against his unblemished skin. She traced the edge of his tattoo, so grateful that the lines of the mountains were the only hint of black she saw on his chest. "It was the Lonely Death… Every single one of you."

"And you knew it was impossible."

"I thought it was. And then you were unkind, harsh. I knew that if you were dying, you would never make me feel that way." Lea leaned her cheek against his chest. "I don’t like talking about this."

"I’m so sorry, Little Flower," Gray bent down and kissed her hair, "if even a part of you thought for a moment that I would let anything take me away from you."

"I’m sorry, too. That you thought your father would be able to steal my magic. That must have terrified you."

"Enough that I didn’t realize it was a trick. How did you know how to kill it? You shielded us. The control that must have taken…" Gray gestured to the small patches of ground that were free of soot and embers.

"You all were in danger. I didn’t know where you were, or what was happening. It was instinct, I think. My magic just knew what to do." Despite the adrenaline still running through her body and the thumping of her heart against her ribcage, she felt a flicker of pride in her chest. She'd saved them, had erupted the woods into a wildfire without harming a hair on any of their heads.

"Maybe I can help the cause after all. Maybe I can control my magic if I keep practicing."

"I have never once, for a single moment, doubted that, Little Flower." He kissed her again, groaning softly when Lea slipped her tongue between his lips. "I want nothing more than to remove your clothes, inspect every inch of skin with my fingers and mouth to make sure you haven’t been harmed… but the smoke." Gray forced himself to pull away, gesturing to the thick, dark air around them as he turned to Erik. "We’re a sitting target. We need to leave. Immediately." Gray had become the Commander again. Efficient. Direct. And it did things to Lea that made her want to force Gray to stay and live out his desires.

"Ready the horses." Gray walked to Lea, his shoulder brushing against hers, electricity tingling down her arm where their bodies touched. Gray leaned down to speak into her ear, his breath hot on her neck. His eyes darkened as if he’d heard her thoughts. "Later, Little Flower, when we’re alone, you won’t be able to stop me."

Chapter 34

Lea

Theytraveledforseveralhours, all of them silent as they put as much distance between themselves and the smoky site of the tirror attack as possible. Since they’d entered the woods, they hadn’t been very talkative. There were times, of course, that they’d had conversations to kill the time, but other times, when the threat of danger breathed particularly close to their backs, they had ridden in deafening quiet.

This was different. No one spoke, not a single word. Their eyes were downcast, all of them lost in thought. Erik’s eyes looked particularly haunted as he rode behind Janelle, and Lea wasn’t sure if it was her imagination or reality, but she thought she saw him pull Janelle impossibly closer to his chest, almost as if he thought she might disappear.

Once they stopped, Emma dismounted, walking to Janelle and wrapping her in a hug. Lea worried about what Janelle had seen. Based on Emma’s reaction, and her unique ability to sense other people’s emotions, she was certain that it was something awful. Until today, Lea hadn’t thought there were any secrets between them. But whatever it had been, whatever memory she had relived, it was something Janelle had suffered through alone.

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