Page 53 of A Sun Scorched Bloom

The man sighed. "I was afraid you wouldn’t believe me. You’ve always been stubborn." He laughed, a kind, heart wrenching sound, but Lea refused to be tricked. She called on her day magic, allowing it to fill her as she prepared to destroy the imposter in front of her.

"I didn’t want to do this, Azalea. But soon, you’ll understand…" the man said, pulling his hood down. He took a step forward, and Lea unleashed her fire, an enormous ball of flames launching directly toward her attacker. The man snapped his fingers, and everything froze.

Lea couldn’t blink. She could see and smell and hear, but she couldn't move. The ball of fiery magic floated in the air in front of her, still crackling and burning white hot, yet, it didn’t move forward. It hung there, only inches from the man’s face. He blew out a breath, running a hand through his dark hair.

"Well, you’ve certainly learned a lot since the last time I saw you." He stepped to the side and walked around the fire still hanging stagnant. "I’m proud of you. But there’s a lot you don’t know." The man placed a hand on Lea’s cheek tenderly. "This won’t hurt a bit, but I have to put you to sleep now…"

Lea tried to scream, tried to force her magic to burst through whatever was holding her tongue still, and yet she was completely paralyzed.

"I’ve missed you so much, my daughter. For now, rest. I’ll explain everything when you wake." He touched her temple tenderly, and as the world went dark, Lea fell into her father’s strong, familiar arms.

Chapter 35

Gray

Graywokeasabruptlyas the snap of strong fingers. He wasn’t sure why. All he knew was that something waswrong—deeplywrong. Immediately, his arm slid forward to pull Lea against him, to ensure she was safe before he sought out whatever threat had pulled him from sleep, but all his hand found when he reached out was cold, hard ground.

In the blink of an eye, he was on his feet, body thrumming with electricity, building into a mighty strike of lightning just waiting to be released. With every anxious beat of his heart, the energy grew. "Azalea!" Gray roared into the cool night, his throat burning from the effort. Blood pounded in his ears and he was overcome with a wave of dizziness as he desperately searched the camp for his mate.This isn’t happening.He refused to believe that she was actually gone. He searched out the mate bond, tugging on it sharply. It was there, still thrumming with life, and yet that was all he could feel from it. There were no emotions he could tap into, no hints of where she was or what she was thinking.

"Gray!" His name sounded like an echo, too far away to pull him from his nightmare. Because that was the only explanation. He was living his worst nightmare. She had to be here. He had to find her. Without thinking, he ripped apart their pallet, a large fur bursting into flames as it landed on the fire. He tore a branch from the tree they’d slept beneath, searching its tangled limbs for where she could possibly be. "Azalea!" he shouted, his vision turning black at the edges as the urge to destroy everything he could reach became overwhelming.

"Gray!" A small hand flapping nervously appeared in his periphery, reaching toward him.

He readied his lightning.

"What’s happening?" A voice cut through. He knew that voice.Right?

"Wait—Don’t touch him!" the worried voice called as he stood, but whoever it was didn’t listen, tugging at Gray’s sleeve with shaking hands to get his attention.

Threat.

The girl was pulled away just in time, the lightning that had been building within Gray’s body exploding outward at her contact. In a flash of violent light, everyone and everything around him went flying backward, crashing into the brittle branches of the spider-like tree with acrunch.

Gray swung his head toward them, fully prepared to destroy whoever had dared stop him from searching for his mate—hislife. All he saw was red, all he felt was pure, all-consuming terror. His eyes were unfocused and black as they slid over the hands that had touched him, searching for weapons as lightning crackled between his fingers.

"I’m sorry," she sputtered, and Gray paused.

"Emma," he breathed, the world snapping back into focus. Emma’s big brown eyes were brimming with tears, pleading for him to listen. With every ounce of self control he had, he pulled his shadows back, just enough to see the concern on her face. Concern not for herself, but for Lea, he realized as Emma quickly spoke.

"S-someone took her, Gray," Emma said through tears. "The dead saw it. They don’t know where she went, but they said it seemed like Lea knew whoever took her. She recognized him." Noah stood, placing himself between Gray and Emma.

"And she went willingly?!" Gray snapped, ignoring him and focusing on the space behind Emma to where he assumed the dead waited. Gray’s fury was palpable, the air actually vibrating with it, but the thought cooled his anger, just a bit. He sent up a quick prayer that it was true—that Leahadleft willingly with whoever had somehow broken through his wards undetected. He would wring her neck for it, make no mistake, but it wouldn’t be the first time that Lea had made a foolish and dangerous decision in the name of saving her friends. But if she had followed someone, it was more likely she was unharmed… for now. Someone who would steal her away rather than killing her outright wanted something from her. And he'd be damned if he wasn’t going to find out who and what it was.

"No, not willingly." Emma looked behind her. "They say she didn’t want to go. But he used magic to knock her unconscious."

His temporary relief was consumed by a wrath as dark as his soul. The night went black, the moon eclipsed completely by angry, gray storm clouds.

"How in the gods'helldid they get close to us? And why was she the only one who woke up?!" Gray was shaking in fury, his shadows already spreading as far as he could control them. They trailed along the ground, twisting through trees and over logs as they searched for their other half.

"Time froze." Emma gulped. "They said the entire forest went silent. Bats stopped in the sky and bugs stopped crawling. They tried to warn me. I was sitting up to tell you and then everything stopped." Emma was crying, her guilt and fear evident in her red eyes and the way her shoulders hung, but it didn't matter. Not Emma's guilt, nor his own failure to protect Lea. No. In that moment, the only thing that mattered was finding his mate and destroying the bastard who had dared steal her from his arms.

"Tell the dead that they will find Azalea,now, or they will find themselves rotting in this hellhole for the rest of eternity. If she's not found safely, our bargain is over."

"Gray," Erik warned. "Threatening them might not be the best way to convince them to help."

The forest froze again, but this time, it wasn’t from time stopping. It was from the aura of death cascading off Gray’s skin. His eyes once again went black. "I will flood this world with darkness so thick it will block out the light. Unless you would like to live the rest of your life in eternal night, you will stop wasting time and help. Me. Find. My. MATE!" A murder of crows scattered into the night as Gray’s rage shook the ground.

Erik, Janelle, and Emma stood statue-still. It was as if they were afraid to move, afraid that their actions might strike the match that could actually spark the fire that would destroy the world.

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