Page 28 of A Petal in the Crown

Gray and Vincent had spent hours discussing the best way to approach Auropera, but Lea had told them she was done hiding. She doubted Alaric’s soldiers would be brave enough to try to harm them—not in his absence—and certainly not when he’d abandoned them with no direction during battle. But even if they did, Lea was confident they were no match for the power inside her. They had no idea what she was capable of. The only one with power that rivaled her own was Alaric, and with him hiding away and nursing his wounds, Lea wasn’t worried.

Which is why Lea had suggested they approach the castle directly and out in the open—a show of confidence. A power move. If anyone was foolish enough to attack, she would kill them quickly and effortlessly, and—most important—publicly.

Images of the snakes Lea had sent out to kill the remaining soldiers back in Bearswillow flashed through her mind. Janelle had told her about the bodies, their mouths gaping open and eyes burned out, and she’d demanded to see them herself. Had wanted proof of what her magic was capable of. Erik and the others had burned the bodies of the fallen rebels, but Alaric’s men? There hadn’t been time to dispose of them yet, and so Lea had visited the mass grave, taking in the horror of their deaths before incinerating them all with a flick of her wrist.

Destroy, her power begged, feeding off the memory, but Lea shoved it down, down, down.Not yet,she told it, grappling with every ounce of her self control as darkness surged like a tidal wave inside her.

Her power hissed in response, and Lea wondered how long she would be able to contain her primary magic. The pressure beneath her skin increased, pain prickling like a thousand needles pressing out from inside her body.

“Let some of it go. Just a bit,” Gray encouraged her, sensing her struggle. With a deep breath, Lea allowed the wickedest parts of her to slither through her veins, surrounding all of them in a thick, black aura. Almost like smoke, but so dark that even against the black of the night, it was visible. The difference was immediate, the pain in her chest lessening and the pressure easing.

Lea straightened in her saddle as they neared the gate, pulling back on the reins to stop her new horse, a majestic black mare named Luna. Her memory flicked to the day she’d learned of Gray’s true identity right here at this very gate. Little did she know, walking through theportcullis would lead her to this. To a greater love than she could have ever imagined, and more pain and loss than she could even fathom.

She hopped off her horse, boots clicking on the dense wood of the bridge. The portcullis was lowered, the door blocking them off from the inside of the castle grounds, but it was of no consequence to Lea. As she threw up a shield of air around her friends, the black fog around her turned into flames. She didn’t need to look back to make sure they were safe, allowing her darkness to map out her surroundings as she let the inferno grow, the flames licking up her skin and across the ground. Fire met the base of the door and spread upward, consuming the wood so quickly the soldiers on the other side had no time to even shout before it was burned away completely.

Through the smoke filled opening, Lea stalked forward, relishing in finally allowing her true nature to take over as she spread her flames even further into the courtyard.

Destroy.

Destroy.

Destroy.

The voice was stronger now, begging. No, demanding. It was a primal need, and Lea reveled in it as a chorus of screams echoed against the stone walls surrounding the castle. These soldiers saw what Alaric did and had still chosen to serve him. They didn’t deserve her mercy, and so they wouldn’t receive any. For the first time since she’d awoken, Lea didn’t need to fight against the darkness inside her. She could become it.

As Lea made her way toward the front of the castle, she sent out snakes of darkness, the shadow monsters destroying and consuming whatever fell in their path. Of its own volition, her magic wrapped around a soldier’s neck and dragged him backward into the flames, burning him alive as it snapped the neck of another. Her dark magic sighed in reliefas it killed, dozens of soldiers taking final breaths full of smoke, their mouths frozen in screams of agony.

No one tried to stop her. Not Gray or Erik or even Emma. They knew better.

The main door to the castle loomed before them, beckoning. There would be more of Alaric’s men inside. Hundreds. Maybe thousands.

She could end them, too, right here and now, before the few who had escaped were able to warn them. Before they could flee. Cowards just like their king.

Lifting her chin, Lea took a step forward.

Destroy.

Destroy.

Destroy.

But Gray’s voice pulled her back.

“Lea.” It wasn't an order. Not a plea or a proclamation of worry. It was simply a reminder.You control the darkness. It does not control you. You’ve expended some of the power. That has to be enough for now.She could almost hear his voice in her mind again, reassuring her as he’d done so many times since she’d awoken from beyond the veil. Clenching her jaw, Lea reluctantly reigned in her power, just enough to fade the haze of fury and revenge clouding her mind.

“Lead the way,” she said, extending her arm and handing over the decision-making to Gray. It was better that way, right now. When she could barely hear herself think over the voice begging her to turn around and end more lives.

“Take the castle,” Gray told Tanad, his eyes flicking toward the stone palace that had been his prison for so many years. Lea wondered if maybe his darkness was screaming for him to destroy it as well, if something inside him was begging him to bring that wicked place down stone by stone until nothing was left.

Tanad nodded, turning to his generals to give the order.

Gray didn't wait for him to finish, trusting Tanad to do his part. With long, confident strides, Gray stalked forward. Lea's primary magic rebelled as she followed behind him, surging in her chest with a swell so enormous it caused her ribs to expand painfully.

You're going the wrong way,the darkness seemed to say, begging her to turn around, but she forced her feet forward, gritting her teeth. The wind whistled through the courtyard, the bugs going silent as they passed. Lea's head remained on a swivel, scanning their surroundings for lurking threats. Secretly hoping she would find one to channel her magic into, something to eviscerate to soothe the sharp edge of need.

Thomas remained close to Emma, who held a new dagger in a white knuckle grip. Janelle was hand-in-hand with Erik, who stood slightly in front of her as if he could shield her from danger with his own body. But none of those things mattered.Shewould protect them.

As they rounded the back of the castle, a small shed came into view. A familiar tang of foreign magic hit Lea’s nose, all the confirmation she needed to know Alaric had been here. She’d felt that very magic before, sensed it and smelled it and tasted it, but the trail was muted, as if the wind had carried the scent into the distance.

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