Page 31 of A Petal in the Crown

The prisoners shouted, begging for anyone to free them, but it was of no use. No one would hear them, thanks to Tanad.

“Quiet,” Erik said, his voice low. Lethal. The men around him instantly stopped their pleading, silence spreading throughout the entire dungeon like a plague. Fire crackled off his skin as he let his rage feed his magic, the stone beneath his feet charring. Erik continued to search each face, some of them familiar, some of them strangers, hoping that somehow, he would know when he saw Stefan and Jakob.

“I'm looking for someone,” he said as he slowly stepped forward, the heels of his boots clicking on the damp floor. “A man named Jakob.” Hushed whispers bounced off the domed ceilings, but no one stepped forward. Not a single soldier.

“Then I'm looking for a man—any man—who knows a Jakob.”

Shuffling sounded from the back corner, followed by a “Shut up!” Erik's head snapped toward the noise, bringing fire to his fingertips. “Tell me what you know.Now.”

The silence was deafening, and rage churned through Erik’s blood. He called fire to his fingertips, allowing it to drip from his hands like lava. “It would be a shame for the whole lot of you to die to protect one lowlife. Trust me, the man I'm looking for isn’t worthy of your protection.” He pushed more fire through his hands, causing the dungeons to glow a vibrant orange. “Oryour death.”

More hushed whispers. Erik lowered his chin and raised his hands.

“Wait—” A voice called from the back cell, the men inside parting around a young boy as he stepped forward. A boy who couldn't be more than eighteen years old. Tears shined in his eyes, his throat bobbing as he walked.

“I’m Jakob,” he said, his voice so small and terrified Erik wondered if he was even younger than seventeen.

“Don't lie to me, boy. Don't take thefall for someone else.”

“I'm not lying, I swear it.”

Erik wished Lea was with him with her sword in her hand to discern the truth.

“It's not you who I'm looking for. His name is Jakob. His brother is named Stefan.” Erik's blood heated, just uttering their names. “Them, and their group of friends.”

The young boy cleared his throat, his shoulders visibly relaxing. “There is another with the same name. I don’t know him well. He's older than I am, but I believe he has a brother.”

“Where is he?” Erik asked, believing him.

The boy blanched, turning white. “I don't know.”

“Where is he?” Erik roared to the entire dungeon, spinning in a circle and shooting fire from his hands, so hot it singed the uniforms of the nearby soldiers.

“We don't know! None of us know.” A man stepped forward, one Erik knew well. Colin.

A soldier he and Gray had very specificallynotrecruited to join their cause. “Even if we did, why would we give his location away to a traitor like you?” he hissed, spitting at Erik’s feet.

Erik froze, and the men around Colin backed away, as if sensing the charge crackling in the air. “I hope he finds you,” Colin continued. “And I hope he kills you for what you've done to us. For betraying our king.”

“If anyone's memory is triggered,” Erik said, ignoring Colin’s words as he stalked past him, “and you remember Jakob’s location, you'll be rewarded. Lead me to himorhis brother, and I will promise you won't meet the same fate as your brother in arms,” Erik said, raising his hand and sending a steady stream of fire directly into Colin’s chest.

Colin hardly had time to scream before he collapsed into a pile of smoldering ash. The silence somehow felt even louder this time, the only sound the pop of smoldering embers.

Erik turned to leave, waving away the smell of singed flesh.

“What did he do? What is Jakob's crime?” a soldier called out, and Erik froze in the doorway, not bothering to turn around.

“He hurt the woman I love,” Erik said, slamming the door shut firmly behind him.

Chapter 20

Lea

Lea had expected the door to the dungeons beneath the Black King’s wing to be as unassuming as any other she’d walked through in this castle. Because if whatever was inside was so important that Eudora wanted it so desperately, it would stand to reason that he would have hidden it among the hundreds of wooden doors everywhere else. But the door to Brennus’s private dungeons wasanythingbut unassuming.

It was a beacon of danger. Made of pure, polished iron, its condition was impeccable, the metal almost unnaturally shiny and buzzing with that familiar tang of magic that held what Lea now recognized as the imprint of the Black King. She steeled herself against the waves of power thrumming off the door, though she wasn't sure if it actually came from the door itself or from whatever hid behind it.

Or even if it came from simply being in this part of the castle. A place she’d never visited before, had neverwantedto visit before.

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