Page 32 of A Petal in the Crown

It looked no different from Gray’s wing, with walls and floors built from large cuts of stone, paintings and tapestries adorning the halls. It was dark and cold, with only the occasional window to brighten up the space, and the feeling of distress and savagery that hung in the air and spread into her lungs with every breath made her uneasy. The longer she remained, the more her magic pulsed and shouted.

Destroy.

Destroy.

Destroy.

And that was Lea’s plan. Whatever was within the cage was so heavily protected, not even Eudora knew how to get it out. Lea imagined a monster with black eyes and dozens of clawed hands reaching toward her and raking at her skin, and she shivered, pushing the unwelcome image away. Though it would be unwise to trust Eudora, she couldn’t help but think that whatever was inside the cage couldn’t, or wouldn’t, hurt her.

If the witch’s visions were true, she was destined to defeat Alaric. And even if Eudora was an evil bitch, she clearly held some sentiment toward King Tanad. To allow Desia to fall to Alaric would be to hand Calir over on a silver platter, and Lea simply couldn’t make herself believe that Eudora would do that. Allowing Tanad to be harmed seemed to be the one line she wasn’t willing to cross.

It was a feeling she understood. She would rather die than allow Gray to be harmed. As if he heard his name in her thoughts, he turned to her, eyes assessing. Even without the mate bond, Lea could feel the tension rolling off of his shoulders. She didn’t miss the way his fingers clenched and unclenched at his sides, his knuckles turning white. But he remained silent, simply standing beside her until she was ready to enter and face whatever it was Eudora couldn’t face herself.

Lea lifted her chin, indicating to Gray that she was ready, and he swung the door inward, moving out of the way as Lea's shadows spread throughout the room, mapping it out in the way Erik had taught her what seemed like years ago. Gray’s shadows intermingled with hers as he did the same, and the feeling of his darkness wrapping around hers brought her comfort as, together, they stepped forward.

The room was so very different from the one she’d trained at in Calir. Instead of a large triangular space, her shadows slipped down cold stonestairs and wrapped around old, crumbling columns that rose at least sixty feet toward enormous arched ceilings.

Her shadows continued onward, branching off into different rooms that opened up along the side walls. In some alcoves, they slipped inside easily, scraping through the shattered remains of what used to be wooden doors. At some of the entryways, her darkness was forced to slide through cracks, their doors still in place and firmly shut. Chains and manacles hung from the walls, some spaces filled with torture devices that Lea didn't allow herself to examine too closely.

As her shadows prodded every corner of the dungeons, she couldfeelthe vibrations of the pain of its past victims, echoes of agony that made her stomach churn and her dark magic rejoice all in the same measure. Scowling at the immense depravity and inhumanity etched into the foundation, she tried to push the feeling down.You control the darkness, Gray’s voice said in her head. Not through the mate bond, but instead from somewhere inside her—the mantra he’d repeated every day as he watched her struggle with controlling the power inside her.

She pushed her shadows even deeper, until—there. A box. An exact replica of the one she’d seen in Calir.

Lea stepped further into the chamber, covering her nose at the stench permeating the space. Sweat and excrement and despair soaked into every inch of stone, and Lea wondered where the Black King’s prisoners had been taken once he’d been killed. Had they been disposed of before Alaric had gone mad? Or set free once he’d fled?

Small, firm pieces of debris crunched beneath her boot as she navigated the darkness, but it wasn't gravel or rock. It crackled like splinters of wood, but harder. Bone, if she had to guess. A shiver ran down her spine at the image, nausea bubbling in her stomach as she waded deeper into the fog of emotions thickening the air around her. It wasn't just pain and suffering and agony. It wasn't simple destruction and wreckage.

It wassadness. Grief so thick it stole the air from her lungs as it crashed over her in waves, and the further they traveled into the dungeon, the more intense the feeling became. Neither she nor Gray said a word as they approached the cage, but she could sense his shadows intermingling with hers as they explored every inch of it, mapping it out in their mind's eye.

Lea moved closer, her shadows prodding the thick, impenetrable metal of the box. They slithered along every inch, exploring every lock, every obstacle to opening the cage. Eight locks adorned the cage in total, some of them as simple as a chain that only needed to be slid along a groove and out of the large divot at the end.

There was a combination lock, a keyhole, a padlock, plus several other locks she had never seen before. A soft orange glow washed over the cage as Lea called on her flames, and she approached the first lock. The easiest one. She grabbed the knob to the chain, sliding it out into the little pocket that would allow it to fall free, but just before she pulled it out of the notch, she paused.

Something dark and dangerous buzzed from the metal, causing the hair on her arms to stand on end. Lea’s own magic recoiled in response, and she stepped away.

“Move back,” Lea ordered, her voice sharp. Gray narrowed his eyes but listened, stepping away, and Lea followed, the foreboding buzz of magic easing slightly as she stepped back. No longer within view of the cage, Lea reached out with a long trail of darkness, flicking the lock free.

The castle shuttered and rumbled as if it were a beast waking from a deep slumber. A flash of light bolted through the chamber, a brief bang that lit up the pitch black of the dungeons illuminating the horrific machines used for gods knew what torture that had occurred there. She forced the images of blades and chains and ropes from her mind, peeking around the corner.

Where she’d been standing only moments before was a hole in the stone floor at least two feet wide and eight inches deep. Gray’s head snapped toward her, but she ignored his fiery stare. His hand twitched as if he wanted to pull her out of the dungeon altogether, but instead he clenched it, stopping himself, and Lea’s shoulders lowered a fraction in relief.

She was standing on the edge of a blade, the fury growing in her chest so potent, she worried she was about to explode. Of course, it wouldn’t be as simple as opening the locks. She’d known that already, deep down, but it didn’t change that she’d wished that just once, something would just be straightforward and simple.

Lea moved forward with tentative steps to examine the cage, hovering her fingers just above a padlock. The same dark energy radiated into her skin, making her own magic twist uncomfortably. “Dammit!” Lea cursed, pulling her hand back despite her sudden urge to smash her fist against the cage. “They’re spelled. Every one of them.”

Gray cursed under his breath, his jaw going tight before inching forward. “Maybe I can open it,” he said. “Maybe someone of my bloodline—”

“No,” Lea snapped, holding up a hand. “You willnotsacrifice yourself again.” She narrowed her eyes, giving him a look that would have killed a lesser man.

Gray’s eyes softened, but he didn't argue. Tentatively, Lea prodded the cage again with her magic. Seven more locks. Seven locks enchanted with who knows what spells that would detonate once they were opened. She spread out her darkness, sliding them across every inch of the cage. If she couldn't go through the locks, she would have to find another way.

Closing her eyes, she focused on the seams of the box, testing the smooth metal with as much force as she could muster until—there. A tiny crack. Lea’s heart swelled, her darkness rejoicing as she pushed against the smallestsliver at the very top back corner of the cage. A fissure that couldn't be more than a centimeter long where it felt like the welding had been incomplete.

“Out,” Lea said. “All the way, this time.”

“I'm not leaving,” Gray said. “If you need my help—”

“I can do this on my own.” Lea didn't even look at him. “But I can't if I’m worrying about you.”

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