Page 3 of A Petal in the Crown

Tears streamed from Lea’s eyes, evaporating into steam as they trailed down her cheeks. This wasn’t how it was supposed to be. She had accepted the mate bond fully and whole-heartedly—every part of it.

They were never meant to be separated, whether in life or death. But Gray had stolen that certainty from her as he cut their bond from his flesh. He’d given her the gift of life. But what he’d done wasn’t a gift—not without him here. Without him, it was nothing more than a curse.

"Lea!" a roar met her ears, and Lea twisted, her flames shooting outward on instinct.

"Please," a familiar voice begged. "She’s dying, Lea. Look at her. Look at Emma."

Chapter 2

Erik

Emma. Somewhere within the fog of Lea’s devastation, the word seemed to tug at her consciousness.Yes,Erik thought. Sweet, kind Emma, who had risked her life to help them win this battle. Emma, who Lea had promised—hadsworn—she would save.

Emma. Who could see those who were no longer with us. Who was tethered to the world of the dead, allowing them to interact with the living.

Lea turned around in a haze.

Just behind Thomas, Emma laid on the ground, her face gray and clammy and her eyebrows creased as if in pain. Her heart still beat—Erik could see the pulse in her neck, could hear the swoosh of blood pumping through her veins.

Janelle knelt next to her, eyes flicking between Lea and Emma’s short, rapid breaths.

Sweat poured down Erik’s brow as he held his arms out, blocking the flames from reaching them. His face was red and his jaw clenched in concentration, allowing them a space only a few feet wide to stand in.

His stomach churned and his head swam, unable to process what was happening. He had to get them to Lea. Get them close enough to get through to her. He didn’t care if he used every last drop of his magickeeping the flames away. If they didn’t stop Lea, Emma would die. Their people would die. Clenching his jaw, he pushed the fire further away, bridging the space between them.

Lea’s eyes roved over her friends, her grief and rage so thick it was as if she was looking at them through a piece of stained glass. Her eyes were dark, narrowed as if confused at how they'd fought their way through the flames to get to her. Or maybe suspicious that they were going to try to stop her from destroying the universe.

But even though the woman before him looked like Lea, she didn’tfeellike the friend he’d come to know and love. Erik was certain she loved them, too, but that love seemed hidden under a layer of sorrow and anger so dense, he wondered if she would ever break through it again.

Erik’s eyes flicked around to the others, searching for any indication that they might have a plan, but they all seemed as lost as he was. Thomas’s brown eyes were brimming with words he knew better than to say. His hands clenched and unclenched repeatedly at his sides, his fingers crusted with black ash from trying to pick the moonflowers for Emma himself.

And he had. Flower after flower, each one turning black and scattering into the wind as Lea’s fire raged around them, oblivious to everything but Gray.

Only you can pick them,Eudora had told Lea.They are owed to you, and to you alone.Without Lea, there was no hope. No possibility any of them would survive. But how could he break through her grief and make her realize they were running out of time?

"Please," Thomas repeated, his voice cracking, the word bursting with desperation.

In another world, another time, Erik knew Lea would have picked a moonflower without hesitation. Would have done anything andeverything she could to save her friend. She would have moved heaven and earth to bring her back—but this was no longer that world.

A distant, quiet part of Erik wished Emma could stay on the other side and allow Gray a moment with them to say goodbye. Maybe even to find a way back to them. But Erik wasn’t a fool.

His friend was gone.

"Please, Lea," Thomas repeated. "You have to give her a moonflower before it’s too late. She’s barely hanging on."

"I need more time," Lea said, her voice oddly melodic at its core, but crackling with rage and ragged at its edges with sorrow. "What if Gray comes back to say goodbye? Maybe he just needs a few more minutes. If I could touch him, just one more time…" she trailed off, tilting her head to the side and narrowing her eyes.

Erik wanted to go to her. He knew Gray would ask him to take her far away from here and help her move forward and save their kingdom, but Lea raised her hands, and he paused.

Using her shadows, Lea picked four moonflower petals, her long trails of darkness floating through the air as they gently placed one at each of her friends’ feet. Thomas picked up his petal and reached for Emma, but before he could touch her, Lea created a firm dome of shadows around her still unconscious body, blocking Thomas from touching her.

The color drained from his face, his posture going rigid."Lea, please."

"A few minutes. That’s all I’m asking for. Then you can save her." With trembling hands, Lea reached into her boot, pulling out a black vial that Erik recognized immediately as one of the potions she kept in that old box. The ones Gray had told him had been left by her mother.

"Lea, what are you doing?" Erik’s eyes widened as she pulled the cork from the bottle with apop. He stepped forward, the scent of the potion of death unmistakable, but Lea threw up a thick, waist-high wall of black fire.

"I’m getting him back," she said. She didn’t scream. Didn’t shout. But the sound of her voice made Erik pause—made Lea pause—only for a second. It sounded so unlike her. Hard. Sharp.

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