Page 34 of A Petal in the Crown

You.

Finally, her shadows receded and her flames dimmed, the agony in her body easing to a dull throb.

She wiped her bloody nose on her sleeve as a figure walked forward through the smoke—a woman holding a hand out in front of her—barely visible through the thick haze of ash and muttering under her breath.

Lea allowed the door to unlock, and Gray burst inside, spinning her around as his hands traced her face, then her arms and her torso, looking for injuries, but Lea didn’t look at him. She was too focused on the woman now emerging from the shrapnel that had only moments before been her cage.

Lea pulled back her flames to better see her, a pang of pity settling in her stomach. She was small and frail, and her ribs protruded even through her thin shift. Her bones looked as if a strong breeze could snap them with ease, her elbows the largest part of her arms. But even her emaciated appearance wasn't what caused Lea's stomach to roll and her skin to break out in goosebumps.

No. It was the woman’s eyes. Eyes that had been so horribly disfigured they were completely scarred closed.

“My father's witch,” Gray said, pulling Lea behind him. “That's what Eudora wanted.”

“What? Why would she want her?” Lea asked, goosebumps creeping up her arms.

“Becausesheis the one who was helping him strengthen the spell for the Lonely Death.”

Chapter 21

Gray

The witch now waited in a cell of a different kind. Not a cage, per se, but a locked room with no way out except a regular wooden door. One Gray now stood in front of, arms crossed and magic ready. He had called on his shadows immediately once he realized who’d been inside the cage, a jolt of fear and anger buzzing along his skin at seeing her scarred face again.

Gray remembered the first time he’d seen the witch, her horrible, disfigured eyes seared into his brain for eternity. She hadn’t been the first witch who’d lived within the palace, but she was by far the most tormented. Gray had wondered on more than one occasion why the king beat and burned her, and then he realized.Thiswitch was strong willed. Had not been as easily broken as the witch before her—a tiny thing who’d been so afraid of Brennus’s might, she’d agreed to his every whim, including creating the Lonely Death. She’d been only a shell of a woman when she died, and his father had been determined for his new, shiny witch to become the same.

Gray wondered if she had. Years and years in a cage could break you, but it could also make you go mad, and if that was the case, Gray would not be caught unprepared. But instead of showing any sort of aggression,the woman had simply crossed her arms around her emaciated stomach and asked who was there and if she could have a glass of water.

As Gray had walked toward her to check for weapons, she’d flinched at the first sound of his heeled boot hitting the stone. A jolt of pity settled in his chest, surprising him. This was all her fault, after all. Even if his father had lied about her temperament, at a minimum, she’d been complicit in his plans. Without her, the Lonely Death wouldn’t be nearly as strong. It wouldn’t have spread to Calir through the portal.

But Gray had seen morally strong men give in to his father before. Could he fault her if years of torture at his hands had made her give in to his wicked demands?

His stomach twisted.

Yes, he could. But could he also allow himself to feel pity for the clearly broken woman? It appeared, to his ire, the answer was yes.

Once they’d returned upstairs, Gray had asked Elise to get some of the maids to bring a bath for the filthy witch. Blood and dirt caked her skin, making the scars across her eyes appear all the more gruesome. He wasn’t sure what Eudora had planned for this woman, but the bargain had been made all the same, and the least Gray could do was allow the woman some dignity before handing her over to a witch even more evil than herself.

Lea stood against the wall as they waited, using a dagger to pick the dirt from beneath her fingernails. She hadn't said much since they’d discovered the witch, but the sharp edge of her tension and anger seemed to have dulled. The tight lines of her jaw had relaxed a bit, as had the tension in her shoulders.

“What are you thinking?” Gray asked, anger bubbling up his spine at the missing mate bond and his inability to sense her thoughts and emotions.

“I'm wondering what happened to her eyes,” Lea said plainly. “Why, if she helped the Black King, he would harm her so horribly?”

“My father could be very convincing,” Gray said wryly, fighting off a shiver as a memory of him holding a courtier’s head under water until he submitted to his will flashing through his mind.

“She must not have done it willingly,” Lea said, pretending to examine her nails. It wasn't pity Gray heard in her voice, just a plain statement of fact. He could practically see the wheels turning in her mind, trying to piece together what had happened.

“Maybe there was something he didn't want her to see?” Gray said.

“Or maybe she'd seen too much,” Lea answered, finally meeting his eyes, her brows drawing together.

The door at the end of the hallway swung open, and a cold breeze swept through the corridor and rustled the tapestries. Gray bristled at the immediate way the air seemed to thicken with ill intent.

Eudora, come to collect her prize.

Gray’s shadows begged him to set them free. To block off the witch. To keep her from ever coming close to Lea again. It didn't matter to him that Tanad was fond of Eudora. In fact, he didn't understand it at all. She’d done nothing but trick him for her own self-serving purposes foryears, and he was certain this was no different.

“Where is she?” Eudora wasted no time asking.

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