Page 69 of A Petal in the Crown

Carefully and cautiously, Lea reached out with her power, the dark, finger-like roots of her magic floating from her body and wrapping around Janelle's arms and legs, cascading down her torso and back until it covered her fully like a blanket. With a deep breath, she forced her power inside Janelle's chest, searching for her magic.

It took longer than finding Gray’s, but there, tucked right next to her heart, was a small pocket of power—mischievous and stubborn—and so very different from anything she'd ever felt before. It was easier to isolate, much more solid and compact than Gray's magic.

It was difficult, keeping half of her mind on figuring out how to take Janelle’s magic and the other half on alert for death’s presence. She forced her breaths to remain even as she pictured the dark tendrils of her magic as a hand and a blade. Holding Janelle's power firmly in place, she used the blade to dig into the shell of Janelle's power, pushing firmly enough until she pierced it with acrackthat made Lea’s teeth rattle.

Janelle gasped, and Lea paused, not pushing any further. "You alright?" she asked, keeping her eyes shut and her consciousness on alert. "I can stop."

"No, I’m fine. It was just startling. Go on," Janelle urged, her voice high pitched and breathy with excitement.

Slowly, Lea dug the blade deeper, carving away a little of the magic seeping out, careful not to take too much. The moment she cut the first thread tethering Janelle’s magic to its home, a shiver ran down her spine. She’d been waiting for it, but the feeling was unsettling, all the same.

The hairs on the back of her neck stood on end as the sensation of someone watching her skated across her body. Now that she’d felt it, it was unmistakable, and she wondered how she’d missed it before. It was sickening, cold and dreadful, but she kept going.

Lea tugged at Janelle's magic more firmly, and just as she suspected, pain burst behind her eyes, and a dribble of something wet trickled from her nose.

Blood.

Janelle gasped, but Lea ignored her, forcing her breaths to remain steady. Her chest squeezed, her heart thundering, and she swore she felt death smile. A sickly, slimy feeling that forced the chill into her bones. Death thought he was winning, but she had prepared for this. Lea had held death back before, and she was determined to do it again.

As quickly as she was able without dropping her hold on Janelle’s magic, Lea formed a shield of shadows around her, as thick as the stone walls of the castle and black as the everlasting night had been, blocking herself from death’s sight. She pulled at her friend’s power, cutting another tiny tether away, swiftly and efficiently.

The cold washing down her arms told her death was searching through her shadows, desperately trying to find her soul and rip it from her body, but she refused to be afraid. With a burst of power, she yanked Janelle's magic backward, pulling until the final thread holding it back snapped. Lea wrapped the foreign magic in her shadows, tugging it close as she pulled it into her chest and nestled it next to her own power.

Her ears rang with death’s roar of rage, but before it could find her again, she disconnected her magic from Janelle, severing the connection she’d built and closing it off completely.

In an instant, death was gone.

Interesting, Lea thought, considering that it seemed to be the act of taking someone’s magic that allowed death to find her, rather than holding it inside her.

Lea exhaled, using her forearm to wipe the blood from her nose.

"You did it!" Janelle said, beaming at her. "You did it, didn’t you? I can feel it—like a piece is missing. Youfuckingdid it!" Janelle jumped to her feet. "What was different? How did you figure it out?"

"Evangeline helped me," Lea said. "I had to keep death from getting to me."

"Lea, do you know what this means?" Janelle asked, her voice stuffed with hope. Lea’s heart sank. Sure, she’d taken a little of Janelle’s magic, and that alone was a feat. But that had been only the tiniest bit, and it had still allowed death an opening.

"This means we can win!" Janelle hugged her, and Lea laughed, shoving down her sadness. Her fear and uncertainty.

"You’re actually initiating physical touch with me?" Lea teased.

"I’m just so proud of you," Janelle said, not even trying to hide that she was tearing up. "You didn’t give up. You did it. You took my power, and it didn’t kill you, and now you can take Alaric's power. We get more time. All of us."

Tears filled Lea’s eyes, but not because she was full of joy and hope like Janelle. Her tears were drops of sorrow. Guilt. Lea didn’t want to lie to her best friend. Didn’t want to give her hope that they would all live happily ever after. But no matter how she looked at it, she couldn’t convince herself that there was a way she’d survive taking Alaric’s power.Even taking the tiniest bit from Janelle had left her feeling nauseous and weak, her head still throbbing and blood crusting her nostrils.

Not to mention the goddess had been clear. She would never be allowed to live taking such a massive amount of power. Even if she survived taking all of Alaric’s magic, it would be impossible to hold it all inside of her. Shehadto return it to the universe. To the earth. But how?

She funneled her magic into the ground all the time growing the moonflowers, but it never drained her. And every time she tried to give a piece of her magic to the earth, it returned to her like water evaporating back into the sky on a sunny day. No matter how many times she tried, she couldn’t give her magic to the universe. It was as if the power needed a living soul to tether to, like when she gave magic to their soldiers to see through their eyes.

She had only been successful in returning magic to the earth through death.

Lea’s hands shook as she isolated Janelle’s magic and tried to push it back out into the air. She directed it away from Janelle, pushing it outward until it grew taut, and severed it with a blade of shadows. But it didn’t matter. The magic came back to her like a magnet, thumping back into place in her chest.

She grabbed it again, this time pushing it into the grass beneath her feet, but once again, it returned, locking back into place with an almost painful snap.

Her heart sank, but she smiled anyway. She would just have to keep searching for another way to return Alaric’s magic to the earth. The goddess had said it was possible. That she could find a way to live. But for now, this was their best option. A way to save their people. If she and Evangeline could keep death away long enough to take Alaric’s magic and allow her to plunge her sword through his heart—if she could giveeveryone else more time before they joined her beyond the veil—it would be worth it.

"Well… you’re welcome," Lea forced a laugh. "Now you’ll get all those years with Erik."

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