Page 88 of A Petal in the Crown

He nodded, his eyes dancing over her crown once more.

"Meet us there," he shouted over his shoulder. He understood the urgency, and Lea was grateful.

Patrick and Cole stopped riding, disappearing out of sight, but Henry remained right behind them, his horse struggling to maintain their rapid pace.

Please, gods,Lea prayed, slowing just slightly to ensure Henry could keep up.I know you're angry with me, but please, without him, this plan doesn't work,she added silently.Please, she begged again and again.

They crested a hill, and several miles in the distance, smoke appeared.

"The camp!" Lea shouted, relief and fear pounding through her blood. Gray's chin lowered in determination.

Fat raindrops began pelting their faces, soaking their clothes in seconds as the sky darkened further. Maybe it was a blessing. Maybe it would help provide her some cover, make it harder for Gray to find her after she fled. She had no idea how long Henry would be able to hold time for. She just had to hope it would be enough.

They didn't bother hiding their approach as they descended upon the encampment. Gray called on his shadows, and Lea on her flames, a massive wave of darkness heading toward the royal army, intended to intimidate and terrorize. Obsidian led them straight into the middle of camp, and royal guards scrambled for their weapons as Gray jumped to the ground.

"Don't bother trying to fight. Tell me where he is, and I won't kill you," Gray ordered, rain pounding against his shoulders and shadows exploding as far as Lea could see.

The soldiers froze as long tendrils of darkness shot from Gray’s arms and around their bodies like snakes, reaching for their throats, ready to snap their necks in a second.

"Tell me! Where is he?" Gray roared, and his own thunder and lightning joined the storm overhead, matching its ferocity, every scrap of his power buzzing around them a testament to how much he loved her.

Lea slid off her horse, following close behind Gray, her eyes searching for danger.

The soldiers remained silent. "You remain loyal to him?" Gray lowered his chin, snapping a nearby soldier's neck, and he crumbled like a tree in an earthquake.

"What has he done for you? Left you here to fend for yourselves?"Snap. Another soldier fell. "One of you will tell me."Snap. "Or do you all prefer death?"

Gray threw his arms out, and lightning crashed in a white-hot flash of fury. Six more soldiers fell to the ground.

"Wait!" a young soldier called out, raising his hands in the air and falling to his knees in the mud. Tears streamed from his eyes, snot dripping down his nose.

"Please, I'll tell you. I hate him. I never wanted to support him. I swear it. Please, don’t kill us. I didn’t know about the rebels, or I would have tried to join you."

Lea felt a stab of sympathy for the boy,andfor Gray, knowing he would blame himself forever if he’d missed someone who’d wanted to follow them. But maybe this was how it was supposed to be all along. Fate.

"Tell us where Alaric is," Gray said. "If you lie to me, I will know. She will know."

Lea raised her sword in front of her, gripping the hilt tightly.

"And I won’t snap your neck," she added coldly. "I will skin you alive."

Gray stepped forward, his shadows squeezing tighter.

Lea ran a finger along the blade of her sword. "And after that, I will remove your veins one by one, plucking them out like weeds until you bleed out in a slow, horrifically painful death."

"I won't lie!" the boy cried. "I won't lie. He's in the Wicked Wood... just south of here. He comes every few days, takes a few of our men." The boy shivered. "I think he drinks their blood, I don't know... but you have to stop him. Please, you have to stop him.” The boy pulled at his hair. “I'm sorry," he sobbed.

Gray looked to Lea, and she closed her eyes, focusing on the sword’s hilt. Nothing. It remained cool and stagnant in her hand.

"He’s telling the truth," Lea said, turning to the young soldier. "You're saying the rest of your men are with him? There should be hundreds more of you."

"He's been steadily taking us little by little for weeks. I haven't seen the camp, but he was very clear—if something were to happen, if he calls—he's directly south. Ride until you reach a lake, the only water source in the Wicked Wood. That's all I know."

Lea nodded at Gray, confirming the boy was telling the truth.

"You, I will allow to live," Gray said, releasing the boy from his shadows. With a flick of his hand, he snapped the necks of the remaining soldiers. As one, they fell in a synchronized dance of death, mud splashing her legs as their bodies hit the ground with a thud.

Lea sucked in a breath in shock, but quickly pushed the feeling down. They deserved this. Every last one of them who hadn’t stepped forward. They were no longer a threat. Though there were still more of Alaric’s men they would have to kill. The otherencampments were close enough to ride into battle when Alaric called.

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