Page 140 of What Blooms from Death

Rowen.

Something told me Farren was sprawled out in an identical scene across the hallway.

“Fuck…” Aleksander muttered, coming up behind me.

A crowd had gathered at the door. Now that I was present, they all seemed to be halting there, waiting on me to give them orders. But I still didn’t know what to say. I couldn’t even speak. I could only stare. First the guards murdered at the swords’ chamber, and now, this.

What next?

Aleksander managed to move before I did. Carefully, he picked his way over splattered blood and the scattered objects from the desk, kneeling at his soldier’s side. My gaze followed his as he examined a chunk of flesh on the floor beside Rowen’s head…

“That…that’s his tongue, isn’t it?” I whispered in horror, moving toward the dresser, fumbling to grab onto its edge as my balance swayed.

Aleks averted his eyes, his breaths growing shaky and uneven, his usual stoic demeanor starting to crack.

Zayn pushed his way through the crowd at the door. Fury radiated from his body. Even in the low lighting, I could see it—the twitch in his jaw; the fire in his eyes; the tense coil of his muscles, ready to snap. His voice was sharp, each word cutting through the air like a blade, as he said, “Someone clearly didn’t want them to be able to talk. They must have seen something they shouldn’t have.”

I gripped the dresser more tightly, my head throbbing with the implications of this latest bloodshed.

“Yes,” said Aleks. “The question is,what?”

Five more days passed.

Every corner of the palace was searched, every person in it questioned, but the investigation yielded no answers. The murders and the attempted break-in remained a mystery.

When I wasn’t helping with that investigation, I spent every second I could trying to master more of my magic, or else mentally preparing myself for balancing the weight of Grimnor in my hands.

After most training sessions, I collapsed in exhaustion on my bed, not moving until one of the servants tempted me with food or a warm bath—or, more and more often, I sank into Aleksander’s bed and all the different temptations ofhim.

He relaxed me, more than anything else this palace could offer. It wasn’t merely about physical release, either. Somehow, when I hadn’t been paying attention, he’d gone from a source of white-hot irritation to one of undeniable comfort.

The evening of the fifth day found me alone in my bedroom with my face buried in a pillow, wishing Aleks was much closer than he was. Phantom was sprawled out beside me, hogging the majority of the bed, one errant movement away from knocking me onto the floor.

Aveline trundled in soon after my head hit the pillow, her arms laden with trays of food. I could smell her cinnamoncookies—one of my favorites—but I was too tired to show much interest beyond rolling toward her.

Phantom, on the other hand, was up in an instant, clambering off the bed and sitting expectantly at her feet.

“Nothing here for you, little scamp,” she said, shooing him away.

He slipped under the table and proceeded to lay down and sulk, settling his head on his paws with a loud huff.

“I expected you’d be in the Light King’s room, but no one answered his door,” she said, ignoring the pouting dog and turning to me.

“He’s still at the training grounds,” I informed her.

Zayn had insisted they keep going, even after I’d stopped. I’d wanted to stay as well, but my body had fought against every attempt I made to prove I could keep practicing magic, turning me into an embarrassing, stumbling mess—until both men had insisted I needed to go lay down.

Aveline considered me for a moment. And then, in her blunt, matter-of-fact tone, she said, “Well, that gives me a chance to talk to you about this in private, at least.” She held up a small glass bottle full of a pale blue liquid with herbs swimming in it.

“And what isthat?”

“Something to preventaccidents, if you two are going to insist on messing around every chance you get.”

I sat up, cheeks burning slightly. “We haven’t done anything that would warrant the need for such a tonic, thank you very much.”

She looked skeptical.

“It’s true,” I insisted.

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