Page 27 of What Blooms from Death

But my magic had grown increasingly erratic as the weeks went on, and soon, my consciousness had started flickering in and out along with it. I’d assumed death would take me and everyone else, eventually.

I’dhopedfor that ending, more than once.

True death had eluded me, though—me and eleven others, including my cousin.

We’d all slipped in and out of consciousness a few times over the years, and I had vague memories of waking and existing in a half-life of sorts; of fighting against falling back into the clutches of a death-like slumber.

But no matter how hard I fought, the darkness always took me back.

And the last thing I saw before I slipped back into the cursed darkness was always the same thing: The face of the Princess of Eldris, glaring at me through a haze of smoke and shadows while the ground buckled and broke around us—a memory of the night we’d confronted one another in Rose Point.

I’d relived it a dozen times over.

At least.

Waking up to her face had been different than falling asleep to it, yet no less enraging. And I didn’t know how she and her magic had woken me up—if she trulywasthe reason behind that—but I did not intend to go back to sleep, whatever the cost.

Zayn drummed his fingers against the symbol of his house that was branded upon his bicep, the way he always did when he was deep in thought.

I studied the emblem—an upward-pointing sword encircled in a radiant sun—as his fingers fell upon it, thinking of the world above. Of the life we’d once lived, and of what we’d lost and left behind.

The rage in my gut twisted tighter.

“That out-of-control magic of hers seems to be continuing to have an effect, even as we speak.” Zayn’s brows knitted together in concern as he picked up a black, fallen leaf—one of the countless number now littering the ground. They cascaded down in a steady stream, like dark water puddling at our feet.

“The entire time you were in repose, this forest around us continued to flourish,” he said. “It’s kept us alive, the food within it growing at an impossible pace, the stream through it remaining perfectly clear...and all of it glowing, we assumed, because it was being fed by your magic, despite your unconscious state. But now…well, what do we make of this?”

I took the withered leaf from him. Despite my gentle grip, it still crumbled in my hand.

“Whether we find a way to use her and her power to our advantage or not, we obviously can’t continue as though she didn’t crash-land into our little corner of Hell,” said Zayn. “Things are shifting because of her presence.”

I clenched my fist, crushing what remained of the leaf into dust, as I glanced her way again.

She sat in a circle of soldiers who all kept their hands firmly on their weapons. She seemed to be talking to the creature who had very nearly sank its fangs into my face—a creature that had reminded me of a small dragon earlier. Now, it looked like a mere dog with a long, narrow snout. I watched as it pressed its forehead to hers, its feathered tail sweeping back and forth through the dead leaves that had fallen over them.

A shapeshifting beast was not the strangest thing I’d seen in this realm, but it was still difficult to take my eyes off the two of them.

The princess must have felt my staring, because she tilted her head toward me and glared back, her hateful expression remarkably similar to the one that had chased me into the dark so many times over these past years.

Things are shifting because of her presence.

I wished I could disagree.

But then, why was I still aching in the places where she had touched me?

My magic had flowed to those points, as if desperate to collide with her.

Although, now that the initial rush of my awakened power had eased a bit, that magic seemed to be…scattering.It bounced restlessly about inside of me, fluttering with a frustrating lack of direction, like a moth trapped and beating against a closed window, able to see a light inside, but unable to reach it.

I felt unsteady, but also more alive—more aware of my magic—than I had in as long as I could remember.

Butwhy?

And at what cost?

As she stood and marched her way over to us, escorted by several wary-looking soldiers, I felt compelled to stay put and watch her approach. She was walking with a slight limp; fromthe arrow of magic I’d managed to slice through her leg, I suspected.

She made a point of avoiding my gaze, speaking directly to Zayn as she snapped, “I want answers.”

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