Page 64 of Petals for Deadly Power

The water or the worry swamping him didn’t allow him to moure straight to where Lenna was, leaving him at the edge of the four-petal shape field. It was afield, and the red rain were petals.

Petals on fire, chasing his sweet fire.

No—it hadn’t been the waterorthe worry. There was an invisible wall separating the grounds of the burning ordeal from the rest of the world.

He lifted his hands above the water, and with the wicked delight that not caring about the pain his inner scale inflicted, he Took the whole wall away. The pain would have been enough to stop other beings’ hearts. His heart was too sore to care.

He pushed himself up onto the edge of the field, and time seemed to stop.

He couldn’t have been that late. It couldn’t have happened so fast.

At the very center of the field, he saw a growing mountain of red petals covering Lenna’s whole body, piling up and up and up. The wildfire was closing in, advancing faster now the path of petals fueled its flames.

She was going to burn.

Jake didn’t have time to run, so he moured. He moured between the fire and the pile of petals, Taking them away as fast as he had ever Taken anything. There were so many petals, and underneath, nothing moved.No onemoved.

He Took as if his life depended on it, because it fucking did. He would have Given a river behind him, placating the fire that approached his back, but he had never been good at simultaneous magic, and he couldn’t stop Taking—he had to get to her.

Torturous long seconds passed until Lenna’s hair started appearing as petals were vanishing. Her unresponsive face came later, her mouth choked with redness, the expression of terror marking her face in the same way it marked Jake’s soul.Hehad allowed this to happen.

He Took, Took, Took, and when the petals were not holding her body upwards anymore was when she fell limp, cold in his arms.

Lenna. Lenna!Hescreamed into her mind. But where usually a golden response was waiting, whether angry, heated, or laughing, there was nothing. There was nothing,no oneto shout at.

“South Cardinal,” he roared, his lips curling as tears flooded his eyes. “Take me. Take my feather, take my life. Take everything from me, but don’t take her.”

The Taking goddess did not answer, did not come, did not care.

The Taking goddess was going to take the true reason for his existence.

His hands shook under her back and her knees, his back barely feeling the fire burning him.

The only fire he cared about had been extinguished.

41

Hope

Nobeingneededtosee the sender of the navy ink to feel the desperation in his words.

Jake’s message caused very different reactions for Ciaran, Ayla, and Hope.

Ayla squealed, her emerald-green eyes tearing as she gasped. Ciaran ran to the deck of the navia, his dark green sparks heading downstairs no doubt on their way to make the other courtrades aware. Hope’s hands were over her daggers, more out of self-reassurance than usefulness. Except there was nothing to reassure herself about, and she needed answers, she needed action. So she ran after Ciaran, Lenna’s twin running after her.

The sea around them was not as quiet as other days. Ciaran’s shadows were on the move, darkening the space around the navia, pushing the metal mass farther down South. Stevian and Nyraxa joined him shortly after, the three types of shadows working as one against the sun above.

Hope could ask Jake for more details, but she didn’t. All that mattered was getting to them as soon as the Cardinals allowed. They were on track, at the precise point that cut the Organ House from the South. The Fifth only knew what distance separated this navia from theirs—from them.

She walked from one side of the deck to the other, testing the wind with her wet finger, red sparks flying from her hands as she tried to work out if her plan was doable.

“The shadows in plain daylight are not as efficient,” Ciaran said from behind her.

“I noticed. I’m going to push it.”

His eyebrows raised, followed by a slight frown.

“Wind, is it?” A tense smile appeared on her lips at his immediate understanding. The corner of his lips tugged upwards with pride as he nodded. “I’m with you.” It was impressive what such a short sentence could do to someone’s heart.

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