2. Chapter 2
Chapter 2
Erik
E mma . Somewhere within the fog of Lea’s devastation, the word seemed to tug at her consciousness. Yes, Erik thought. Sweet, kind Emma, who had risked her life to help them win this battle. Emma, who Lea had promised—had sworn— she would save.
Emma. Who could see those who were no longer with us. Who was tethered to the world of the dead, allowing them to interact with the living.
Lea turned around in a haze.
Just behind Thomas, Emma laid on the ground, her face gray and clammy and her eyebrows creased as if in pain. Her heart still beat—Erik could see the pulse in her neck, could hear the swoosh of blood pumping through her veins.
Janelle knelt next to her, eyes flicking between Lea and Emma’s short, rapid breaths.
Sweat poured down Erik’s brow as he held his arms out, blocking the flames from reaching them. His face was red and his jaw clenched in concentration, allowing them a space only a few feet wide to stand in.
His stomach churned and his head swam, unable to process what was happening. He had to get them to Lea. Get them close enough to get through to her. He didn’t care if he used every last drop of his magic keeping the flames away. If they didn’t stop Lea, Emma would die. Their people would die. Clenching his jaw, he pushed the fire further away, bridging the space between them.
Lea’s eyes roved over her friends, her grief and rage so thick it was as if she was looking at them through a piece of stained glass. Her eyes were dark, narrowed as if confused at how they'd fought their way through the flames to get to her. Or maybe suspicious that they were going to try to stop her from destroying the universe.
But even though the woman before him looked like Lea, she didn’t feel like the friend he’d come to know and love. Erik was certain she loved them, too, but that love seemed hidden under a layer of sorrow and anger so dense, he wondered if she would ever break through it again.
Erik’s eyes flicked around to the others, searching for any indication that they might have a plan, but they all seemed as lost as he was. Thomas’s brown eyes were brimming with words he knew better than to say. His hands clenched and unclenched repeatedly at his sides, his fingers crusted with black ash from trying to pick the moonflowers for Emma himself.
And he had. Flower after flower, each one turning black and scattering into the wind as Lea’s fire raged around them, oblivious to everything but Gray.
Only you can pick them, Eudora had told Lea. They are owed to you, and to you alone. Without Lea, there was no hope. No possibility any of them would survive. But how could he break through her grief and make her realize they were running out of time?
"Please," Thomas repeated, his voice cracking, the word bursting with desperation.
In another world, another time, Erik knew Lea would have picked a moonflower without hesitation. Would have done anything and everything she could to save her friend. She would have moved heaven and earth to bring her back—but this was no longer that world.
A distant, quiet part of Erik wished Emma could stay on the other side and allow Gray a moment with them to say goodbye. Maybe even to find a way back to them. But Erik wasn’t a fool.
His friend was gone.
"Please, Lea," Thomas repeated. "You have to give her a moonflower before it’s too late. She’s barely hanging on."
"I need more time," Lea said, her voice oddly melodic at its core, but crackling with rage and ragged at its edges with sorrow. "What if Gray comes back to say goodbye? Maybe he just needs a few more minutes. If I could touch him, just one more time…" she trailed off, tilting her head to the side and narrowing her eyes.
Erik wanted to go to her. He knew Gray would ask him to take her far away from here and help her move forward and save their kingdom, but Lea raised her hands, and he paused.
Using her shadows, Lea picked four moonflower petals, her long trails of darkness floating through the air as they gently placed one at each of her friends’ feet. Thomas picked up his petal and reached for Emma, but before he could touch her, Lea created a firm dome of shadows around her still unconscious body, blocking Thomas from touching her.
The color drained from his face, his posture going rigid."Lea, please."
"A few minutes. That’s all I’m asking for. Then you can save her." With trembling hands, Lea reached into her boot, pulling out a black vial that Erik recognized immediately as one of the potions she kept in that old box. The ones Gray had told him had been left by her mother.
"Lea, what are you doing?" Erik’s eyes widened as she pulled the cork from the bottle with a pop . He stepped forward, the scent of the potion of death unmistakable, but Lea threw up a thick, waist-high wall of black fire.
"I’m getting him back," she said. She didn’t scream. Didn’t shout. But the sound of her voice made Erik pause—made Lea pause—only for a second. It sounded so unlike her. Hard. Sharp.
Wicked.
"You can’t." Janelle pushed forward, pleading as she moved as close to Lea as possible, until her toes were up against the line of fire. "You have to know that. Please. Please , think about this."
Lea didn’t answer, didn’t seem to want to hear her own voice again as she lifted the vial, the sweet smell of death growing stronger. The wind tipped her hand up, pushing the bottle closer to her lips.
"Stop!" Janelle cried. "He’s gone, Lea! He’s gone ! He’s not here!"
"Then I will find him wherever he is. " Lea pinned them with a stare, as if daring them to challenge her again.
"Do you want her to die?" Thomas pointed at Emma. "Only you can pick the petals. If you’re not here… You’ll kill everyone, Lea." Thomas’s words sent a wave of grief across the hill, and Erik hoped Lea felt it through her haze. "Emma will die. The rebels. The sick. Every single one of them will die without the moonflowers. Your people will die." He was begging, groveling without shame, and it seemed to be working. Lea paused.
Erik nodded his head in agreement, his heart pounding. "Go on, Thomas," he whispered. Thomas knew exactly what he was doing. Playing on Lea’s sense of obligation to her friends; her need to protect the people she loved. It had always been her greatest weakness, and right now, it was their best chance.
"You’ve worked so hard for this moment. To cure the Lonely Death." Thomas continued. "You can’t let it slip away in your anger. You can’t let everyone die trying to bring someone back who 's already gone."
"I won’t live without him," Lea hissed, unable to contain her rage as her flames and shadows exploded, the war inside her appearing to almost rip her in two.
Erik grimaced, grunting as he was forced to use more magic to protect them from Lea’s flames.
"I won’t take it, Lea," Janelle said, lifting her chin in defiance, as if sensing Lea’s moment of weakness. She pulled her shoulders back, her eyes piercing and unyielding. Her throat bobbed as she swallowed, and her cheeks pinched inward in pain as a welt on her neck opened and began to weep. Erik’s stomach dropped, but he didn’t interrupt her.
Janelle stared Lea down. "If you’re making stupid decisions, I’m going to make them right along with you."
"I won’t either. Hundreds of our soldiers have the Lonely Death. They need you to pick petals for them, too. I’m not going to take the cure and leave the rest of our army to die," Thomas said firmly. "You can still change things. They need you. We need you."
The monster inside Lea seemed to pause, her wild, frantic eyes darting between the four of them as her chest heaved up and down. After several agonizing seconds, Lea corked the potion, but kept it fisted tightly in her palm.
"Fine," Lea relented, squeezing her eyes shut, a sob bursting from her throat as she pushed the vial back into her boot.
Without speaking and as quickly as possible, Lea grabbed a root from the ground and wrenched it free. She wrapped her fingers around the base of the vine, squeezing tight as she ripped it through her closed fist. The flowers tore from their stems; the thorns slicing through Lea’s skin with ease. But she didn’t care; hardly seemed to notice.
Blood streamed from her torn palms as she grabbed another root, her fire dimming slightly. She pulled the vine through her hand, then another and another, until she had a pile of moonflowers at her feet big enough to save the entire rebel army ten times over.
Lea collapsed, defeated, tears filling her eyes.
Janelle was at her side in an instant, soothing her as sobs wracked Lea’s body. "I’m so sorry, Lea. I’m so, so sorry."
"I’m going to destroy Alaric for this," Lea sobbed, almost sounding like her old self. "I’m going to tear him limb from limb. I’ll flay the skin from his bones. I’ll—"
"We’ll help you do it," Erik said, his voice thick with sorrow and unshed tears.
"Please," Lea trailed her trembling fingers across the black, bloody welts on Janelle’s skin. "Eat the petal. All of you." Lea used her shadows to place one in each of her friends’ hands. "I can’t lose anyone else." Tears flowed down her cheeks, her emotions bubbling over until she could hardly breathe. Crawling over to Gray’s body, she laid herself across him, running her hands through his hair. "I can’t lose any of you."
Janelle narrowed her eyes. "Give me the potion," she demanded.
A shiver rushed down Erik’s spine as he processed Janelle’s accusation.
Lea jolted, her eyebrows creasing as a look of mock betrayal crossed her face.
"You don’t trust me? After everything we’ve been through?" Lea’s voice cracked.
Janelle stood firm, her arms crossed in front of her, unyielding.
Lea pulled the potion from her boot, throwing it at Janelle. "Here then. Just. Please—" she begged. " Please , eat the petal."
Erik’s heart sank as he watched Lea beg for them to save themselves. She’d lost so much already. Her mate. The love of her life. "We’ll take the cure," Erik said, placing a hand on Janelle’s shoulder. "Right? We have the potion." His eyes skated across her skin, lingering on each welt. "You’re getting worse," he said softly, just to Janelle, his chest growing tight.
Janelle continued to stare at Lea, her eyes sparkling with tears, her lips pressed together. For several agonizing seconds, she didn't answer. Erik's heart pounded as another welt opened, this time on her arm. "Please," he begged.
Her shoulders fell at the desperation in his voice, and she met his eyes. Janelle nodded, and together, they raised the flowers to their lips, placing them on their tongues and swallowing them whole.
This time, the moonflowers worked instantly. The black sores faded from Janelle’s skin, not a single scar or blemish remaining, and Erik’s bruises and cuts healed over, his pounding headache easing.
Lea’s flames flickered around her as she turned her focus to Thomas. Thomas’s shoulders fell, his eyes darting to Emma before finally following Erik and Janelle’s lead. His throat bobbed as he swallowed, and Lea rocked back onto her heels.
Like the brisk snap of fingers, she turned off her tears, wiping them from her eyes and clearing her throat. Black fire wrapped around her body as she reached into her boot once again, pulling another potion from against her calf.
"What—" Janelle lunged forward, but Lea’s fire grew again, forcing Erik to once more hold it back as it surged toward them. Erik’s eyes flicked to the potion at Janelle’s feet. Different from the one Lea now held, the vial longer and slimmer, with a black stopper rather than cork.
"The fire will die once I’m gone. Just please." She met Thomas’s eyes. " Please , give me a few minutes. If Emma is connected to the other side, maybe the moonflowers can work. Maybe I can bring us both back. Just a few minutes, and if I’m still gone, you can save her," Lea said, pulling the stopper free. She brought the vial to her lips and closed her eyes, tilting her head back as she swallowed the potion in one gulp.
In less than three seconds, her limbs went limp, and she collapsed to the ground, her eyes rolling back into her head.
"I’m coming, Gray," she whispered—a sound Erik barely heard over the roaring in his ears—a smile flitting across Lea’s lips as she fell into her mate’s dead arms.