9. Chapter 9
Chapter 9
Lea
T he rush of night magic washed across the land, the grass bowing to the immensity of the night's power, and the shimmering magic cascading like a wave from the horizon, making the sky appear darker. Lea pried her eyes away from the hill where, in another world, her house sat, burned to the ground. She wondered where her body was now. Where Gray was.
Where Alaric was.
The wind changed, and Adelaide gasped. With lightning speed, Lea whipped her head around, her night magic surging when she saw the moon goddess standing only feet away, her face far more stern and serious than Lea had ever seen before. Her usually smooth, tidy hair was frizzy around her face, her eyes wide and features uncharacteristically sharp.
Lea called on her magic, scrambling to her feet and scanning behind the goddess for the god of the sun. She’d been waiting for their return, mentally preparing for whatever punishment they would attempt for her disobedience.
"He’s not here. Lower your hands," the moon goddess said in a hushed whisper. "And you shouldn’t be either. You have to go." She rushed to Lea’s side, grabbing her hands and squeezing.
"I’m not leaving here." Lea let the fire inside her grow impossibly hotter. How dare she tell me where to go? "Not until I’m with Gray again."
"You are leaving. Because you’re going back." The goddess held out her hand, and instantly, as if her skin was made of soil, a moonflower bloomed in her palm. Perfect and pristine and white as snow.
Lea froze, a mixture of trepidation and disbelief wrapping between her ribs until she was breathless.
"You’re letting me go back?" Lea’s voice cracked, and for the first time since she died, some small glimmer of something other than anger and sorrow sprouted in her chest. The darkness inside her fought against it, trying to suffocate and smother it away, but Lea held on.
The goddess nodded, pulling her to stand. "Against my better judgment, I am. But you must go now. "
"But the god of the sun said there would be consequences. That—" Adelaide started.
"I know what he said," the goddess snapped, leading Lea down the hill and deeper into the shadowy night. "And he will be furious. With you, and with me. There will be consequences for allowing this, Azalea. With Emma no longer tethered to this side…"
The goddesses’ hands shook, but she quickly clenched them into fists. "I am breaking a very sacred vow by giving you another chance at life." She paused, turning to Lea and staring at her with an intensity that made Lea feel truly frightened of her for the first time. "But I have no choice. You are the only one who can defeat Alaric. You must understand this. Please. You are our only hope. You must go back, and you must find him and kill him. And you must do so before hell descends upon earth."
"What do you mean?" Lea didn’t really care what the consequences were. She would do absolutely anything to get back to Gray, to get back to earth, and help him defeat Alaric .
"The universe requires balance," the goddess said, echoing Eudora's words. "It will try to correct what I’ve done, but I don’t know how. My husband will likely have his own punishment for you," she said, plucking a petal from the flower and pushing it into Lea's hands. "I can only grant you so much time. And a sacrifice will be required to allow you to return."
"Name it." Lea said, her skin buzzing and hands shaking.
The goddess traced the moonflower crown along Lea's head with a delicate finger. As she caressed the thorny vine, the flowers glowed, so bright, Lea was forced to squint against the light. A buzz of electricity flowed from the crown, down her neck and arms, through her torso and legs. As the sensation spread, Lea felt it dive beneath her skin, wrapping around her still heart and sinking into her blood.
"The moonflowers are a gift from nature. A mixture of my magic, and the magic of the earth. They do not live forever. You will have until the last petal falls from the crown to kill Alaric and restore peace to the kingdom. That is all the time I can give you."
"And if I don't kill him before the last petal falls?" Lea asked. She’d learned her lesson about not being specific enough with bargains with the universe. With sacrifices.
"If you fail, your heart will stop beating when the final petal turns to ash. You will be separated from your mate, even after death." The goddess's eyes were brimming with sorrow. "And it will not be undone."
Lea felt as if she might vomit, nausea churning deep in her stomach. She’d rather not exist at all than spend an eternity without Gray. Wasn’t sure she could risk such a thing. But what other choice did she have? Leave him and her people to die a painful death and allow her kingdom to be destroyed in the process?
"There are other conditions," she continues, a heaviness in her tone. "It must be your hand that delivers the killing blow. The magic Alaric has stolen must be taken from him, as well as his own. What’s happening now—Alaric holding so much power—it’s… unnatural."
Lea nodded fervently, determined to succeed. "I can do that. I took his magic before."
"That was but a drop of what he holds inside him, Azalea. It will be different this time. You had your chance to kill him once—to take his magic. And you failed. To take it now…" the goddess trailed off. "The universe will not allow you another chance without consequence. To hold the enormity of his magic…" She met Lea's eyes, and her voice softened. "You will not be allowed to survive with that much power. It must be returned to the earth."
"How?" Lea's stomach dropped.
"I cannot say." The goddess shook her head.
Lea clenched her fists, fire wrapping up her arms. "So either way, I die?" Fury rose inside her, igniting her body from the inside out.
"That’s not what I said. There is a way you succeed. A way you can defeat Alaric, return his magic to the universe, and still survive. But I can’t say more. To do so would further upset the balance. This is your riddle to solve. Your battle to win."
Lea’s nostrils flared as she exhaled sharply.
"This is how it has always been. By using the earth’s magic to allow you to live, everything will be disrupted. I would not be surprised if the universe itself tries to destroy you until its power is returned. Succeed, and all will be right. But it must be you who corrects the imbalance. You must destroy him. But"—the goddess lifted Lea’s chin—"do not destroy yourself in the process."
Lea’s dark magic thrummed in her chest.
Destroy.
Destroy.
Destroy.
The begging—no, demanding—grew louder. But Lea pushed it down, using every bit of her strength to bring the darkness to heel. She could do this—had to do this. There would be a time to unleash this wild power, but only when Alaric was in front of her. Then, and only then, would she give in to its call.
"I agree," Lea said, turning to her mother. Adelaide placed a shaking hand over her mouth, her eyes flicking between the goddess and Lea.
"Please consider this," Adelaide begged. "The darkness inside you. I can feel it, Lea."
Lea squeezed her mother’s hands. "I have to help him."
Adelaide swallowed, her brow creasing as she shook her head. "Then you must be careful, Lea. It will consume you whole, consume the world whole, if you allow it to. You must remember who you are. Who I raised you to be. The woman Gray fell in love with. Do not let the darkness win."
Lea tried to push it down, but it bubbled beneath her skin, pulsing and pounding to escape, so intense, she could only nod.
"Can you help me? Control it, I mean?" Lea asked the moon goddess.
"I’m afraid to interfere any more would only make things worse for you. All I can say is you can control it. And you can win. I wouldn’t allow you to return if I wasn’t certain."
Lea’s throat bobbed, her primary magic rebelling inside her as if insulted. Destroy .
"You are destined for great things, my daughter. I will be with you," Adelaide said, throwing her arms around Lea and squeezing her tight.
"As will I," the goddess replied, looking over her shoulder. "Take the cure, before—"
The hills began to rumble, cracks forming and spreading beneath her feet like the earth itself was going to open up and swallow her whole. Light exploded around them in a white-hot flash of fury as the god of the sun appeared on the hill above them, his anger so bright, his entire being was hidden by flames.
Lea turned to run, placing the petal on her tongue and swallowing it as the goddess and her mother were thrown backward.
The sun god surged toward her, impossibly fast, but the magic of the moonflower was faster. In a fraction of a second, Lea was no longer on a hill in Bearswillow.
No. She was lying in a soft, familiar bed. Through her closed eyelids, warm light flickered from candles around the room. She shivered, a groan escaping her lips as feeling returned to her body. Every joint ached, and her head throbbed, but Lea welcomed the pain as her heart thundered its first strong beat. Gray's and Janelle's voices floated through the air, and she gasped, sucking oxygen back into her lungs.
A crash sounded from next to her, a chair being thrown backward, and Gray was suddenly at her side. "Lea," he cried, a plea. A prayer.
She opened her eyes.