Page 60 of Blood of the Stars

Aeliana groaned in frustration. “Every word you say still feels like a test. I don’t know if I’m sifting through lies or adjusting his body or tuning in to memories. I simply know that I saw you hurt him. It was as real as if I’d been there myself. I hated you for it—hated that you would put him through that just to teach me some sort of lesson. It made you no different than Arvid or Vera. It made me want…” She trailed off, her anger fading as she took in Cyrus, whole and unharmed. Humiliation filled the space that had housed the anger.

“What did it make you want?” Sylmar asked.

“I wanted to make you suffer in the same way.” She shivered, surprised at her own honesty. But if these people thought they could turn her magic into something good, they had to realize what they were up against.

Sylmar held out his bloody hands, and for the first time, Aeliana noticed fresh pink scars. She bent forward to survey the damage, her stomach curdling with the truth. Not all of the blood had been Cyrus’. Did that mean she’d done blood magic? Was it possible to injure someone with starblood and not do blood magic?

She dropped Lukai’s hand, wiping her sweaty palms on her trousers.

“I thought my cuts were a casualty of proximity, but perhaps your efforts were more focused than I realized,” Sylmar mused.

“He won’t use that type of test again, love.” Iris placed a gentle palm on Aeliana’s arm, her heated gaze resting on Sylmar like a mama bear protecting her cub.

“No, of course not.” Sylmar shook his head, instantly contrite. “I didn’t think—I’ve never trained someone who’d been—” He trailed off, ruffling his thinning hair until it stood up.

“So she can access all three spokes.” Holm’s low voice barely reached Aeliana’s ears. “What does that mean?”

Finally, someone seemed afraid. Someone recognized the gravity of the situation.

“It means we have to wean her before we test her.” Velden crouched next to Aeliana, placing a hand on her back. His touch was cool, and Aeliana sensed energy flooding back through her, but instead of refilling her like the Sun replenishing her supply, it soothed what energy remained, bringing its flare down to a tolerable heat. “She’s still full of energy, despite having expended more in one night than the average progeny does in a single day. She’s accessing all the spokes because her power is out of control.”

“We can’t know which are the false positives,” Sylmar muttered with a frown. “Not until her energy stores are at a normal level, clear of the effects of the blood magic.”

Velden’s eyes held an apology. “We should have guessed it might be that way from the start. It could take a moon or more before she’s ready to truly train.”

Aeliana’s gaze volleyed back and forth between the men. She couldn’t believe her ears. “You still think I should be trained instead of subdued?”

“Either path starts with weaning you off blood magic. We start by teaching you basic alteration, just enough to ease your pain.” Sylmar stood and headed for the cookfire.

Aeliana closed her eyes. She should be relieved at their persistence, at their acceptance, but it was hard to feel anything more than fear and exhaustion at the road ahead. Lukai squeezed her arm as he stood, and she opened her eyes to give him a weak smile. Cyrus nodded in sympathy before taking himself to the creek to wash off the blood. Holm guided Iris away, his arm wrapped around her. Only Velden remained.

“Give it a moon, and things will have turned around.” Velden picked a handful of daisies at her feet and passed them to her before leaning against a cluster of bamboo.

“How can you be so sure?” She swallowed hard, fighting down the urge to rip apart the daisies he’d given her, the evidence of all she’d done wrong.

“Because by then you’ll hate Sylmar more than you hate yourself. He’s a tough trainer.” He grinned, and in spite of everything, her lips tugged upward.

“If you dislike him so much, why do you follow him?”

Velden chuckled. “I don’t mind the old grump. If he’d trained me, I’d probably hate him. I simply come for the adventure.” He winked at her.

They were alone at this point, the others following their stomachs to the scent of cooked meat. Aeliana’s appetite had gone with the sight of Cyrus’ and Sylmar’s blood. She glanced at the dusky sky, watching for the moon’s rise, and with it, the shadows she expected to see.

“They won’t come,” Velden said, following her gaze.

Aeliana’s face heated, but his candidness emboldened her. “Why not?”

“That wasn’t blood magic. Blood magic has far more to do with the intentions behind it than the actual act of spilling blood.”

His words should have produced relief, but they were just a reminder of how little Aeliana knew.

“We don’t use blood magic,” he added. “And we’ll never ask that of you.”

Her mind kept replaying the false sight of Cyrus bleeding out, then the real images of the blood covering the two men. She turned away from the blood still staining the moss and rocks.

“Tonight’s injuries won’t be the last caused by your magic. If anything, that’s more reason for you to learn to use it, to control it. I hadn’t realized the depth of energy in you until I saw it for myself.” His gaze swept over her, and he shook his head in awe.

“I’m not sure I can do this,” Aeliana whispered, twisting the daisies in her grip.

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