Page 173 of Blood Feast

His blood drove away every trace of pain and left her body feeling warm. She wondered what the magical results would be of pushing him onto his back and mating him right here on the ritual markings.

Thorns, she was definitely an immortal if she could go from concussed to lustful within minutes.

He arched a brow at her. “I do think that might confuse the results of our current test. But we can certainly make that a future experiment.”

She licked the last drops from his wrist and her lips, gazing up at him. She could see the little betrayals of tension around his eyes and mouth, although they were hidden deep in their Union.

“I know it’s hard for you to see me get hurt,” she said, “even when you know I’ll be all right.”

He helped her sit up and ran a cleaning spell over the matted blood in her hair. “Nothing is harder for me. But there is always pain on the path to power. Accepting your pain is part of my promise to help you become as powerful as you can.”

“Thank you for never treating me like I’m fragile.”

“How could I, when you are so unbreakable?”

She kissed him, and she tasted his anger at the Lustra on his tongue. But also his admiration for her.

“I want to try again,” she said.

“Then we will.”

She retrieved her fallen dagger. Lio joined her in the center of the rose this time and put his arms around her.

“I won’t let the sunbound Lustra toss you against the ceiling a second time,” he grumbled.

She poured her power into the Ritual rose again, joining with the tower and the letting site once more. She fingered the myriad arcane paths of the tower’s enchantments. They came easily to her hand now, willing to do as their Silvicultrix bade.

They all drew from the letting site as well, but…

“What if I can transform the tower enchantments?” she said. “I was able to redraw the nonagram into Hespera’s Rose. Could I subvert the spells on the tower to work with my magic, too, and use them to siphon my power back into the letting site?”

“That’s brilliant. I don’t know if it will work, but we have evidence that itcould. So we should test it.”

She thought aloud with Lio. “Last time, casting with two avowed pairs of Hesperines in Union, using blood from all four of us, made the hulaia here conform to the paradigm of haima.”

“Yes, exactly.”

“But what we’re trying to do now is more like when you Gifted me and we opened a letting site fed by our combined power. So I think only you and I should be necessary for this casting. What do you think?”

“I agree we should try it that way first.” He gave her waist a squeeze. “Let’s shed our blood, and if that doesn’t produce results, I’m happy to try mating rituals.”

“I like this plan.”

She slashed her hand with her dagger, then made the same cut on his hand. They twined their fingers together, squeezing their mingled blood onto the rose. The current of her Gift, flowing through the markings, strengthened and spread through the tower’s enchantments.

She grasped the whole tangle of spells and Willed her magic into them.

Her power set the tower alight. The enchantments glowed in her mind’s eye, a delicate but powerful web strung between her and the letting site.

She pushed until the strands of the web vibrated with her power. The letting site pushed back, and the spells shook. Her dagger grew hot in her hands. She had that feeling again that the spell was unstable, unbalanced. Something was missing. Two somethings.

She released her hold on the casting before the straining tower broke. The Lustra’s natural patterns took over again, channeling magic into her. With it came an awareness of Miranda and a sense of direction.

She released the channeling and opened her eyes, swearing.

“What happened?” Lio asked.

“I can’t manipulate the connection between the tower spells and the letting site. Not yet.” She gritted her teeth.

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