Page 196 of Blood Feast

She shook her head, squeezing her eyes shut.I can’t afford to lose control right now.

I won’t let that happen.

That is exactly what will happen if you keep pushing me.

Cassia,there could be dangerous curses on that feather. Please let me keep you safe from it.

The Lustra is greater than Miranda’s curses.

Her magic built around the feather in her hand, eclipsing the faint aura of Miranda’s power. Knight backed away, his ears flat against his head.

She slashed her hand with her dagger and wrapped her bleeding fist around the feather. Blood magic unfurled from her and twined through the tower, clashing with the Lustra magic that welled up from the letting site.

The swell of her power made Lio’s pulse pound. Standing on the outside of her spell, he hated the distance between them.

Her cry of fury released the pain inside of him. Why couldn’t she see that her ferocity was not wrong? Hespera had always had fangs.

She hurled the feather into the Mage King’s fire, her blood sizzling in the hearth. The fire rose in a white-hot surge. Lio thought he glimpsed images in the flames. But they were gone before he knew what they were. The fire collapsed on itself and fell to its quiet orange glow.

Had her spell worked?

Cassia spoke in the stillness. “There you are, Miranda.”

Lio took a step closer to his Grace. “Where is she?”

“Hierax Temple,” Cassia replied. “Right now.”

A frisson skipped over Lio’s skin. “That’s the site of the decisive battle where the Mage King stopped Cordium’s invasion during the Last War. He built a temple there to thank Anthros for his victory, but historical sources suggest it was a site of worship long before his reign. There’s no record of which cult held it sacred before he claimed it.”

Cassia turned to them, silhouetted against the fire. “What if he never claimed it? What if the earlier worshipers wanted him to build his temple there?”

“Yes. That would make so much sense. It could have been a Lustra site. Then he and the Changing Queen could have built another structure there that blends their magics, like the lighthouse and the tower.”

“It has to be. Doesn’t ‘hierax’ mean ‘hawk’ in the Divine Tongue?”

“Cup and thorns. The evidence has been right there in the name all these centuries.”

Mak grimaced. “Lustra site or not, it’s too close to Cordium’s border for comfort,”

“The invasion force may have already been through there,” Lyros said. “We’ll need to be more careful than ever.”

Mak gave his Grace a squeeze. “We will be.”

“We need to scout the place under veils before we attack,” Lyros insisted.

Lio held up his hands. “I agree. I don’t want us to scare Miranda off with any hasty moves.”

Lyros didn’t reply, but Lio didn’t miss the warning in his Trial brother’s eyes.

“I have a focus on her through the Lustra,” Cassia said. “Lio, can you use that to step us before she’s on the move again?”

“I’ll go,” Lyros broke in.

Lio frowned. “I’m the only one who can use Cassia’s thoughts as a stepping focus.”

“He’s been there,” Mak told them.

Lyros shrugged. “That’s the part of Tenebra where I spent my mortal childhood, remember?”

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