Page 225 of Blood Feast

WINTER SOLSTICE

THE FINAL SANCTUARY

“Now that no oneis dying and everyone’s fangs are polished,” Lyros said, “I think we can make some decisions.”

Cassia thought it far too soon for such a jest, but before she knew it, all four of them were laughing.

They had gathered around a carved stone table in another chamber they’d discovered off the main cavern. Knight lounged under the table with Dame while she gnawed on a stick he had found for her.

She bent to check on the dogs and covered her smile with her hand.

“What?” Standing beside her, Lio gave her a bemused look.

“They’re getting along even better than I hoped. I can tell when a champion is besotted with his lady.”

Lio grinned, and she was sure he had already glimpsed her mental images of puppies. She knew she was getting ahead of herself, but she simply couldn’t help envisioning a fuzzy, wiggling hoard of little liegehounds.

Cassia straightened, and the sight of their weapons sobered her. The bronze chandelier overhead glowed with Lio’s spell lights, shining on the three remaining adamas artifacts Mak had set on the table.

Lio pulled their battered map from his scroll case and spread it out. “Where to, Black Roses?”

Cassia looked across at their Trial brothers. “None of us have to bear our doubts in silence anymore. If anyone has hesitations about continuing our quest, tell us.”

Lyros gave an emphatic shake of his head. “Lio and I have faith in us all.”

Mak smiled, his arm around Lyros’s waist. “That’s good, because Cassia and I have some ideas.”

“You first, Mak,” she said.

He thumped his mace with a finger. “I thought these were finished, but I’ve realized they need one more enchantment. A spell to limit how our enemies—or even we—can use them.”

Lio leaned forward, aura bright with interest. “I’ve never heard of a spell like that.”

“There isn’t one.” Lyros’s pride shone through his aura. “Mak is inventing it.”

Mak blushed. “It’s just a ward. A modified version of the Blood Shackles that will effect anyone who attempts to wield one of our weapons.”

“An enchantment that complex is far more than ‘just a ward,’” Lio said. “When you’re done making incredible arcane innovations, don’t forget that your revolutionary proposal is intact in my scroll case.”

“All right, one thing at a time.” Mak waved him off, but his aura was pleased. “For the spell to work properly, I’ll need to enchant all four weapons at once, since they’re bound together by our Union Stones. So we’ll need to rescue Rosethorn from Miranda first.”

Cassia nodded. “To do that, we have to stop letting her lead us by the nose through Kallikrates’s traps. I think we should lure her to us this time. We now know that’s possible because she can track me just as easily as I can track her.”

She was prepared for the dark cloud that gathered in Lio’s aura. But the ferocious look on his face still took her breath away. “We will not use you as bait. I will never go along with any plan that relies on such a tactic.”

She smoothed the front of his robe. “I am not the bait, my darling. I’m the trap.”

He took her hands in both of his, holding them against his chest. “She has Kallikrates’s favor now. It will take more magic than you have ever wielded to defeat them.”

“I will channel the entire Lustra if that’s what it takes.”

A fierce smile came to his face. “That is a plan I can agree to.”

“Us, too,” Mak spoke up.

“Now this is good strategy,” Lyros agreed. “How will we convince Miranda to show herself?”

“We have something she wants.” This was the part of her plan that Cassia hated the most.

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