Page 252 of Blood Feast

When he saw his Ritual father, more memories came flooding back.Did I dream it…or did he bring us to Castra Justa?

You remember.

He gripped her hand. They had turned themselves in while he lay helpless to defend them.I won’t let you pay this price for my healing. As soon as I have the strength, I will fight our way out of the First Prince’s own fortress, if that’s what it takes.

Amusement glinted in Rudhira’s eyes. “You can stop staring daggers at me. Stand down, Hesperine errant. No one is under arrest.”

Cassia smiled and shook her head.We are pardoned in all of Orthros Abroad because of the children.

The tension drained out of Lio. They could stop running. All because of the young mortals she had saved. She had saved everyone. But she had fought hardest of all for him.

He opened his mouth to say her name aloud, but no words came from his throat. He sucked in a breath, then let it out in a shout that made no sound, only sent his frustration blasting through the Blood Union.

Cassia put her hands on his shoulders to keep him from sitting up. “Easy. Be gentle with yourself, my love. You need time to heal.”

He didn’t need words to understand the fear creeping into her heart.

How long was I unconscious?he asked.

You’ve been in and out for eight nights.

Shock jolted through him.Cassia, your Craving—

Whenever we woke you to give you my blood, Rudhira drew some of yours to keep me well and cycle your healing faster.

Lio grimaced in disgust. His Grace, drinking out of a tube for a week.

Cassia straightened his blankets.Rudhira has barely left your side. Nike and your father visit every night and take news of your progress back to Orthros.

Eight nights of his Grace’s blood and the First Prince’s healing, and Lio still couldn’t speak. What had Kallikrates done to him?

Lio took another deep breath, drawing in Cassia’s scent. He had to calm himself for her sake.

No you don’t,she replied to his unspoken thoughts.Be as angry and frustrated and sad as you wish. I’m here for you. Anything you need.

I need to understand what’s happening to me. Can Rudhira tell us what’s wrong with me and how long it will last?

“Rudhira, he’s asking for you to explain his wound and give him a prognosis.”

Mak quirked a smile at Lio. “Such a scrollworm, even after getting your brain turned to jelly by a necromancer having a tantrum about his broken toys.”

Lyros crossed his arms. “You should hear the other fellow’s voice. Kallikrates is screaming into his own void after that defeat.”

Lio cracked a smile.

Rudhira exchanged a glance with Lio’s father, who nodded. Rudhira pulled his chair closer to Lio’s bedside. When his father clasped his wrist, bracing, Lio realized he was not about to hear good news.

This couldn’t be right. There was nothing the Gift couldn’t heal.

Rudhira leaned his arms on his knees, knitting his fingers. “First, what we know. Your body is in perfect health. Nothing physical is causing your inability to speak. This is a purely thelemantic wound, and the mind is more far more intricate and challenging to heal, even for Hesperines.”

But Hesperines are immune to essential displacement,Lio protested to Cassia.Kallikrates shouldn’t have been able to take anything from me.

“He didn’t possess you or try to take your magic,” she reassured him. “We believe this spell was something entirely different.”

Nike finally spoke. “Essential displacement is only one of the arcane techniques the Old Masters use. They have many more secrets that the people of this epoch have unlearned.”

Rudhira’s jaw tightened. “Which brings us to what we don’t know. I’ve consulted with my mother Soteira, as well as Tuura and her theramancer colleagues. Argyros has convened a circle of mind mages to investigate. Your wound is new to all of us.”

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