Page 3 of Blood Feast

That’s impossible.Lio wrapped his arms around her.At the Paradum site, the Lustra was damaged because the Collector stole your plant magic from you there. Your letting site is safe here in Orthros behind the Queens’ ward, where the Collector cannot wound it—or you.

But something is wrong. I have to listen.

Yes,he acquiesced. He couldn’t hide his worry from her.

Cassia surrendered her control, and the Lustra magic overwhelmed her.

A vision took shape in her mind’s eye. She raced along familiar halls—the secret passages inside Solorum Palace left behind by her ancestor, the Changing Queen, which still held her magical secrets.

The maze of corridors opened into a broad underground passage, too fast for Cassia to have any sense of direction. Ahead of her loomed a round portal sealed by a massive stone.

It’s the door I saw in Miranda’s thoughts,Lio said,when I battled the Collector inside her mind so we could escape Paradum.

In this vision, vines of Hespera’s Roses grew along the passageway. As Cassia neared the door, the blooms wilted, and their leaves shriveled and died. Dread filled her the closer she came to that door. When she was close enough to reach out and touch it, she saw blood streaming down her hand.

The vision broke. Magic rushed out of her, and even her immortal body felt weak at the sudden depletion. She opened her eyes and found herself staring into Lio’s dark blue gaze, which gleamed with magic. He held her on his lap on the floor. The flowers around them were still bright and fragrant, one tendril of roses growing against her cheek as if to make sure she was all right.

Lio caressed her other cheek, his distant gaze focusing on her again. “All is well with your letting site. I can feel that the magic is still pure. Kallikrates cannot attack us here.” The Collector’s true name left Lio’s lips and puffed out of existence. The necromancer had no power in Hespera’s Sanctuary.

But he was still at large in the human world.

Cassia swallowed. “We’ve certainly felt the Lustra’s Will before, but…can our letting site…communicate?”

Lio hesitated. “According to what we know, it seems that all letting sites are connected to the Lustra as a whole. In theory, it is magically possible for one letting site to alert us of events near other sites in Tenebra.”

“Then this was a warning.” Her hand tightened on the front of his robe. “The Lustra is trying to tell us that Kallikrates hasn’t given up on opening that door.”

Lio’s jaw clenched. “That can’t be.”

She shuddered at her hazy memories of their last battle with the Collector and his fanatical servant. The girl who had once been her dearest friend. “I thought you learned from Miranda’s mind that his plan had two requirements.”

“That’s right. The first requirement was stealing your magic. Now that you’re a Hesperine, he can never take it from you. His plan is ruined.”

“He should have given up.”

“Yes.” Lio’s fraught emotions felt like a gathering storm. “It should be over.”

Cassia reached up and touched his face. “But it isn’t.”

Lio closed his eyes, leaning into her hand.

“We should have known,” she said. “He wouldn’t give up a conspiracy of centuries so easily.”

“Of course. He has plans within plans.”

What had Kallikrates done while she and Lio had been hidden away here? The last time they had seen her sister and their Trial brothers, they had been under siege.

Lio held her closer, tucking her head under his chin. “Don’t you dare feel guilty for being unable to fight at their sides. Mak and Lyros will keep Solia, and each other, safe.”

“What if…when we leave the tower…bad news is waiting for us?”

“It won’t be. Trust Rudhira and the Charge to watch over them.”

“You’re right.” Cassia let herself rest in Lio’s arms a moment longer. If anyone could protect their people from Kallikrates, it was the First Prince of Orthros and his force of Hesperines errant.

She tried to think back to their last encounter with Rudhira at Paradum. “I have no memory of when he came to our rescue after the battle with Miranda. But you talked to him, didn’t you? You had a chance to warn him what you learned from her mind?”

Lio was silent for an instant too long.

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