Page 68 of Blood Feast

Stop blaming yourself, Lio demanded.

Cassia held on to comforting visions in her mind, even if Lio didn’t believe them.Are you talking to Papa about my defense?

He sent her a mental image of their smiling family sitting around the Ritual circle with mince pies and coffee.Everything is fine here. Nothing to worry about at all.

You made that up.

Two can play this game.

“Under Hesperine law,” Cassia asked Mak, “what is the sentence for our crimes?”

He blew out a breath. “You always do ask the hard questions first. I wish I could tell you. But no one has ever been put on trial for this before. There’s no precedent. Our punishment would be at the discretion of the magistrates, unless the Queens stepped in to issue a verdict themselves…which they might, considering it’s their ban on weapons.”

“Do you think they would imprison us with Phaedros?”

“I hope not. We didn’t actually use the weapons on anyone.” He swallowed. “Perhaps exile Abroad, instead of with the polar bears. I think I’d prefer that over the alternative…house arrest in a silk-cushioned cell, knowing the whole city is right outside the door pitying us and our bloodlines.”

She stared at the blank wall and made herself think through what lay ahead. “Conjugal visits?”

“Right. No one wants Lio and Lyros to die of Craving while their blood supplies serve out the sentence.”

The people who loved them would be forced to put them on trial to uphold Hespera’s tenets. Their families would be dragged through the legal process, surely a lengthy one, which wouldbring only grief and scandal. And their Graces would suffer the most.

All while the Collector got closer and closer to that door and whatever fate would befall the world if he opened it.

Cassia had knocked herself off the board. She had effectively removed herself from the game, and every life lost as a result would weigh on her conscience forever.

“What are our chances of escaping?” she asked.

Mak’s shoulder slumped. “Considering Phaedros—an elder firstblood—hasn’t managed it in sixteen hundred years, our odds aren’t good.”

Cassia contemplated the floor under their feet. “I wonder if your mother’s wards can truly block Lustra magic…”

“Even if we could break out, the Blood Shackles will prevent us from stepping, levitating, or crossing the border. There’s only one way we can escape.”

“If Lio and Lyros rescue us.” She gritted her teeth.

“And get themselves branded criminals in the process.”

The blessing of Grace they had been celebrating earlier that night had already become a chain around Lio’s neck.

“I won’t do that to him,” Cassia said. “I will keep my promise to put him first. I have to stay and face trial.”

“I’m not going anywhere,” Mak agreed. “I owe it to Lyros to make this up to him however I can.”

“At least they’ll still be considered innocent. They can keep their lives here.”

“Yes.”

Silence fell between them. What kind of lives would those be, carrying the shame of their Graces’ crimes?

Lio caught the soundof paws racing across the snow. He froze, tightening his veil spells alongside Lyros. But it was no use.

Knight headed straight for them, his nose to the ground. A cloaked figure forged a path behind him, leaving a trail of melted snow. He halted at the edge of their veils and wagged his tail.

“Good dog,” came Solia’s voice from within the hood. She lifted a hand toward the sky, and fire flickered in her palm.

That was when Lio noticed the dark silhouette crisscrossing overhead. Tendo dove down to land next to Solia.

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