Page 109 of Blood Feast

He scooped her up in his arms, then levitated into the saddle and settled her across his lap.

She arched a brow at him.You’re showing off.

Surely you’re getting equal satisfaction from putting Ben’s underlinens in a few more twists?

She gave Lio her secret smile and settled against him.Yes. I refuse to be less Hesperine to appease him.

As Lio urged Moonflower forward, Freckles and Knight fell in behind him without a command. Mak and Lyros flanked them, and the mortals parted to let them through. They rode shoulder-to-shoulder past the staring knights. Ben’s gaze tracked them, fixed on Cassia in Lio’s arms.

They galloped until they couldn’t smell death any longer. Then Lio slowed Moonflower to a walk. Mak and Lyros exchanged concerned glances with him, and he nodded. His Trial brothers fell back a little, and he layered more veils with their wards.

Cassia’s gaze flicked from the open fields to Lio’s face. “Why are we slowing down here?”

“For the same reason you stopped us on the moors last night to tend my wound.” He offered her his wrist.

As he had expected, she protested immediately. “We’re not safe here. There could be more mages in the area.”

“The safest place for you to have a drink between the battlefield and the stone circle is right here in the saddle with me.”

“We need to step back to the Lustra refuge.”

“You will not go a single night without my blood. Not when we’re safe at home. Not when we’re in enemy territory. I will not allow our quest to deprive you of what you need, my newgift. If a war mage tries to come between me and your Craving in the next five minutes, I will kill him and keep feeding you.”

A shiver went through her whole body. She looked up at him, her lips softly parted. He watched her fangs unsheathe at his words.

This time, when he held up his wrist, she seized him in shaking hands and sank her fangs in. She made a stifled sound of relief in her throat and drank him down. He wrapped his other arm closer around her and kissed her hair.

He watched his powerful Grace drink long and hard. Her aura swelled with renewed magic. He’d been right. She never could have borne another day in the stone circle without this drink, especially after how much she had channeled in their two battles.

When she finally had her fill, she sealed her bite and rested her face against his chest. He offered her his handkerchief.

Her cheeks flushed, she wiped her mouth, staining the white silk red. “Trust my champion to never be without a clean handkerchief, even under these circumstances.”

“All those times when I handed you one as a human, did you ever imagine you might need it to wipe my blood off your lips?”

“Often.”

He smiled.

She folded the handkerchief, not looking at him. “Thank you.”

“Of course. You have nothing to prove, my rose. Trying to outlast the Craving longer only makes you miserable and more vulnerable to our enemies.”

“I know. I just…need to feel in control of something right now, if only my own body.”

He grimaced. “I understand.”

He thought of all the nights he had hesitated to tell her she was his Grace for this very reason, among other fears. Neither of them would ever be fully in control of their Craving. Now that he had Gifted her, she was living with the full effects of that curse, the price of their bond.

Everything was out of control now—their futures, the war, the Collector’s conspiracy. Except for one thing.

“I can help you control your magic,” he said.

She tensed in his arms. “We can’t afford magical experiments right now.”

“You saved Benedict’s life with your spells tonight, not that he showed you any gratitude. You used your magic as effectively in this battle as you did at the lighthouse.”

“That wasn’t control. It was instinct. Last night, when I saw you wounded with that dagger like the time Miranda captured us…I was enraged. And tonight, the mortals’ suffering tore those roses out of me.”

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