Page 12 of Blood Feast

Sunbind you, you’ll have to veil my blushing face if you keep on like this.

Then my goal is accomplished.

As she finished her drink from him, she felt a shiver of power go through the ground.Not now, she Willed the letting site.

Komnena held out her wrist. “Daughter.”

Cassia focused on keeping her thoughts and her magic in line as she accepted her Grace-mother’s offering. She tasted rich plum wine and sweet gardenia, and Komnena’s magic poured into Cassia like rain. Cassia’s own magic bloomed.

In a flash, she felt the shapes of the magic below them. In her mind’s eye, she could trace the blood-infused Ritual circle, eight bright mosaic stars of the constellation Anastasios glowing with his enduring power. Deep below, strong roots ran, tracing back to the fertile nexus under the tower. The Lustra was everywhere.

Cassia turned to Apollon, visualizing every mental pattern she and Lio had devised to assist her self-control. She would not ruin her own first Ritual.

Apollon’s blood hit her tongue. She couldn’t taste anything butpower. She braced herself and swallowed.

Magic blazed into her veins. Her jaw clenched, her heart ready to burst from her chest. The undiluted strength of her foregiver charged through her, and the Lustra tore out of her in answer.

You belong to me.She trembled where she stood, her ears roaring.You do not control me. You are mine.

But her power knew it belonged here. It rejoiced in her veins and flourished amid the centuries of her bloodline’s spells.

Lio’s mind drew deeper into to hers.I’m here. Let’s try to guide it together.

With their combined force of Will, they took hold of the rampant power inside her. The chaos gained form as vines of magic they could grasp and guide, but still it fought them every inch of the way.

Komnena’s power swept into the spell with the inexorable power of an ocean tide, taming the currents of the Lustra magic. Apollon joined her casting, sealing wayward power into the stone, building it into layer after layer of the ground. When Nike’s magic charged into the fray, it was as if a master smith bent and shaped the raw magic with harsh artistry.

Rudhira joined the spell as gently as a winter breeze. If he hadn’t been so careful, Cassia feared the infusion of royal Hesperine magic would have made her lose her grip on her magic all over again. His power made a battle cry rise in her blood.

With her Grace and the four ancient immortals bolstering her Will, Cassia sent the Lustra magic twining back down into its source.

She lifted her head from Apollon’s wrist and opened her eyes. For an instant, she felt mighty, drunk on the power of their kind. Then she saw what she had done to the Ritual hall.

Roses had exploded everywhere. They had broken right through the marble to spill across the floor and climb the pillars. Cassia gaped up at a hole where the vines had collapsed the roof so they could turn their impossible dark blooms toward the moons. Their petals were as black as the night sky.

Cassia put her hands to her face, speechless. Lio held her steady, blanketing her in reassurance through their Union. But her cheeks burned.

Apollon’s laughter split the silence, echoing through his wrecked masterpiece. “That’s my daughter.”

“Black roses.” Nike touched a finger to one petal. “Hespera’s sacred flower, taking on the color of her protection. A miraculous omen.”

Solia stared at Cassia. “You have your plant magic. How?”

If Cassia must tell them the true horror of her past, this was how she wanted to do it, surrounded by Hespera’s proof that she was whole now. “During my Gifting, I regained memories the Collector hid from me. We learned that my plant magic came to me when I was fourteen…and he took it.”

The anger and grief of her loved ones raged up like her rampant roses. She thought the Blood Errant might charge out of the room that instant to hunt down the enemies who had made her suffer. She didn’t want to cause them this pain, but oh, how grateful she was for such defenders.

Solia pulled Cassia into her arms, her skin hot. “I have many scores to settle with Lucis, but I will make him pay for this above all.”

“It’s all right now. They had to leave me a drop of my plant magic to keep me alive. The Gift took that last remnant and turned it into…” She gestured around them. “This. Thanks to Lio, I’m alive and well and, ah, rather powerful.”

Lio smiled. “Don’t be so modest. You opened a letting site under the tower.”

Solia’s eyes widened. “What does this mean for your other two affinities? Will your new letting site give you beast magic and soothsaying?”

“We’re working on that,” Lio said firmly.See?he added in her mind.Your sister agrees with me.

She decided this was not the time to debate it in front of their loved ones. “Right now I have enough magic and more than enough reasons to celebrate.”

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