Page 13 of Blood Feast

Solia swiped at her eyes. “I wish Thalia were here to see this, but I can speak for her. We are so proud of you, Cassia.”

In the centuries tocome, Cassia would never forget how cheerfully everyone moved the celebration into the library, as if her magical disaster were the greatest cause for celebration of all.

She hesitated in the doorway, where black roses threatened to invade the library from the Ritual hall. Leaning in to smell one bloom, she tested the texture of the dark petals between her fingers. Their fragrance held the aching beauty of Orthros’s red roses, deepening into the indulgent sweetness of blood.

“I scarcely know what to make of this creation of mine—or Hespera’s—or the Lustra’s?”

“All three.” Lio studied the flowers, a smile on his face, his magic sweeping over the nearest vine. “All the rosarians of Orthros will be clamoring to study these. They must be a magic-bred hybrid of some kind, don’t you think?”

Cassia kept her hand in Knight’s ruff. “The Winter Solstice festival starts in two weeks. I know how important it is for our tributaries to gather here and receive our gifts to them for the coming year. What will we do without a Ritual hall to put them in?”

“My dear,” Komnena said with a laugh, “this is hardly the first spell that has gone awry in this house. You should see the repairs Apollon had to do when Lio’s thelemancy first manifested. He had barely learned to walk, but he managed to shatter every window in the house.”

Lio rubbed his face. “I suppose I can tolerate story hour about the embarrassing moments of my childhood if it will make Cassia feel better.”

“It’s dangerous to give your mother that kind of permission.” Xandra’s eyes sparkled. “We’ll be here all night.”

Komnena, never daunted as the Queens’ Master Chamberlain, supervised the rearrangement of the festivities amid the half-empty shelves of their growing library. Friends and family brought the platters of food and wine, except for Apollon, who carried the sucklings on his shoulders. Rudhira and Nike levitated a dinner table in.

Uncle Argyros personally rescued his coffee service from the devastation and arranged it on the table in all its glory. With great ceremony, he poured Cassia a cup and offered it to her. “Now, an important rite of passage. Experiencing coffee with your Hesperine sense of taste.”

“I shall need a bigger cup,” Cassia predicted.

“Indeed, it is one of the greatest joys of immortality,” Uncle Argyros said with a contented sigh. “You can drink as much coffee as you wish.”

She took a deep whiff of the expertly crafted beverage. “Deukalion’s Blend. My favorite.”

“Of course.” Their mentor’s imposing gaze softened with good humor.

Cassia took a sip. Layer after layer of rich flavor warmed her mouth. She bit back a moan. “If I weren’t immortal, I would be deceased.”

“Do I have competition?” Lio asked with a teasing grin.

She met his gaze over the rim of the cup and blushed. “Coffee is thesecondbest beverage known to Hesperine kind.”

Uncle Argyros gave a wholehearted laugh, slipping his hand into Aunt Lyta’s. “I couldn’t agree more.”

The diplomatic relations of the world were in upheaval, and yet the Queens’ Master Ambassador had taken time to make Cassia’s first cup of coffee. Solia and Tendo carried the weight of their kingdoms and heartbreak, but had pushed that aside to be here. Hesperines were at war with the Mage Orders for the first time in sixteen hundred years, and yet Rudhira had left the battlefield for her, his newest Ritual daughter.

Cassia might be immortal, but time was still precious, and none of them knew what tomorrow would bring. She held tight to the fragile, joyful moments they all snatched from the jaws of war.

Lio was the magic that imbued each cherished instant. Their Grace Union made him fully present in her every breath and glance as she experienced these familiar parts of their world with her new senses. She kept pulling him deeper into their connection, trying to hold him away from his own haunted thoughts.

When Tendo absorbed Lio in conversation for a few minutes, their laughter reassured Cassia somewhat. Now might be her only chance to put her secret plan into action without Lio plucking it from her thoughts and ruining the surprise.

She eased back from their Grace Union as subtly as she could. It felt like holding her breath. He was still within her, like that residual air in her lungs, and all her thoughts and emotions burned with the need to pull her next dose of him into her.

Before she lost her grip, she pulled Komnena aside. “I have a question. Could you veil our conversation, please?”

Komnena cast a glance at Lio as her magic enveloped them. “Of course, but if you intend to keep something from him, it will take far more than my veils now.”

Cassia clenched her fists with effort. “Our Union makes romantic surprises terribly difficult.”

Aunt Lyta joined their conspiratorial circle. The Guardian of Orthros gave off the fragrances of soothing meadowsweet and dangerous yarrow. “Do I sense a new Hesperine in need of mental defenses against a powerful thelemancer?”

“Do you mean that’s possible?” Cassia asked.

“You must maintainsomeprivacy to live with the same person for centuries. Especially when one’s Grace is a mind mage.”

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