Page 138 of Blood Feast

“I should have my head examined for agreeing that weapons were a good avowal gift for you and Lio. I’m so deeply sorry for what this has cost you, too.”

“Well, now that we’ve both dissolved into a puddle of apologies, how about a promise? We’ll work together on strategic preparations to keep our Graces out of further trouble.”

There was something hopeless in Lyros’s smile. “A whole lot of good my strategies have done so far.”

Cassia turned her attention away from Lio’s lesson and studied Lyros instead. She saw his devotion in the way he watched Mak. His heartache in the strain at the corners of his mouth and eyes. The tension in his posture. “You’re so in love with everything about him. Even the weapons.”

“It’s hard to protect our Graces when we’re such fools over them.”

“I understand why you supported Mak when he started forging weapons. I’ve thrown all my better judgment to the winds for Lio on plenty of occasions.”

“But that’s not the promise I made when I joined the Stand and when I avowed into his family. Not the vows I made to my Grace. I swore to protect him.”

“You do that every night, Lyros.”

“Not this time. I’m the one who’s supposed to be a good influence when he gets impulsive. But I failed to protect him from himself.”

Cassia frowned, considering. She knew what it was like to pull Lio back from the brink of his power. But together, they werealso learning the importance of not fearing everything they were capable of.

“Don’t you think that’s a great deal to take on yourself?” she asked Lyros. “And don’t you think Mak is capable of making his own decisions?”

Lyros’s expression shuttered, his veils tightening. “If you’d seen how things were when we were younger, you would understand. Mak’s relationship with his family, especially his father, has gotten better only recently. There have been so many times when his hot-headedness caused…friction…among Blood Argyros. And now all that progress he made is gone.”

Nothing about Lyros’s tone was unkind, but his words still stung. Perhaps because he wasn’t wrong. She was the newcomer in their Trial circle. And family was one area of diplomacy she was still learning to navigate. Her attempt at encouraging him to confide in her had only resulted in him closing himself off even more.

Mak took up his morning star. Now he went on the attack so Lio could put the defensive staff moves to use. Adamas rang against adamas as they began to practice in earnest.

The tower suddenly felt less like a refuge.

A ball of solidadamas covered in deadly spikes swung toward Lio’s heart.

He brought his staff up as Mak had shown him. The shafts of their weapons collided. The spikes stopped a hand’s breadth from his chest.

“Good block,” Mak said, “but why was it the wrong one to use?”

Lio poured all his strength into holding off his cousin, realizing his mistake with chagrin. “I’ve already let you in too close.”

Mak looked like he could hold this position all day. “Right. This is why a Gift Collector was able to reach you with a dagger. You aren’t making proper use of your staff’s greatest advantage: range.”

The Star of Orthros inched closer. Lio gritted his teeth, the muscles in his arms burning. The spikes brushed the hair on his chest.

Mak snatched his weapon away. The force holding Lio back was suddenly gone. He tipped forward into the path of Mak’s next swing.

The Star of Orthros swept past his kneecaps. Mak could have broken his legs if he’d been aiming to. Too late, Lio recovered his footing and dodged backward.

“That was close, but good backup plan.” Mak pressed his advantage, advancing on him.

Lio adjusted his grip closer to his body and swung the end of his staff out. Just as Mak had explained, the small movement of Lio’s hands on one end of his staff rewarded him with a wide motion at the other. The far end of Final Word knocked the Star of Orthros away before Mak could reach Lio.

“Much better,” Mak approved. “Fight like a Hesperine. You’re trying to keep violence at bay, not welcome it into your heart.”

“Yes,” Lio said, his voice far more strained than his cousin’s. “That’s the spirit of your proposal, isn’t it?”

Mak didn’t miss a beat in their fight, attacking Lio from the right this time. But his veils wavered again. “You read it?”

Lio blocked Mak with a right guard. “I told you I would.”

“Even after…everything that’s happened?”

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