Page 161 of Blood Feast

Knight moved closer, stretching out his neck and flaring his nostrils.

The Lustra tracked the veiled Hesperine’s passage. Their pursuer was crossing the distance with alarming speed. The shadows spilled out from Lio to encircle them all.

Cassia stood still in front of Knight, her blood drying on her hand, her heart in her throat.

“Seckkaa!” she tried at last.

He put his nose to the ground. The veiled Hesperine started up the hill.

“My spells will hold.” Lio’s voice echoed with thelemancy. He was so wrapped in darkness, he looked liked a specter riding a wraith.

Knight sniffed in circles. Cassia’s nerves frayed with each moment they stood in the open with a thin veil of darkness between them and the powerful immortal closing in on them.

As her Grace sat locked in a covert duel with a fellow Hesperine, the air became so saturated with magic that Cassia thought she would drown.

“Seckkaa,Knight!” she commanded again, uselessly.

Her hound returned to her feet, his tail drooping.

“There’s no trail here,” Cassia ground out.

Just as their pursuer crested the hill, a Hesperine step swept her away, and their surroundings disappeared.

She and Knight and Freckles landed back where they had begun the search, with Lio, Mak, and Lyros still surrounding them on horseback.

She reached up and took Lio’s hand. “How much longer can you keep this up?”

His blue eyes glowed down at her from within the darkness of his power. “Long enough to make sure we aren’t followed.”

Lyros gazed at Mak. “How sure are you that was the hill she shot from?”

Mak hesitated.

“I need you to be honest,” Lyros said.

Mak replied at last. “She shot from that hill.”

General danced uneasily under Lyros. “You didn’t learn this much about archery from books.”

Mak sighed. “I’ve been picking up some things here and there. From the Ashes and the Tenebrans.”

Lyros dragged a hand through his hair. “Bleeding thorns, Mak.”

Mak’s brows drew together in his most stubborn expression. “I know I should have told you sooner. But I’m telling you now.”

“We’ll have time for confessions later,” Cassia cut in. “We need to keep searching for Miranda.”

“Two more attempts,” Lyros declared. “If we can’t find her trail after that, we go back to the tower. We can’t risk more than that if Rudhira is looking for us. Agreed?”

“Agreed,” Lio said.

“We only need one more attempt.” Cassia levitated into her saddle again. “There’s one place in Patria where we know without a doubt that we can find evidence of Miranda.”

“No,” Lio replied immediately.

“Yes.” Cassia turned her horse toward the northeast. “The place we last saw her—Paradum.”

“It’s too dangerous,” Lio protested. “Rudhira surely has it under guard. For all we know, our side of the war has turned it into a garrison for troops, and it’s overflowing with Chargers or holy knights or—”

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