Page 191 of Blood Feast

Cassia’s brow furrowed, her mind probing his veils. He hadn’t wanted her to know about the hound until he was sure she would survive the night. But he couldn’t keep his new familiar from his Grace any longer.

Lio rubbed the back of his neck. “I’m not sure how Knight will take to her.”

“I’ll make sure he behaves.Hama.” Cassia heeled Knight and followed Lio.

He led her and their Trial brothers away from the mortals, to a quiet place around the corner of the ruined keep. He had laid the hound there in the lee of some fallen stones and covered her in veils. Now he pulled back his spells.

“Oh, Lio.” Cassia put a hand to her chest, tenderness welling out of her aura. Just as he’d expected, one look at the hound was all it took. She was already in love.

Barks erupted from Knight. She moved in front of him, holding his gaze.

“Het!” she barked back. “Soor het!”

He bared his teeth, and his haunches bunched. Lio tensed, prepared to shield his familiar if Knight tried to lunge past Cassia.

“Barda acklii,”she commanded.

At those words, Knight fell silent. His posture was still tense, and he kept his eyes on Lio’s hound. But he made no more aggressive moves.

“What does that mean?” Lio needed to pay more attention to the training tongue from now on.

“I told him to guard her as an ally.” Cassia crouched and put her arms around Knight’s neck. “Shh, darling. She suffered a great deal. Be kind to her.”

Reassured, Lio knelt to check his dog’s bandages. No blood has soaked through.

“Where did you find her?” Cassia asked.

He sighed. “Next to her fallen master—a Cordian.”

Mak gave Lio and his new familiar an apprehensive look. “She’s one of the enemy’s war dogs?”

“Lio.” Lyros’s tone was gentle. “There’s only one kind thing we can do for her.”

“That’s out of the question. I won’t let her die.”

Lyros turned to Cassia with a plea in his voice. “You know how a liegehound suffers when it loses its master.”

Cassia looked at Lio, and he could feel her looking into his soul. His Grace saw all the things inside him that were too raw for words, and he knew she understood why he had to save this animal.

“Lio is keeping her,” she informed Lyros and Mak.

“She’s a danger to us,” Lyros protested, “and always will be.”

“Not anymore.” Lio got to his feet, lifting the massive dog in his arms as gently as he could. Laying limp across his chest and shoulders, the dangerous beast, now defenseless in her sleep, was less a burden than he had expected. “Now she’s my familiar.”

“What?” Cassia breathed. “You gave her your blood?”

“Did it work?” Mak asked.

“I don’t know. I only know I was able to break her bond to her master with my thelemancy and that her wounds are better since I gave her my blood.”

Lyros frowned at him in consternation. “Is that even possible?”

“For a Silvicultrix’s Grace in favor with the Lustra, apparently so.”

Cassia reached out a hand and stroked the dog’s face. “We’re keeping her. Forever.”

If Lyros and Mak still had their doubts, they made no further protests as they stepped back to the tower together. Lio carried the hound up to the dining hall and laid her on one of the furs in the warmth of the fire.

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