Page 194 of Blood Feast

When Cassia emerged fromthe Slumber this time, she was no longer on the floor with Lio and the dogs. It seemed he had carried her to a chair and covered her with one of the Changing Queen’s woven blankets. He still sat by the hearth with Dame and Knight.

“Her bandage is off!” Cassia exclaimed.

The despair in Lio’s eyes quelled her hopes. “Her wound is gone, and I lifted my sleeping spell. But I can’t wake her.”

Knight licked his fellow liegehound’s face and looked up at Lio with soulful eyes.

Cassia knew what it would do to Lio if Dame didn’t survive. Swallowing back tears, she joined him by the hearth and rested her hand on Dame’s side. Before she could stop the thought, she found herself wishing she could help with her magic.

“I know.” Lio wrapped his arm around her, his hold fierce. “I’ll make it right, Cassia, just as I swore.”

“Stop.” She stroked his face, where a hint of stubble had begun to appear. He looked exhausted sitting here with tousled hair and bloodstains on his robes. “That was just a day terror. You mustn’t torture yourself every time I have a thought about my other affinities. I was sincere when I told you my plant magic and the Gift are enough for me.”

“I know you were. But you won’t always be content with only part of your power.”

She released him. “Yes, I will.”

“I know you, my rose. The night will come when you hunger for more. And when it does, I will move the sun and moons to make sure you have everything your heart desires.”

She rose to her feet. “I don’t want more power. Ever. I’m better than that.”

Surprise flashed in his gaze. “It’s nothing to be ashamed of. You know there’s nothing wrong with wanting to be powerful.”

“It’s right for me to want you and the Gift and the magic Hespera blessed in me. But I must stop there, Lio. Don’t you see?”

“No, I don’t see at all.”

“I don’t want to channel two more powerful affinities. What will that make me?”

He stood and took her hands. “We can work through those feelings together, just as we did with your plant magic. Since the first night we met, I’ve always helped you overcome your fear of wanting more.”

She pulled out of his hold. She couldn’t bear his sweet words, tempting her with the purest intent. She had refused the Collector’s poison again and again, but she could not resist her Grace.

Lio’s confusion filled their Union. She was hurting him, and he didn’t understand. “I swore to give you everything. Unlimited time. Unlimited power.”

Cassia recoiled. “Don’t say that!”

He shook his head. “What did I say?”

The Collector’s words whispered in her mind, and she felt sick.Unlimited time is not the greatest prize… You know that the real goal is unlimited magic.

“If I keep wanting and wanting, where will I stop?” she cried.

“Talk to me about these fears,” Lio pleaded. “You just saved a castle full of children with your magic. Even your friends from your human life have acknowledged the good your power can do. Why this sudden aversion for more magic?”

“We just beheld the casualties of the game. The consequences to humanity and Hesperines when a few mages have too much power.”

Shock flashed across his face. “You cannot be comparing yourself to the Old Masters.”

“What is to prevent me from reaching for more and more magic until it turns me into a heartless being like them?”

“You arenothinglike them,” Lio said fiercely. He took a step toward her. “After what you came through during your Gifting, you can’t really believe that you would ever become like Kallikrates. You have fought him more bravely than anyone.”

“The Gifting purifies us, but it does not perfect us. Isn’t that why we have so many rules about how to use our power?”

“Of course we aren’t perfect. But we’ve tried to follow Hespera’s tenets for sixteen hundred years. Hesperines have possessed immortality and incredible power all this time, and we have never become a force of evil in the world. We are still striving to be our better selves.”

“Are we, Lio? As fugitives who have broken those sacred laws?”

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