Page 245 of Blood Feast

She caressed Lio’s neck, listening, waiting. “No. He’s not slipping away. But he’s not coming back to me.”

Mak swore and closed his hand around Lio’s chin, pushing. Lio’s fangs sank into Cassia’s wrist. Mak took her other hand and showed her how to work Lio’s throat.

Drink,she begged in their Union.Please, Lio. Drink from me.

Her Grace lay there, pale and still, while her blood trickled out of his mouth.

Dame nudged Lio with her nose, then licked his face. When he didn’t respond, she let out a devastated whine. Knight leaned his bulk against Cassia. If not for him and Lyros, she thought she would collapse.

She fisted her hand, squeezing more blood onto Lio’s tongue. “Why won’t he swallow?”

“Cassia.” Mak looked stricken. “What happened in there?”

She struggled for words while Lyros rubbed her back. She had to explain to them. For Lio’s sake. “Kallikrates somehow followed him out of Miranda’s mind and invaded his. The Collector made a mental attack on Lio that appeared in his mind’s eye as a relic dagger in his throat.”

Horror passed through Lyros’s aura. “How did Lio break free?”

Cassia swallowed. “He couldn’t.”

Her Trial brothers said nothing, and the Blood Union was heavy with their dread.

“I banished Kallikrates,” Cassia said. “I shut him out of our Grace Union.”

Mak’s eyes widened. “That’s our Cassia.”

She shook her head, her lips trembling. “I wasn’t fast enough. Kallikrates still managed to strike a blow before I pulled Lio to safety.”

She stroked his throat desperately, Willing him to swallow. Why wasn’t her blood enough? Why had the Ritual circle healed Miranda, while it did nothing for Lio?

Mak slammed his fist down in the pool of blood. “Goddess above, where are our foregivers now?”

Cassia rested Lio’s head on her lap, calling into their Union again and again, hoping to catch a whisper of his voice in her mind. “We have to find him a healer.”

Lyros didn’t hesitate. “Any chance of reaching Solia’s forces in Hadria?”

“They Kyrian mages won’t know what to do with this.” Mak shoved a hand in his hair. “He needs a mind healer.”

“Ukocha’s village? Tuura could help, if we can avoid extradition.”

“Is he stable enough to step that far?”

With calm words, Mak and Lyros fought for Lio. Cassia was so grateful for that. But listening to them try, she knew there was only one answer. “He needs Rudhira.”

They fell silent. Lyros gripped her shoulder. “Yes. He does.”

“You two can escape,” Cassia said. “I will surrender and plead with them to put Lio in a bed, not a cell.”

“We’re coming with you,” Mak told her.

Cassia’s throat tightened. “Half of us should stay free for whatever comes.”

“Not a chance,” Lyros said. “We started this together. We finish it together.”

She blinked hard. “You haven’t even asked if Lio got the information we came for.”

“Doesn’t matter,” Mak said. “No secrets are worth his life.”

Lyros gave her a smile. “He got your magic. He would say that’s what matters.”

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