Page 9 of Blood Feast

“We have a strategy session with the First Prince right after your Ritual. But for now, we’re all alive, here, together. Let me forget about the war for an hour and celebrate with you.”

For her sister’s sake, Cassia could do that. “Of course.”

Solia turned to Lio, who waited patiently with Zoe. “You’ve made sure Cassia will always be safe. I have no words… What do Hesperines call something even deeper than a bond of gratitude?”

He smiled. “Family.”

“Agreed, Grace-brother.”

Cassia watched her sister clasp her Grace’s hands. Solia’s fiery presence clashed with the sweet shadow of Lio’s Hesperine aura, even as the Blood Union eased with their newfound affection for one another.

They continued into the Ritual hall together. Bright spell lights and echoing voices overwhelmed Cassia’s senses. Lio rested a hand on her lower back while she stood and waited for her eyes and everything else to adjust. She was swimming in a room full of blazing stars. Their loved ones were moving balls of timeless power.

A crushing hug brought her to her senses. She would have known one of Mak’s hugs anywhere, but now she could also smell his scent of warm clove and strong blackthorn. She could feel the dangerous, safe shadows under the friendly darkness of his warding magic.

“Be gentle with her new bones,” Lio said in an aggrieved tone, punching his cousin in the shoulder.

“She’s immortal now!” Mak replied. “It’s officially impossible for me to squish the life out of her.”

“You came home in one piece,” Cassia sniffed. “Lyros—?”

She smelled mint and citrus, and another guardian shadow drew near. She felt Lyros’s lean, strong hand on her shoulder. “Right here.”

She breathed a sigh of relief. “Have you been on the front lines all this time?”

“We were summoned home to reinforce the Stewards,” Lyros explained, “since we were relieved from duty as your bodyguards for the time being.”

Mak snickered. “Since you and Lio’s bodies were busy doing other things and not in need of guarding.”

Kia’s sharp, brilliant aura gleamed nearby, but her scent was surprisingly sweet…white crocus, Cassia thought. Xandra’s cheerful mulberry aura gathered closer, then the lilting strains of cherry blossoms that were Nodora.

Cassia had seen them all before, but now, with her Hesperine senses, she felt she truly met them for the first time. People were so much more than their appearances. Impressions washed over her: the unique signatures of their auras, the sounds of their voices, and smells. So many smells that communicated more than just scent.

It’s almost as if I can smell emotion,she commented to Lio.

You can,he replied.Actually, you sense emotion in the Blood Union, but it can manifest as physical impressions.

Everyone smells like a different kind of plant.

Fascinating. Your affinity for botanical magic must influence how you perceive their scents.

“Let’s see those new fangs, then!” Kia demanded.

Cassia bared her canines to their Trial circle’s admiring exclamations.

Someone else let out a whistle. “I’ll have to promote your nickname from ‘Freckles’ to ‘Fangs.’”

With an astonished smile, Cassia turned toward one of the most powerful auras in the room. “Tendo?”

FIRST RITUAL

Tendeso lifted one ofhis black and tawny wings in greeting. Now she understood why Lio had thought him an enemy when they had first met. Even here, on the other side of the world from the land of Tendo’s ancestral power, the shifter prince’s magic was enough to make her rock on her feet.

She wrapped her arms around him, dangerous aura, sharp weapons, and all. He smelled of veld grasses and royal incense. “Thank you so much for coming.”

His wings enfolded her. “Stop having close calls,nyakimbi. I went to a lot of trouble to save your life. I had to come in person to make sure your silkfoot rescued you properly.”

Lio clasped Tendo’s arm. “This silkfoot is glad you’re here.”

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