Page 85 of Blood Feast

She released it into his hands and took a step back. “Hespera’s Mercy. I think you’re right. Kalos mentioned that bones andsuch are sometimes used in Lustra rites. I didn’t realize that included human bones.”

“This sheds light on the purpose of these Lustra passages,” Lio said. “They were some kind of ritual site for your ancestors.”

That fragment of death weighed on her Hesperine senses. How could her ancestors’ magic and the Blood Union run in her veins at the same time?

“What should we do for this person?” she wondered. “Should we perform the Mercy for what is left of their remains? Or would that have unintended magical consequences?”

Lio looked to her. “I think you are the best one to make that decision. What does your intuition tell you?”

She could feel the kinship between the bone and the earth under their feet, a rightness that appalled her Hesperine senses. But the Lustra’s answer was clear. “I think we should return the bone to its resting place as a sign of respect.”

“Then that’s what we’ll do.”

After Cassia put the dirt back in place over the bone, she brushed her hands off on her robes, but they still felt dirty. “We should see if Knight uncovers other artifacts.”

Lio did not protest, but he also said nothing in agreement. As they left the chamber, she was glad he didn’t push her to cast any more spells, at least. She felt his magic stretch through the halls while they explored the honeycomb of rooms off the main chamber. He tried using his own pendant to reveal more portals, but each room appeared to be a dead end. Knight sniffed his way along, pausing to dig in nearly every alcove. He uncovered more bones—animal this time, thank the Goddess—as well as feathers, broken pottery, and wooden talismans so smoothed by time that their symbols had worn away.

In every fragment, Cassia sensed an aching weight. Could the Lustra feel sadness?

“It’s all gone,” she said. “No one remembers. I barely know anything.”

“But you will,” Lio told her. “You have the rest of eternity to rescue these mysteries from where they lay forgotten.”

“Perhaps. But we don’t have forever to find out how any of this relates to the door—if it does at all.”

“Let’s go tell Mak and Lyros what we found. Perhaps they’ll have some ideas.”

She nodded, and they made their way back toward the main chamber. Before they left the privacy of the hallway, Lio pulled her against him one more time. He kissed her, the deep, firm strokes of his tongue a declaration that echoed through their Union. She was in his arms again, and here she would stay.

She opened to him, letting him take the reassurance he needed and chase the taste of death from her mouth.

Lio kept his handon Cassia’s lower back as they returned to the main chamber. He needed to be touching her, no matter the unresolved words pulling their Union taut. Those few hours with a warded door between them had been too much.

They found Mak and Lyros hanging a map on the wall, carefully avoiding the magefire sconces. Mak looked flushed and as contrite as Lio had ever seen him.

Lyros turned, looking from Cassia’s face to Lio’s collar. “Everyone’s fangs polished? Good. In hostile territory, we need our magic at full strength, and that means no abstinence over foolish differences of opinion. Understood?”

Cassia held herself with great decorum, despite her blush. “That won’t be a concern.”

“No, it won’t.” Lio made one more attempt to straighten his collar.

“Right.” Mak rubbed his jaw. “Now that we’ve all thoroughly crossed each other’s veils, did you two find anything?”

Cassia patted her hound. “It seems Knight has a knack for unearthing Lustra artifacts. This place is riddled with them.”

Lio scratched the dog’s back. “My partner in historical research, after all.”

“We found evidence of magic, too,” Lyros confirmed.

Mak pointed toward one of the side passages. “There’s some kind of casting area marked on the ground in there.”

“Wait.” Lio searched his packs. Bless Tuura. Of course she had packed his scroll case. “I’ll record our findings.”

While they told each other of their discoveries, Lio hung more scrolls on the wall beside the map, making notes and a diagram of the passages. He stared at the sketch, waiting for a pattern to emerge. But he didn’t see it. Yet.

“Does any of this make sense to you, based on your lessons with Kalos?” he asked Cassia.

She shook her head. “Since we found no evidence of a letting site, I’m not sure what sort of rituals Silvicultrixes might have held here or why the Mage King would cast an everlasting flame over it.”

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