Page 47 of The Blood Rites

“I know that,” I say, bitterness on my tongue. “I’m not naive. I know what this place is.”

I huff a sigh, rubbing my eyes with the heels of my hands. “I’m not pretending this isn’t a graveyard. But I intend to protect Marissa and Callen as best as I can.”

“And will you use your power then? Will you kill for them?” he asks. “I don’t intend to die here either. I have things to—”

He cuts himself off.

“I could be a shield for you in here, Luceris. Or I could be the knife at your throat.”

My hands are shaking, so I clench them tight to my sides, refusing to let him see my fear.

His stare lingers on me, intent and unreadable, and then, in a voice so soft I barely hear it, he says, “You’re trembling.”

I want to tell him to fuck off, but my mouth is too dry to summon it. “Why do you care?”

He doesn’t answer straight away.

Instead, he stands up, closing the distance between us, so close that I can make out flecks of gold in his pupils that I hadn’t noticed before.

“Because you bother me, little rabbit,” he says. “Something about you—” He doesn't finish.

He is so close now that I can smell the iron tang of sweat, the salt of dried blood and something else—something warm and unfamiliar. The combination is strangely disorienting.

“You’re too close,” I warn.

He leans in, not touching but close enough for me to feel the warmth of his breath on my face. “If I wanted to hurt you, I would have done it already.”

I nod, my voice brittle. “I know.”

He moves as if to touch my face, but stops, fingers hovering in the air. “Show me,” he says, his tone almost begging.

“I don’t know how.”

“Another lie.” He smiles, but it is a jagged thing. “Fine. Then I’ll have to see it for myself.”

I don’t know what happens next. I don’t remember moving or how the light emerged from me. All I know is my vision goes white, then gold, then black.

When I come back to myself, the room vibrates, and Kael is sprawled on the floor across the space. His eyes are squeezed shut, as though blinded by the flash of light. I fear his reprisal, but when he finally recovers, he only blinks up at me with a look of astounded delight.

An arc of golden cracks, bright and terrible, spreads outwards from my feet, further scarring the stone floor.

Kael sits up, brushes himself off and lets out a single burst of incredulous laughter.

“So,” he says, “you’re not so useless after all.”

There is no malice there, but the admiration in his voice is somehow worse.

I wander the Embrace for hours, afraid to return to my room in case Kael is somehow still in there, waiting for me. I fled so quickly, I’m surprised my soles didn’t catch fire.

The corridors are disorienting. Always too bright. Always whispering my secrets back at me.

I keep my eyes down, trying not to think about Kael. He knows. This makes everything so much harder.

I don’t want to think about the heat of his body pressed against mine, the look in his eyes, or even the way he says my name.

I shake it off as I round a corner and nearly collide with two Air Dominion Offerings. They move together but not in unison—one of them trails a half step behind, brimming with nervous energy.

The first boy is slender, almost willowy, with hair cut short to his scalp, so grey it looks almost blue. His eyes are sharp and silver, like frosted glass. He walks as though he is determined to make no sound at all.