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“I believe so,” Lio answered.
“He fled,” Queen Soteira said. “His presence lurks nowhere in Hespera’s temple.”
The ward around them shifted, and the presence of Sanctuary magic faded from the ruins. But it was not gone. Lio could still sense it…somewhere.
Queen Alea joined them at Cassia’s side. She turned over Cassia’s hand. There was nothing there but marble dust.
“A warding artifact?” the Semna marveled. “It was ancient and powerful, by the feel of it. Astonishing that she could use it without any training.”
“She told me she rescued it from an abandoned Tenebran shrine.” Queen Alea smiled at Cassia.
Cassia’s eyes slid shut, and her breathing eased into the rhythm of sleep.
Benedict stepped back from Callen and straightened his tunic. “That’s our Tenebran thrush.”
Queen Soteira put Cassia in Lio’s arms again. The wounds and blood were gone. Lio ignored the stares and rocked his Grace, listening to the strength of her heartbeat.
THE CENTER OF HESPERA’S ROSE
Hespera herself,
who binds us together,
and from whom everything grows.
Sometime After
WINTER SOLSTICE
FAMILY
She was on herback. She couldn’t move. Where was she?
Had the Collector taken her from Orthros?
Even as the fear struck Cassia, Lio was there in her mind, reassuring her. The Collector was gone. All was well.
She tried to move again, then groaned. Her body felt so heavy. His arms felt so good.
“She wakes,” said a voice she had not heard in over fourteen years.
Cassia gasped and opened her eyes.
Nephalea looked exhausted and emaciated, but the gentle compassion on her face had not changed. Alkaios’s face hovered next to hers. For the first time, Cassia saw him smile. Her hand tightened on something, and she recognized the feel of Solia’s pendant.
“You’re safe,” Cassia croaked.
“Thanks in large part to you two,” said Alkaios.
Nephalea smiled. “Well met, Cassia.”
“It’s so good to see you. I can’t find the words…to say thank you.”
Nephalea touched a hand to Cassia’s, where she held the ivy talisman Alkaios must have returned to her. “Your actions have spoken for you.”
Cassia gave up trying to budge from Lio’s arms and took in her surroundings. She was neither in the sickroom of her nightmares nor in the all-too-real nightmare at Rose House. This appeared to be a room at the Healing Sanctuary. Lio reclined on the bed beside her, while Alkaios and Nephalea had pulled chairs near. There were flowers everywhere.
Lio held her with the greatest gentleness. “Eudias escaped his ordeal with some secrets. One of them was the hostages’ location.”
