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Cassia held Lio’s gaze, mustering confidence she didn’t feel, so he might find hope in her eyes. He gave her the slightest nod.
The dagger tore from Lio’s chest, and his magic tore through the channeling. Cassia was ready for it this time. She breathed, bringing herself into the rhythm of the current buffeting her.
Miranda walked toward her.
Cassia guided the current of Lio’s magic down through her body, down into the stones beneath them, down to the hungry maw of the Lustra.
That untamed presence threw off Lio’s magic so hard that Cassia’s neck snapped back.
Goddess help her. It hadn’t worked.
Miranda’s hand curled into a fist on the front of Cassia’s robes.
It hadn’t worked yet. Cassia would not give up so easily.
Miranda pulled.
Lio’s magic shuddered under Cassia’s ribcage. She bared her teeth at Miranda. No Gift Collector would take her Grace from her.
Miranda’s fist tightened. “If you fight me, this will only hurt you more.”
Holding fast to Lio’s magic, Cassia focused all her Will on the Lustra. It was too ancient a presence to understand words, but Will was the oldest and most universal language.
He is my Grace, she told it. My mate. He is bound to me. He is part of you.
She let Lio’s magic wash over the keening wilds. They quieted.
Miranda’s eyes widened. “What do you think you’re doing?”
Her next pull made Cassia’s teeth ache and her bones grind. But Lio’s magic receded deeper below them.
“How dare you,” Miranda spat. “That’s impossible!”
His magic is a gift to us, she called to the Lustra. He keeps us free and makes us strong. Take his power.
The letting site bloomed open and wrapped around Cassia like an embrace. She could hear Lio’s thelemancy in the Lustra’s call, feel his light in its teeth and claws. His blood magic poured deep into its roots.
The shutters snapped open, and thorned vines crawled inside the windows. They raced over the sill, and the stones crumbled beneath their strength, until the wall collapsed.
Beyond lay the ruins of Cassia’s garden. Amid the weeds and nettles that choked the once-tidy rows, Hespera’s thorns tore from the soil.
“No!” Miranda screamed. She closed both hands around Cassia’s throat, and her necromancy scored Cassia’s chest as if it sought to carve out her heart.
Then pale hands closed around Miranda’s, prying her off of Cassia. The Gift Collector was hurled across the room. She crashed into her worktable and staggered.
Lio stood over Cassia, his fangs fully extended and his wrists covered in blood. She glanced from him to the wall where he had been chained. His manacles lay broken and twisted, their fragments and Miranda’s dagger in the grasp of the vines.
Lio leaned heavily on the table with one hand and rifled through her gardening satchel. He yanked out her spade. With its sharp edge, he sawed at the leather strap around her wrist. She could feel the necromancy in her bonds, but with a flare of blood and Lustra magic, her spade began to split the leather.
Behind Lio, Miranda found her feet. Before Cassia could call out a warning, a vine of thorns twisted around Miranda’s ankle and dragged her to the ground.
Lio gave the spade a heave, slicing through the cuff. The bloodstain on his robes widened.
“Drink.” Cassia held up her wrist.
He bent over her and bit into her vein. His body jerked, and he made a sound of surprise in his throat.
“What’s wrong?” she rasped.
