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“I’ll settle for having my opposable thumbs and their uncanny tracking skills. But if you think I can help, I’ll teach you what I can.”
“Did you have to meet certain conditions for your affinity to manifest?” Cassia asked.
A shadow passed behind Kalos’s eyes. “Heart hunters have initiation rites. I’ll spare you the details. Suffice it to say, your warband wakes your magic for you when you join.”
Cassia was glad Kalos’s former warband could never hurt him, or anyone else, again. Rudhira had made sure of that.
She bit her lip. She wanted to ask about Kalos’s Gifting, but how could she pry into such a sacred event? The best she could do was give him an invitation. “Lio and I fear my magic will be dangerous during my Gifting.”
Kalos rubbed the back of his head, leaving his dark brown horsetail more tousled than it had been before. “It was my past, not my magic, that made my Gifting difficult. But I can tell you that blood magic changes Lustra magic.”
Cassia’s heart was sinking as fast as it had risen. “So it’s true? Lustra magic is anti-haimatic?”
“I’m afraid so. But when my beast magic and Hespera faced off, she won that contest. I’m nowhere near as powerful as you’ll become, though, so I can’t say how your affinities and blood magic might combine.”
Why could nothing be easy, just once in Cassia’s life? She wanted her own magic. She wanted her Gift. How could these two integral parts of her stand in opposition?
Lio wrapped his arm around her waist. “Against all odds, you are here in my arms. We are on a winning streak against the world.”
“You’re right.” She would have her magic and her fangs, Goddess help her.
“In your opinion,” Solia broke in, “should Cassia wait until after her magic awakens to be Gifted?”
Kalos grimaced. “Now that’s the most important question, isn’t it?”
The fact that his answer was not a wholehearted no made Cassia’s gut clench.
“I don’t know.” There was so much regret in his voice. “As I explained, I already had my Lustra magic, but my Gifting altered it. If I’d become a Hesperine first, I’m not certain my affinity would have manifested in the same way. Perhaps it could have…but perhaps it would be repelled by the blood magic.” He met Cassia’s gaze. “Is that a risk you’re really willing to take? To miss the chance to have your magic…forever?”
Cassia knew her answer to that question, although she didn’t want to say it.
But Lio did. “This is not even a decision. There is no choice between the Gift and your power, Cassia. Out of the question. You must have both.”
“Of course Cassia must have her magic.” Solia’s tone was all but threatening. “She already gave up her crown. I will not allow anything or anyone to rob her of this, too.”
“Do you know the conditions for awakening her affinities?” Kalos asked.
Solia nodded. “Cassia’s mother explained them to me so I could guide Cassia.”
“That’s good news,” Kalos said. “Have you met them, then?”
Cassia knotted her hands. “It seems so.”
“Yes,” Solia agreed, “it’s only a matter of time before Cassia’s magic arrives.”
“She has already experienced signs of it manifesting,” said Lio.
“What about a letting site?” Kalos asked.
Cassia exchanged glances with her Grace and sister. Neither of them seemed to have an explanation to offer.
“Did your mother tell you about those?” Kalos asked Cassia.
She shook her head. “If a letting site were important, surely she would have mentioned it to Solia.”
Kalos frowned in thought. “I’m quite sure this is required even for Silvicultrixes. It’s why they used to lead the ancient rites. The old religion has been rather warped over the centuries, but this has never changed…”
“Letting…letting of what?” Cassia suppressed a shudder. She knew animal sacrifices were part of old Tenebran rituals. They weren’t talking about bloodletting, were they?
