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Through the dizzying rush of his bite, the truth confronted her. Her magic was a piece of her. Without it, she would never be whole.
Lio’s arms tightened around her, but the grip of his teeth gentled. The fragrance of their roses washed over her, somehow more powerful than ever before, laced with the scent of the blooming moonflower she had set on the shelf above their bed. She felt the softness of their blankets under her back, and the tiny spell lights in the alcove danced above her.
Then a wave of darkness broke over her. His magic. Untamed, endless, so much of it that it filled her deepest hollows. A moan of raw hunger tore out of her. Her body bowed off the bed, riding the crest of his power. Her krana convulsed, and nourishing pleasure pulsed through her every vein.
When she collapsed back onto the bed, gasping, he kissed her throat until his bite healed, and she caught her breath.
“What are the consequences?” Her voice came out hushed and hoarse. “If I must do without my magic? Is it…treatable?”
He rested his face in the crook of her neck, his hand tightening into a fist in the blankets. “Magic is inseparable from a mage’s life force. If you were deprived of your power while human…that would be fatal.”
“The Gift would save me.”
He raised his head. She saw the answer in his eyes. “You would live forever with part of yourself missing. I can’t bear to consider it.”
“But we must consider it.”
He brushed her hair back from her face. “No, my Grace. You must never suffer that. Not for me. Not for anyone.”
“If it comes down to a choice between my birthright and my bloodright, blood always comes first, Lio.”
“No.” His word rattled every piece of glass in the room. “I would sooner rip my own magic out of my soul than see you make that sacrifice.”
Despite all her resolve to be strong and pragmatic, she started to cry. “I love you.”
Lio stroked her cheek, rubbing her tears away. “I won’t let him take you, Cassia. It doesn’t matter what I must do. I will destroy him with my own two hands if I have to. You will be safe.”
She lay there with him and let him hold her as close and as tightly as he needed. She felt sick that all she could do was console him.
She could not protect her Grace from what was inside of her.
She didn’t want to put him through this. But she feared that this time, they could not reshape the world for their love, not in the face of magic whose rules had been written epochs before.
Cassia was sure that if she had already been a Hesperine, she would have sensed the worry in Uncle Argyros’s library like a crushing hug.
Everyone who had been at the arena was waiting for her and Lio around the coffee table or on the nearby couches. Kassandra had joined them, sitting apart in a chair, twirling her spindle in her fingers over and over to turn something raw into a fine thread between her fingers.
Uncle Argyros was grave. “Solia and Kalos have explained the situation.”
“You found the lost paradigm.” Kia’s glowing expression faded at the sight of Lio’s face. “Right. Not the time for scholarly celebration.”
Mak made a frustrated sound and leapt up to give Cassia an actual crushing hug. “Stop worrying. Lyros and I will keep you two squishy diplomats safe. Do you understand?”
She hugged him back. “Oh, Mak.”
Lio held up a hand. From a nearby stone shelf, a long scroll levitated into his grasp. As he spread it out on the table, the coffee cups rattled. It proved to be a map of Tenebra.
He pointed to Patria. “This is our goal. We must get Cassia safely to Patria, remain long enough to discover how to awaken her magic, then get out.”
Cassia, Mak, and Lyros joined Lio at the table to look at the map. Solia came to stand on Cassia’s other side, her presence warm.
Lio gave Solia a look. “We have determined that Cassia must awaken her magic before I can Gift her. Are you satisfied?”
“Yes,” she said. “I consider your first labor complete.”
Kassandra gave her spindle a twist. “Are you ready to assign Lio his second labor? Traditionally, the matriarch asks him to perform a task that probes his weaknesses.”
There was no challenge in Solia’s voice. “I believe we can both agree that escorting Cassia to the letting site should be your sole focus now.”
