Blood Solace: A Fantasy Romance (Blood Grace Book 2) by Vela Roth

Author:Vela Roth [Roth, Vela]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: fantasy romance
Publisher: Five Thorns Press
Published: 2022-02-22T16:00:00+00:00

SURVIVORS

The ward was playing tricks on him, one of Orthros’s own. Through the pulse of blood magic and the ebb and flow of the wind, Lio thought he could hear a human heartbeat.

He had to know. He followed the vague hint of a sound. He braved what he knew lay between him and his fool’s errand. He must brave it.

He had laid waste to an army tonight, and yet his magic was not spent. Wrapped in his illusions, he drifted between the members of the Charge who were collecting the bodies, and the Hesperines errant did not mark his passage. He walked among the dead, matching faces to memories. Hopes. Lives, but how ill-lived.

Heart hunters did not deserve the Mercy his people would give them.

As soon as Lio thought it, he felt shame. But he already knew he was capable of such thoughts. Precisely the kind of thoughts that caused tragedies like this. Thoughts that destroyed control.

And yet Lio did not understand how it had happened. He had felt fully in command of his magic, so sure of his course. He had felt them die. But he had not felt the moment his power escaped him.

How could it be so…possible to make such a mistake? He played the moment over and over in his mind, but gained no clarity. He listened, and his ears still thought they heard a heartbeat.

No, that was a mortal’s pulse.

He followed it and found himself standing over the body of the heart hunter who had aimed a crossbow at his Grace. Basir’s fangs gleamed upon the man’s chest, where that lone heartbeat carried on. Lio dropped to his knees, reaching toward the man’s sick prize.

When a hand closed over Lio’s, he froze.

How many times had that strong hand helped him up when he had fallen? Lio slowly lifted his head and met his Ritual father’s gaze over the heart hunter’s body.

“You did well tonight,” Rudhira said.

“I don’t know if I killed them.”

Rudhira squeezed his hand, then pushed it gently aside. He collected Basir’s fangs and wrapped them in a handkerchief. He tucked the pristine cloth into one of his boots, which was smeared with a bloody hand print.

Rudhira stood, then pulled Lio to his feet. “There is one left. I have strengthened his mind and body so he will survive the trip back to Castra Justa. Whatever happened here tonight, as far as I am concerned, you followed my instructions to kill only if necessary and take prisoners for questioning.”

“With all these men as captives, you could have used interrogation and ransom to dismantle half the heart hunter activity in the region. You could have dealt their way of life a decisive blow. But dead, they are martyrs to their brothers. I wouldn’t do this, Rudhira. And yet, how can I deny the evidence that I did?”

“Lio.” His Ritual father shook his head. “Do not waste your regrets on these men.”

“Our creed is to kill only if there is no other solution, in the face of any evil.

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