Blood Union Part Two: A Fantasy Romance (Blood Grace Book 6) by Vela Roth

Author:Vela Roth [Roth, Vela]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Fantasy Romance
Publisher: Five Thorns Press
Published: 2022-10-25T18:30:00+00:00

THE HIDDEN BLADE

Heat bathed Cassia’s skin, and light glared in her eyes. But then she was floating in the shelter of Lio’s arms.

As he levitated her out of harm’s way, Knight bounded past below them, fleeing to safety with liegehound speed.

But the fire never reached where they had been standing. Cool wind yanked at their clothes. All the air in the chamber seemed to rush toward Monsoon. Deprived of breath, the flames extinguished.

Cassia stared toward the source of the fire, a balcony across from her and Lio. A woman emerged from her hiding place there. Flames licked at her battered leather armor and blood-smeared skin, their orange and blue tendrils kissing her burnt sienna cheeks. On eye level, she and Cassia met each other’s startled gazes.

“Ukocha,” Cassia breathed.

“Ukocha!” Kella shouted from the ground.

Monsoon stood in front of the Ashes, panting, his feathers still ruffling in an eddy of his wind magic that swirled around him. He called something up to Ukocha in Tradewinds, and she answered in the same language. Monsoon snapped his wings, his mouth twisting, as if he wanted to say more.

Cassia touched Lio’s sleeve and murmured, “Did he just tell her he deserved that fire spell, but she should save it for when no one else is present?”

Lio’s lips twitched. “And she informed him she was saving it for the Accord breakers, not planning to waste it on him. But then she complimented his reaction time and said he hasn’t lost his touch taming fireballs.”

“They’re being such warriors about it, aren’t they?”

“Not what I would say to my lost love after a long separation, to be sure.”

“How well I remember, Glasstongue.”

The Ashes gathered under the balcony and saluted their first blade. Lio swept Cassia closer to Ukocha’s vantage point.

Here she was. Solia’s protector. The dusty scarf over Ukocha’s hair, her chapped, bleeding lips, and the makeshift sling around her arm did nothing to diminish her presence. There was beauty in her muscular frame and harsh expression that defied any artist’s gentler notions.

Looking into her face, Cassia felt a deep sense of recognition. How could this woman she had never met seem so familiar?

Ukocha looked down at Knight, then back up to Cassia.

“Now you see why I’m here,” Monsoon said, and this time Cassia understood him. Of all the tongues a Sandira shifter might have chosen to speak with a fellow Imperial mercenary, he made a point to use Divine.

“Well,” Ukocha answered in kind, “not much surprises me anymore. But this is a surprise.”

“I need to look at that arm,” Tuura interrupted. “Shall I come up to you, or are you coming down?”

“I don’t need a poultice.” Ukocha scowled. “What we all need is answers from each other. But not here. Noon Watch, how fast can you step us out of this desert?”

Karege rubbed his face. “We can’t step. That’s why it was so much trouble to find everyone.”

“This magical disruption is at fault,” Tuura explained. “You can sense it, can you not?”

Ukocha nodded and muttered a string of filthy curses Cassia had only heard in privateer taverns.

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