Blood magic. Weaver power
My queen had finally awakened.
Chapter
Eight
Bloom
Crimson Shield
The blood threads formed a shield over his ravaged back that was now a map of raw flesh and blood. Not an inch of skin remained unbroken. I ached that I hadn’t been able to shield him sooner, but I would let them hurt him no more.
Power and searing rage pounded through my veins, transforming me from within. They had paraded me as a sinner, yet I had never felt more defiant. I was not a student in Reaper Academy but a queen standing before her immortal foes.
Nero stiffened for a heartbeat, sensing the protection, feeling my woven shield settle over his ruined back. A riot of his emotions—pride, gratitude, ferocious protectiveness, and beneath them, profound pain—surged through the bond I now felt clearly, an invisible, unbreakable, and eternal tether.
Another lash rose in an arc, whipping through the cold air with a merciless hiss before descending. Kingsley had held nothing back. A single strike from that cursed weapon would’ve killed any mortal. Nero had endured twenty-two.
The whip cracked against the invisible shield and rebounded. Kingsley struck three more times, each blow sparking against the barrier, repelled and useless. Embers flew where the cursed iron met my blood magic.
Dante and Orren held their breath beside me, hope ablaze in their eyes. Their fists, clenched so tightly their knuckles had whitened, slowly loosened at their sides.
The attention of every immortal in the cushioned front seats shifted to me, especially Headmistress Stardust and Sebastian. Despite their muted power, I sensed them clearly. None of them were what they appeared to be. My power had leveled up the moment I’d embraced the dark truths and woven the final blood thread.
I felt their shock, then their sharp anticipation.
Kingsley snapped his head toward me like a rattlesnake poised to strike. Rage and disbelief flashed in his silver eyes, and beneath them—unease, a flicker of fear. He narrowed his gaze, letting only fury show.
“What did you do, girl?” he demanded.
He couldn’t see my blood threads. I had woven another strand to conceal my bloody fingers. It wasn’t wise to let them witness the partial awakening of my power.
I smiled, cold and deliberate. “What do you think I did, Professor? Or is it what you’re afraid Ican do?” I tilted my head, letting the mockery hang in the air. “I’m only a first-year. A nobody you dragged here to make a point. Even Hera’s Whip can’tmake you more than what you are. I almost pity you.”
Rage burned through him. His face flushed a furious purple. He took a step forward, his focus shifting from Nero to me.
“You’re dead, Kingsley, you fucking creep!” Nero bellowed, straining violently against the chains that held his wrists. But Dante and Orren had already moved, stepping between me and Kingsley, weapons drawn, eyes on fire. Dante’s ax gleamed, flames licking its edges. Orren’s spear crackled with hellfire, held low and ready.
“Drop it, Kingsley,” Headmistress Stardust called out. “The rules do not forbid a shield. And your use of Hera’s Whip was not included in the rule book either.”
“I see,” Kingsley said, and a cruel smirk twisted his lips. “If the rules can be bent, then so can my aim.”
He snapped the whip swiftly and sent it lashing not toward Nero’s back but directly at his head.
I watched in horror. I could not weave another thread fast enough, as I had poured everything into the shield. I’d provoked him into something unhinged. I had not thought he would go this far. I had not imagined he would aim for Nero’s head.
That whip would split his skull open. No matter his strength, no matter his power.
I had brought this on him.
Dante and Orren charged forward. Kingsley’s followers moved to intercept. My dark wind lashed out toward Kingsley.
Everything happened faster than thought.
But Nero was faster.
The chains binding his wrists shattered. Iron exploded, and the spell fell away. He wheeled around and caught the tip of Hera’s Whip, his grin savage. The barbs bit deep into his palm, but he paid it no mind.
