Page 55 of The Blood Rites

“You cannot tell anyone. Not even Callen.”

“I swear.”

I wait for the fear to stop clawing at my throat before I continue, but it doesn’t. “The Blessed lied,” I admit quietly. “Or maybe they just pretended—I don’t know.”

I swallow. “I can channel. I always could.” The words feel dangerous the moment they leave me. “But something about it is... wrong. Inhibitium never worked on me. And when I lose control—” My eyes flick towards the cracks in the ceiling. “That happens.”

For a second she only stares at me. Then excitement explodes across her face so suddenly it almost startles me. “Luceris, that’s incredible.”

I blink at her. “Incredible isn’t exactly the word I’d use.”

“Why would you hide that?”

“Because I assumed the Blessed would kill me for it. Or worse.” The words come out flatter than I intend. “At the Choosing they called me an anomaly. I’ve spent my whole life hiding.”

The room falls quiet again as Marissa glances towards the fractures running across the floor and ceiling, her curiosity overtaking her fear almost immediately.

“You made those?”

“Yes.”

“How?”

“I don’t know.”

That answer frustrates me more than it does her.

“It just—” I struggle for the words. “Builds inside me. When I’m frightened or angry or overwhelmed, it feels like the Mana is trying to fight its way out.”

“And here?”

I laugh softly, without humour. “Here it barely stops.”

She chews nervously on her lower lip. “Maybe you could learn to control it.”

“I don’t want to.”

The sharpness in my voice makes her flinch, and regret follows immediately after.

“I’m sorry,” I say, reaching for her hand. “I just... I don’t want any of this, Marissa. I don’t care about power. I just want us to survive.”

She squeezes my fingers gently. “So do I.”

For a while neither of us speaks.

She leans against my shoulder eventually, small and warm beside me, and something painful twists in my chest. Part of me wants to keep her here forever, safe from the trials, safe from everything waiting beyond this room.

She lifts her head slightly. “Do you like him?”

I nearly choke. “What?”

“Kael.”

There’s a wicked sort of delight in her smile now. “You stare at him too, you know.”

“Don’t be ridiculous,” I answer, but far too quickly, and Marissa laughs outright.

“Luceris, you can barely look at him without blushing.”