Page 86

Korinnae uncorked the vial and sniffed the contents. “It smells nice.”

“Of course it does. I made it special for you.”

Korinnae glanced at her uncle. He gave her a small nod, and that seemed to be enough. She tipped the vial back and swallowed the serum in one go. Ria took the empty vial from her and guided her toward the makeshift bed. The calf settled beneath the blanket while Ria checked her pulse and watched for the first signs of the draught taking effect. Asterion came over and sat beside her, his large hand resting gently on the blanket near her shoulder.

Korinnae blinked slowly. “When am I going to sleep?”

“Soon,” Ria assured her.

“When?”

“Very soon.”

Korinnae opened her mouth to ask another question, but her words became increasingly slurred until she fell asleep halfway through the sentence.

Asterion watched his niece for a moment before looking at Ria. “What was in that?”

“A standard sleep draught,” she said. “I used purple cabbage to give it color.”

His eyebrows rose.

“And added quite a bit of sugar.”

Asterion shook his head, but there was amusement in his expression. Together, they made sure Korinnae was comfortable before moving back toward the worktable.

He looked at Ria. “Thank you.”

She smiled and leaned toward him, accepting the kiss he pressed to her lips.

“I’m still going to need your blood.”

He smirked but held out his arm.

Ria reached for the tattoo pen and cartridge, then pressed the cartridge against the inside of his elbow. The enchanted device made drawing a small amount of blood remarkably easy, and within moments, she had what she needed. She loaded the blood into the pen and began the incantation. The needle glowed briefly in her hand.

Asterion gave an unmistakable huff.

She glanced at him. “Don’t start.”

“I’m not saying anything.”

“You’re thinking it,” she muttered.

A moment later, Asterion spoke again. “I still don’t like the idea of marking your skin,” he admitted. “I don’t want to ruin it.”

“You’re not ruining anything. This is what we have to do.”

Asterion looked at her for a long moment before nodding. “Alright.”

Ria gave his hand a reassuring squeeze and turned back toward the table and studied the design she’d drawn on a scrap of paper. It was simple enough for her to manage: a small crescent moon with two curved lines rising from either side, the moon representing her magic and the horns representing Korinnae’s minotaur nature. She placed her left arm on the table and turned it so the inside of her forearm faced upward.

“This is going to hurt, isn’t it?” he asked.

“Probably.”

His brow furrowed, and Ria smiled at him. “Don’t look at me like that. I’ve done worse.”

“I’m not convinced that’s reassuring.”