Page 216 of Storm of Secrets and Sorrow

Tessa rolled her eyes. “Because out of the seven people in this room, you’re the only one who doesn’t like either of those things. Besides, I’m sure I’ll sleep for two days straight again if I get the third Mark tomorrow, and?—”

“When,” Theon cut in. “When you get the third Mark tomorrow.”

“Right. Assuming neither of us is dead and all.”

There was a muffled bark of laughter, and they all turned to Lange and Corbin, who were still standing off to the side.

“I apologize,” Lange said quickly. “I’ve just never seen…that,” he said, gesturing between Tessa and Theon.

“Yes, well, she has a mouth on her she often forgets to control,” Theon replied through gritted teeth.

“Don’t let him fool you,” Tessa said with a simper to her voice as she leaned towards Lange and added, “He’sobsessedwith my mouth.”

“Go get cleaned up, Tessa. Now,” Theon ordered, Axel bursting into laughter where he sat. Even Katya had her face turned into him to hide her amusement.

“Of course,Master,” she replied, all but gliding from the room. “Order some pizza, Axel,” she called over her shoulder.

“On it, baby doll,” Axel called back, sliding his phone from his pocket.

The look Theon sent him could only be described as death.

“What?” Axel asked with mock innocence as Theon followed after Tessa. “Consider it a last meal for one of you.”

“Shut up, Axel,” Theon snapped, smacking him alongside the head as he stalked past. Axel’s laughter covered the growled, “We have more to discuss. Now,” that was directed at Luka.

By the time they were back in his bedroom, Tessa was already in the bathroom with the door closed. Luka immediately found himself wondering if she’d come out in that robe again. Or maybe wearing nothing as she was prone to doing. It’d be a terrible idea, but admittedly, he was torn about which way he wanted this to go.

“What else has Auryon been teaching her?” Theon asked.

“Exactly what she said. Devram’s true history, just like you asked her to,” Luka replied with a sigh, sinking down onto his sofa. He stretched his legs out, crossing them at the ankles.

“And has any of that history been new to you?”

“Some of it has been a different take, I suppose.”

“A different take?” Theon nearly shouted. Luka wasn’t surprised in the least when his darkness broke free again. “And you didn’t think to say anything?”

“You are the one who hired her without looking into her background, Theon. Not me.”

“That’s why you are there.”

“If you want to know what she’s teaching her, then maybe you should be the one to sit through those lessons. I’m not going to sit there and take fucking notes. I did my academics. If there was something truly life-altering, I would have told you,” Luka said.

“Like these messages she learned to send with her magic?” Theon demanded.

“Scarlett told us about those. It was nothing new.”

Theon looked like he was going to throw something in his frustration, and a low warning rumble came from Luka’s chest at the thought of him damaging any of the items in here.

“I cannot believe all the shit you’ve kept from me,” Theon finally said after he visibly worked to get himself under control.

“None of this changes anything,” Luka replied.

“Now you sound like Tessa,” Theon spat.

“She’s not wrong. You refuse to admit the plan is in pieces. You refuse to admit Selecting her changed everything. You refuse to see what’s right in front of you. You can deny things all you want, but you can’t avoid the consequences of that denial,” Luka said.

The sound of the bathroom door silenced them both as Tessa emerged, fully dressed in loose pants and Theon’s long-sleeve shirt. Luka ignored the disappointment as she eyed them.

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