Page 142 of Storm of Secrets and Sorrow

“Other times? How often did this happen?” Theon asked.

Kat shrugged. “I don’t know. I was only there three months, but in those months, at least four times.”

“She’s twenty-four years,” Axel said. “Even when she aged out of adolescence?”

“She was raised there,” Luka said, his features hard. “Tessa didn’t know any different, and on top of that, she was probably at a point where fighting back wasn’t worth it.”

“When she argued, she would disappear for days at a time. Brecken told me there was a cupboard in her office,” Katya said quietly, twisting fabric around her fingers.

“A cupboard,” Luka repeated. Vertical pupils snapped back to Theon. “Did you know?”

“No,” Theon said, shaking his head.

“Do not fuck with me right now, Theon. Did you know?”

“No,” Theon bit back. “I didn’t know about the cupboard until after. I wouldn’t have?—”

“Yes, you would have,” Luka cut in.

Katya cleared her throat. “There are rumors she lost control once, and some Fae died. I’ve tried to find incident reports, but never found anything.”

“That can’t be true,” Axel said. “That kind of news would have traveled, even to Arius Kingdom.”

Katya met Theon’s gaze again when she said, “Not if she knew what Tessa was this whole time.”

“You think Cordelia is the one who altered her files?” Theon asked. “She could lose everything. That is a death sentence.”

“And if Cordelia knew, she would have known it would be revealed at the Emerging Ceremony,” Axel said.

“That’s true,” Kat sighed, pushing hair back from her face. “I don’t?—”

But the phone ringing cut her off as Theon snatched it off the arm of the sofa.

“Tessa?”

“Hi,” came her tired voice.

“Are you all right? Is everything okay?”

“I’m fine, Theon. Just tired.”

He’d pushed to his feet, beginning to pace around the room. “What did you do today?”

“Nothing much. Some instruction with my power. I was shown around Faven.”

“That’s it?” Theon asked. Why in the realms did Lord Jove want her to come to Faven just to show her around the capital city?

“Mhmm,” she hummed, a rustling sound coming down the line.

“What are you doing?”

“Sitting outside.”

“So there were no assessments today?” Theon asked.

“No. Just a dinner with Rordan this evening,” she said with a yawn.

Rordan.

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