Page 199 of Storm of Secrets and Sorrow

“Theon is not dying,” Valter said coldly at the same time Theon snapped, “No one is touching Tessa.”

“I have been assured this problem will be solved by Solstice,” Valter continued. “Is that no longer the case, Theon?”

“I will have something figured out,” Theon replied, speaking through gritted teeth, and Tessa’s head tilted at that information. As far assheknew, he was no closer to finding a solution than he’d been the day of the Tribunal Hearing.

“That is a relief,” Felicity cut in. “I know this has been such a stressful time for you.”

Then she put her hand on Theon’s arm.

Tessa didn’t move. She didn’t lift her chin from where it still rested in her palm, but an arc of energy-infused light skittered across the table directly at Felicity’s hand. The female yanked it back with a small cry, wide eyes staring back at her. The entire table had gone still, but the corners of Tessa’s lips tipped up in a serpentine smile.

“Tessa, that was…” Theon started, but Felicity cleared her throat, smoothing her hands down the bodice of her dress.

“It is fine, Theon,” she said, sitting up a little straighter. “I am sure the bond makes a Source very possessive.”

Tessa felt it then. A press of power. She hadn’t realized what it was until now. A coil of entitlement and pettiness, fury and indignation. Emotions that would stir up conflict.

“It can,” Theon ventured, still staring at Tessa. She could feel his trepidation and confusion down the bond.

“And because I am sure you will find the solution to this, that will not be a worry much longer,” Felicity continued.

Tessa clicked her tongue in mock-sympathy as Theon went too still. “I know you don’t know him nearly as well as I do, in more ways than one I might add,” Tessa said, her wicked smirk growing, “but he doesn’t like it when people talk about us being separated, Ms. Davers.”

“You can call me Felicity,” she replied, a hand fluttering to her chest, but Tessa heard the hint of annoyance in her tone. “After all, I am sure we will be spending so much time together with you being promised to Luka.”

Tessa’s eyes flicked to Luka, who was giving her theshut-the-fuck-uplook, then back to Felicity. With her right hand, she made sure the Arius Mark was visible as she reached for her wineglass. “Then I guess that makes them both mine,” Tessa replied sweetly, lifting her glass and taking a sip while holding Felicity’s gaze.

She didn’t want either of them, but she sure as fuck wasn’t going to letFelicityspeak about her as if she wasn’t sitting at the same godsdamn table. Tessa knew she’d been in Theon’s room on purpose, had been waiting for her. She could believe Theon and his whole set-up theory. It still didn’t change anything, but she’d be damned if she was going to let the female’s snide comments slide. Not when her entire life she’d been forced to sit and let people talk about her as if she was a piece of property.

“Theon, how has your Source still not learned control?” Valter demanded from down the table. “She will not be allowed to speak to a Legacy in such a manner. Deal with this, or I will.”

Her power flared, looping around her wrists as if it were golden bangles. “It has been proven time and again I am not Fae,” Tessa said, fighting the nerves in her belly as she turned to face the Arius Lord.

“Whatever you are, it does not give you permission to speak to the Match of an heir in such a manner, let alone speak directly to me,” Valter snarled.

“And what would give me that permission? Being the descendant of a god?”

“Iam a descendant of god,” Valter growled, a red flush filling his cheeks.

“Tessa, stop,” Theon hissed from across the table.

Tessa only leaned forward, resting her elbow on the table and steepling a finger along her temple. The light around her other forearm began unwinding until a whip of sparking energy lay on the table at her fingertips. The flush in Valter’s face faded as he paled a little, his darkness appearing as Eviana lurched to her feet, a whip of vines appearing in her hand. Cressida cried out in dismay, and Theon was pushing to his feet.

“I think a point has been made,” Luka said firmly into her ear. “There will already be ramifications for this.”

The Lord could try, but Tessa had seen all she needed to, had learned the secret she’d set out to uncover tonight.

She could see it in the furious set of the Lord’s features as he stared at her power on the table.

She could see it in the way he didn’t challenge her with his own power, but held his darkness back.

The Arius Lord had set Theon up for failure from the very beginning with this dinner, as if he was trying to learn something himself. The question was what?

That was what she pondered the rest of dinner, when Valter kept cutting glances at her. Cressida made her plans with Felicity, who wisely chose not to speak to Tessa the rest of the night. Theon rarely took his eyes off her, and when they finally got back to the townhouse, she was too exhausted to stay up and debate her actions. They trailed her upstairs, only ceasing their chastising when she shut the bathroom door in their faces. Sheemerged in one of Luka’s shirts because it was the only thing she could find in the bathroom. The low murmurs from Luka and Theon stopped as she crawled into the piles of blankets and pillows, but she didn’t find sleep.

She was in some kind of cave or cavern, judging by the rocky floor and walls, but the windows… That was water.

Oh gods.

---