Page 200 of Storm of Secrets and Sorrow

She was underwater.

Undergroundandunderwater.

But before her panic could climb too high, a female voice had her turning.

“How unexpected. I haven’t had a visitor in nearly five years.”

There was a set of bars and behind them was a female in some kind of beige garment. Her skin was so pale, the shift looked stark against it. Her black hair was long and stringy, but her violet eyes were bright and full of interest. She stepped closer to the bars, lifting her hands as if to wrap her fingers around them, but then stopped herself.

“You smell of forgotten lands,” she said.

Tessa frowned, unsure what that meant, but then the female tipped her head to the side. A smile slowly curled on her lips, and Tessa found herself taking a step back from the black bars that hummed with magic.

“You smell of vengeance.”

Then she tipped her head back and laughed.

She had to be mad. That was the only explanation Tessa could come up with.

Looking to her right, she saw a staircase that led up to somewhere, but she didn’t know where she was.

“Don’t go that way, daughter of wild and fury.”

Tessa whipped her head back to her. “What did you just say?”

“Beginnings and Endings. Light and Dark,” she started to sing, pacing in a small circle. There was a piece of paper on the dirt floor of her cell, and she stepped on it with every pass she made. “Dark must bow, and Light must rule, but Chaos does not choose.”

Unwittingly, Tessa took a step forward. Then another and another, until she was right next to the bars. The female’s gaze snapped to hers. “Do not touch them!”

Tessa jerked back, unsure when she had lifted a hand to do just that.

“It calls to you, but then she will come,” the female warned.

“Who?”

“The deceiver who stole resurrected power. It was dead, and she brought it back.”

Well, that sounded ominous.

“He will come for her in time, but you…” The female turned to face her fully once more. “We thought it would be her, but it will be you.”

“What will be me?” Tessa said. “Who are you?”

But she had moved again, right along the wall of her cell now. Dragging her fingertips along the stone, she said, “You will be the beginning of endings.”

34

THEON

“Place your palm here and conjure some power,” said the Legacy.

Nodding, Theon did just that, placing his hand on the magic scanner and letting darkness pool beneath it. The male watched on a screen that Theon couldn’t see, but after a few seconds, he said, “Passage for five was granted by Lady Farhan. Is that correct?”

“Yes,” Theon answered impatiently.

“Documentation for the Fae?”

Luka handed over the identification documents for Tessa and Katya, and they all waited while he verified whatever he needed to verify.

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