Page 239 of Storm of Secrets and Sorrow

This fucking bond that was the cause of every godsdamn problem in his life right now.

“Who rode the dragon?” Theon asked tightly, reaching for her hand and guiding her to the shower.

She shrugged as she stepped inside, seeming to wake up more and more with each passing minute. “I don’t know. There was a female underwater too.”

Her visions.

She was telling him about her visions.

“What else, little storm?” he pressed as she let water cascade over her hair and bare skin.

“You killing me,” she answered.

“Tessa, I?—”

“But not last time. It changed,” she said, reaching for shampoo.

“Changed how?”

“It always changes.” She went quiet for a few moments, then asked, “Where is Luka?”

It’s just the bond.

That was what he told himself.

It was just the bond making her need him, seek him out, ask for him.

The problem was, if he believed that, it meant everything he shared with her was just a byproduct of the bond too.

Just like she’d always said it was.

And he didn’t know if he could face that.

He glanced over his shoulder to where Tessa sat beside Luka on the same bench she’d sat on a few months ago during the Tribunal hearing. She was pale. So godsdamn pale. Even her lips were bloodless. Leaning against Luka, his arm was wrapped loosely around her. Theon knew it was so she didn’t slide off the bench, but it still made him grip the arms of his chair a little tighter as he pictured her lips on his for the hundredth time in the last hour.

Axel shifted beside him just as a door to the right opened, the Lords and Ladies filing through while the rest of them stood and bowed. The crowd was the same as before. Heirs and Sources. Some of the more elite Legacy. Even the Keeper was lurking in the eaves above.

“Rise and sit,” Lord Jove said, his tone somehow sounding bored and severe at the same time.

Theon took his seat, staring up at the Lords and Ladies on the raised dais. His father gave nothing away. The Anala Lady’s lips were pressed into a thin line that suggested she wasn’t happy, while the Celeste Lady had a small smirk playing on her mouth. That didn’t bode well for him.

“It’s been a long couple of days, so let’s get right to the point,” Lord Jove said. “Theon St. Orcas, you were given until the Winter Solstice to uncover the lineage of Tessalyn Ausra.You were also instructed to report any such discoveries to us immediately. Since we have not heard from you, we can assume you were unsuccessful. Is that an accurate assumption?”

His fingers curled inward where his hand now rested on the table. “While I made headway on her heritage, I did not learn her entire lineage.”

“Then you were unsuccessful,” the Achaz Lord repeated.

“If we are looking at the matter as a simple success or failure, then yes,” Theon answered. “But I think there is more to consider here.”

“There is nothing else to consider,” the Celeste Lady cut in. “You were given a task. You did not complete it. She will not remain yours.”

“I am afraid Lady Candra is correct,” Lord Jove said, steepling his finger along his temple. “She cannot remain yours. The bond will need to be severed.”

“So your solution to this is to kill an Arius descendant?” Theon demanded.

“If the choice is between an Arius descendant or an Achaz one, there is no choice,” Lady Candra said.

“And if a death is not required to sever the bond?” he countered.

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