Page 241 of Storm of Secrets and Sorrow

“No,” Theon said.

That was it. It was all he could think to say. This couldn’t be it. After all he had done, all he’d discovered, all he’d learned. After everything he’d put her through. It couldn’t be for nothing. He wouldn’t stand for it.

“Lady Candra did not misspeak, Heir St. Orcas,” the Achaz Lord said, light swirling in his eyes. “She is no longer yours.”

“Those Marks on her say otherwise,” Theon countered. “It might not be a Source bond, but there is a bond. Make no mistake about that. If you take her from me, it will cause harm.”

“To you?” the Achaz Lord asked with an arched brow.

“Toher,” he all but yelled. “This has always been about her. Everyone here knows it.”

Something on the Lord’s features flickered, and Theon didn’t know what to make of it. But he felt the jolt of surprise down the bond from Tessa.

“At the last hearing, her opinion was asked because this directly affects her. Should the same not be done here?” Theon asked, turning to where she was watching everything unfold with wary eyes.

She wasn’t leaning against Luka anymore, but he was close, muscles tense and coiled. Her bands of light were wrapped around her wrists, and while she still looked pale and exhausted, her power certainly wasn’t. He could feel it. His darkness could feel it.

Theon glanced at Luka, wondering if he’d picked up on anything from her, but the dragon only shook his head subtly. The agreement from a few months ago still stood. If they tried to take her, they were prepared to fight their way out.

Axel stood, coming to Theon’s side, the two of them blocking access to her now, but to his utter shock, she spoke.

“Maybe they are right, Theon.”

Violet-grey eyes held his, and he could truly feel her now. A bone-weary resignation that this was it for her.

“No, Tessa,” he said on a breath as he took a step towards her. “No, they are wrong.”

“Are they? You yourself say the attacks are to get to me,” she said. “People are being endangered because I simply exist.”

“Tessa, that’s not?—”

“It is a fact,” Lord Jove said, using the distraction to step around him.

A low growl came from Luka, but Tessa held up her hand. When the Lord extended a hand to her, she took it. Theon could only watch as he guided her forward, too many emotions flooding through him. Horror. Shock. Anger. Betrayal. But more than any of that, confusion as to what was happening here.

“She understands the matter at hand quite well,” the Achaz Lord said, motioning for his Source, Dysani, to step forward and help her.

“And what matter is that?” Theon demanded, his entire body trembling as he watched someone else help her, guide her,touchher.

“That she is not safe with you.”

Darkness exploded from him at the words, but Luka and Axel were there. Their hands clamped on his shoulders, pulling him back. Shadows and black flames shielded them as other powers flared in the room.

And when the darkness and magic cleared, she was gone. So was the Lord’s Source. Before Theon could say or do anything, he was on his knees, forced there by coils of light that made his darkness hiss and strain. This was nothing like Tessa’s light.

“Do not move, Luka. Theon more than deserves this for his display here today,” Valter snarled, and Theon knew his Guardian was fighting a shift at this moment.

The Achaz Lord stood over him, his features somehow pleasant as he spoke down to Theon. “She understands what is at risk here. It is not just you and a bond, but the realm. And I think deep down, you know that too.”

“What have you said to her?” Theon demanded. “What have you told her?”

The Achaz Lord only smiled as he said, “Everything you have kept from her.”

42

LUKA

It took him longer than he thought it would to figure out where in the Pantheon Tessa was being kept. Theon always made it seem so easy. Like he just knew where she was all the damn time. He never faltered, going straight to her. This tracking Mark took some time to understand the subtle pulls and tells that he was on the right track. Not to mention the fact that he had to do this secretly, Traveling between corridors and levels. If Auryon had bothered to show up, she could probably help, but they hadn’t seen her since the battle.

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