Page 247 of Storm of Secrets and Sorrow

“And Theon?” she asked with a shaky breath.

“Would have been there too,” he said. “Because I think you know deep down it’s more than a bond. Always has been. It’s just that neither of you knows what to do with it. Neither of you understand it. None of us understand any of it.”

“It’s too late anyway,” she whispered, her voice hardening with the words. “Villains and monsters don’t get happy endings.”

“Oh, little one, is that what you believe?”

She gave a sharp jerk of her chin, and he released her.

“Then you’re not a monster at all, are you?”

Her nostrils flared in annoyance. “And why is that?”

“Because monsters don’t settle, Tessa. They take their happy endings, even if they leave a blood trail in their wake,” Luka said.

“And what about you, Luka Mors?” she sneered. “Where do you fall?”

“Don’t you know?” he asked, leaning down and whispering in her ear. “Dragons eat the monsters.”

Then he backed away from her, watching her struggle as her eyes flared and she pressed her thighs together. He felt the want and the confusion and the annoyance as her mental shields buckled before she scrambled to get them back in place.

He turned his back on her. If he watched her a moment longer, he wouldn’t leave. Or worse, he’d step back between her thighs andshowher what their nights would look like.

But she was right.

It was too late for any of that.

“Luka?”

He paused at her voice, turning to face her fully, and waited.

“It would have been nice,” she said, a sad note edging into her voice. “If things could have been different.”

“I know, little one.”

Then he stepped through the air.

43

AXEL

“She’s fine,” Luka said the moment he appeared in Theon’s room at the townhouse.

Theon had been pacing the length of the room for the last three hours. Axel had quickly been brought up to speed on the whole Luka-being-able-to-Travel thing when he disappeared into thin air. That explained Theon’s mood and the tension between the two lately. But Axel was more upset about being left in the dark about the godsdamn three-way bond the three of them apparently had now.

“Of course she’s fine,” Axel said, his elbows braced on his knees and hands in his hair. “What do you think they’re going to do to her? More than that, you’d feel her if they were hurting her.”

Tessa may be blocking their bond, much to Theon’s chagrin, but if something was happening to her, they would definitely know.

Unlike him.

Who had no idea if Kat was all right. He’d received a single message from Tristyn. Or at least he assumed it was Tristyn. Itcame from an unknown number, and all it said was, ‘The kitten is safe.’

“What did she say? Where is she? Is she by herself?” Theon asked, still pacing.

He was barefoot, something his brother never did, but he’d slowly undressed more and more as they waited for Luka to return. The suit coat and tie were haphazardly tossed over a chair. His shirt was untucked and unbuttoned, hanging open, but for whatever reason, he’d still rolled his sleeves up to his elbows rather than just taking the thing off completely.

Luka was pouring himself a drink as he answered, “She’s at the Pantheon, just like they said. In a room just like the Marking rooms, only a floor up. And yes, she’s by herself. There are half a dozen sentinels outside her room. She had food. Looked like she’d eaten some of it. She was lying on the bed when I got there. Apparently, she took a nap earlier today.”

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