Page 40 of Storm of Secrets and Sorrow

She went still. “What?”

“Last night. Your power. The attack.”

“I’m sure Theon told you everything there is to know,” she said, getting up and moving to grab her water bottle.

“I do not need a replay of your bickering and refusal to let him help you. I witness that every day,” he replied dryly.

“I do not refuse to?—”

“You didn’t fight back, Tessa,” he interrupted, suddenly in her face.

Her water was halfway to her lips. “What?”

“You didn’t fight back. Didn’t even try,” he repeated.

“He had a dagger at my throat,” Tessa said. “What was I supposed to do?”

“Before he even touched you, you didn’t fight back,” Luka growled, and Tessa slowly lowered the water bottle. He smirked at her. “You think I didn’t know? I was in the air, Tessa. Before I fully shifted, before I made a path for Theon through my flames, I could see you. You didn’t fight back. But you could have. I’ve taught you enough in the short time we’ve been doing this. If you had fought, even a little bit, that dagger would have never touched your throat because Theon would have been there in time.”

Tessa was silent as she held the dragon’s stare.

“Which leads me to believe one of two things,” Luka continued, taking the water bottle from her hand and replacing the cap before tossing it aside. “Either you knew the person somehow?—”

“What? Why would I know him?” Tessa interrupted at the accusation.

“You spent time with Lord Jove by yourself at his residence,” he replied matter-of-factly.

“I was attacked and unconscious when I was brought there. Are you going to reprimand me for not ‘fighting back’ then too?” she demanded, her hands going to her hips.

“Of course not. Axel told us what happened up until the moment you were taken,” Luka said, his annoyance heavy. “What none of us know is what happened at Lord Jove’s residence from the time you were taken until we showed up. That’s a good chunk of unaccounted time, Tessa. You could have discussed any manner of things.”

“I was unconscious for most of it,” she replied. “But what does any of this have to do with last night?”

Luka shrugged casually. “Maybe you struck some kind of deal with Lord Jove. Maybe it was staged somehow.”

Her mouth fell open, her head shaking in disbelief. “You’ve lost your mind.”

“Have I? How would we know?” he countered. “You want to know why Theon waited to tell you things? You want to know why we didn’t just tell you all our secrets and plans? It’s this, right here. You’ve given us no reason to trust you.”

She threw her hands in the air. “Now you sound like Theon. I keep forgetting I’m supposed to simply blindly trust the three of you while I have toearnyour trust in return.”

Luka’s large hands were suddenly gripping her shoulders. “When will you understand this is bigger than you? Bigger than us? There aremillionsof people whose safety and survival depends on those secrets, Tessa. We cannot just give them away. When we do, innocent people suffer for it. For a minute there, you made an effort. For a split second, you asked questions and seemed as though you were trying to understand; that’s when Theon started giving you more information. You’re smarter than this, Tessa. Surely you see the connection. You simply choose not to.”

“Apparently, I’m so godsdamn clever I’ve conspired with the Achaz Lord against the Kingdom I’m forced to be loyal to,” she sneered.

Luka bared his teeth in a sardonic smile as his hands slipped from her shoulders, his fingertips dragging down her arms. “That’s the thing, Tessa. I don’t think that at all.”

“Then why are we having this conversation?”

“To prove a point. But I said there weretwopossible reasons you didn’t fight back last night.”

“I cannot wait to hear this,” she said dryly.

“You truly don’t have any regard for your life and didn’t care if that dagger at your throat ended it.”

Tessa unwittingly took a step back from him. “It takes more than a blade to kill a Fae, let alone a Legacy,” she replied, but her voice wavered.

“That wasn’t an ordinary dagger, and you know it.”

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