Page 73 of Storm of Secrets and Sorrow

“I’m assuming Cienna sent her,” Axel answered, looking back at the female.

“She did,” she answered, dropping her bag onto the coffee table and beginning to dig through it.

“You’re a Healer?” Theon demanded. “Who trained you?”

“Cienna did,” Axel answered for the Witch, who was completely ignoring Theon. “Since Cienna obviously cannot come here herself, she sent Gia.”

“And this Gia has the skill for this type of wound?” Theon retorted, still kneeling beside Tessa, the bowl of water now red with the blood he’d wiped from her skin.

“More skilled than anyone here,” Gia replied, her arrogant tone making Theon straighten.

“If Cienna cannot be here, I will only accept the next best Healer,” Theon said.

“And you have her. Move,” Gia retorted.

Theon slid murderous eyes to Axel. “For the love of Arius, please tell me she knows who we are.”

“I know exactly who you are,” Gia said, her hands full of vials as she approached the sofa. “You can either let me work, or wait at least an hour while Axel tracks down another Healer. Of far less skill, I might add.”

“She knows who we are,” Axel said. “And I would advise not pissing her off any more than you already have, or you might find Cienna even less willing to help us than she was today. They are lovers.”

Theon looked back at Gia, who was giving him an unimpressed glare that Axel swore only the Witches could manage. With a glare of his own, Theon pushed to his feet, stepping back just enough to let Gia slip between him and the sofa.

“Give her room, Theon,” Axel said. “Let her work. We can trust her.”

“How long have you known her?” Theon asked through gritted teeth, moving a little farther away and beginning to pace.

“A few years,” Axel answered.

“A few years?” he repeated. “And you’ve never thought to mention her?”

“It didn’t seem relevant at the time.”

“It didn’t seem relevant?”

“By the gods, are you going to repeat everything I say?”

“Everything is relevant, Axel,” Theon seethed. “Even if we don’t see the relevance right away.”

“Now you know.”

“What if I’d needed this information sooner? What if it could have somehow helped us figure something else out?”

Axel sighed, shoving his hands deep in his pockets, trying to find some shred of patience to deal with his brother. “Whatcould you have possibly learned by knowing about Cienna’s lover, Theon?”

Theon rounded on him. “What other information have you withheld?”

“Excuse me?” Axel asked, his mouth dropping open.

“You heard me. Did you know of Jagger forming his own clan?”

“No,” Axel snapped. “I would have told you.”

“Would you have?”

Axel took a step forward, painfully aware of his empty magic reserves as the remnants of his gifts stirred uselessly beneath his skin. “I know you’re worried about Tessa, but you need to take a breath and back the fuck off.”

“This was your one job, Axel,” Theon snapped, his hand cutting through the air as he continued pacing. “I asked you to monitor the Underground because I couldn’t be everywhere at once.”

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