Page 86 of Storm of Secrets and Sorrow

Tessa scowled at him, and the moment he left the room, she did just that.

Or she tried to.

She scooted to the edge, flinging the blankets back, but each movement pulled at her chest. Lifting her shirt, she tried to see where the wound was, but that pulled at something in her neck. She needed a mirror.

Sliding her legs over the edge of the bed, she gingerly placed her bare feet on the floor. The enchantments on the room kept the floors nice and warm, and she slowly started to rise unsteadily to her feet.

“Sit your ass back down,” came a growled command.

It wasn’t an entrancing, but Tessa found herself obeying as she immediately plopped back onto the mattress.

Luka rounded the bed, two bottles of water in hand. “You couldn’t listen for two godsdamn minutes?” he demanded, twisting off the cap of one of the bottles and handing it to her. She didn’t answer, taking a big drink of water. “I just wanted to be there. So you didn’t hurt yourself further,” he said, his tone softening.

Tessa shrugged, the motion pulling at her aching neck. “Where’s Theon?”

“Handling some things for his father,” Luka answered.

She hummed an acknowledgment, taking another drink of water. “When did we get back to Arius House?”

“Yesterday.”

“It’s been that long? What about Cienna?”

“Theon and Axel went to see her.”

She eyed him as she twisted the cap back on the water bottle. “And you just sat around?”

“Did you think we’d leave you unattended? What if you woke up and we were all gone?” Luka asked, watching her just as carefully.

Tessa shrugged again. “I mean, I’m sure you had better things to be doing with your time.”

“I didn’t.”

She shifted awkwardly at those words, clearing her throat. “Are you going to let me use the bathroom? Just so we’re clear, that will involve me standing from this bed.”

“Do you always need to be such a brat?” Luka asked, reaching to help her to her feet.

She was about to spout something back, but the moment his hand connected with her arm, the bond did something…weird. She stumbled, and then his hands were on her waist, steadying her. And gods, he was warm. Which had her remembering waking to him wrapped around her while she was curled into Theon. Thenshewas hot.

“You good?” Luka asked, clearly not as affected as she was.

She nodded, not trusting herself to speak, and he stepped to the side. His hand fell to her lower back, guiding her to the bathroom. Thankfully, once inside the spacious room, he let her go to the private toilet area without fuss.

When she emerged, he wasn’t in the bathroom any longer, but the faucet was running, filling the oversized bathtub. A bath sounded divine.

She moved to the vanity and brushed her teeth. Inspecting her neck as she did so, she brushed her fingers along her throat. That vampyre had bitten her. What was his name? Jagger? She was certain his fangs had been deep in her throat. That hadn’t been a dream.

Or maybe it had.

Her dreams and reality were beginning to merge, and it was unsettling. She’d been so sure that attack was going to happen, as if she’d lived it before. She hadn’t been able to figure out where she’d recognized Cienna from. It had seemed impossible, considering she had been sequestered to the Underground for over a decade. Where would she have possibly seen the Witch before?

Apparently in her dreams.

Setting her toothbrush aside, she lifted her shirt to just below her breasts. The place the knife had been was completely healed, not even a scar. But then why was each breath she took so godsdamn painful?

Noise behind her startled her, and she jumped, gasping at the sharp stabbing pain that ran through her.

“Sorry,” Luka said gruffly. He had some packages of various food items in his hands—crackers, an orange, a doughnut—and he set them on Theon’s side of the vanity. “The last we checked, the wounds had healed nicely. Is that still the case?”

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