Page 16 of Tempest of Wrath and Vengeance

“Wasn’t that the point of the meeting? To discuss how to handle Tessa now that they know what she is?” Theon asked, shuffling sounds coming through his end before it quieted down again.

“They don’t know though,” Luka argued, placing the ring back inside the tin and snapping the lid shut. “They are all worried about her paternal line, and Jove keeps trying to play off her maternal line.”

“Do you think he knows?”

“I honestly cannot tell. He insists she is not more powerful than he is, but merely being the granddaughter of Arius would make her more powerful.”

He could practically see Theon rubbing his jaw as he said, “But she’s hardly displayed any Arius gifts for being a directdescendant. All of her gifts have manifested as Achaz powers. That would suggest she’s just as close, if not closer, to Achaz.”

“Except the ability to summon storms. That is neither of them,” Luka said, getting to his feet and moving to a wall of empty frames.

They both fell silent at his words because it put them back at the beginning of all this. They’d learned so much about her, yet still had no solid answers.

“I think that’s ultimately the missing knowledge for Jove too,” Luka finally said. “He knows she has Achaz blood, but does he know about her visions and Witch heritage?”

“There is no way they know she’s essentially Achaz, Zinta, Arius, and Serafina. They would have already killed her,” Theon said. “They would have never let her get this strong or this powerful.”

“Unless Jove thought he could control her.”

“Control the uncontrollable,” Theon muttered. “It all goes back to that stupid prophecy.”

“Tell me again what your theory about her maternal line is,” Luka said. He should be writing this all down. Theon could keep facts straight in his head, but Luka had always been more visual.

“There are texts that suggest Achaz had a child with a daughter of Zinta. I don’t think Tessa is that child because those texts were written centuries ago, and Tessa is obviously only twenty-four years. But beyond that, she could be anywhere in the line.”

“So we know nothing,” Luka said bluntly, running his fingers along an ancient gold frame.

“We know her paternal line, but the other things… Yeah, we know nothing,” he answered, sounding utterly defeated.

“Theon, you keep trying to do this alone, and you don’t have to. You know that, right?”

“It’s my responsibility,” he replied.

“No, it’s?—”

“Is there anything else?” Theon interrupted, his tone going hard.

Luka sighed, not wanting to push this during a phone conversation of all things. “Yeah. There’s one more thing. When the meeting was concluding, it was reported that two priestesses were found dead at the Pantheon.”

The pause on the other end was deafening.

“Like the Arius Legacy that have been turning up dead?” Theon finally asked.

They’d been finding bodies all throughout the Acropolis for the last two weeks. It was another reason the emergency meeting had been called. It didn’t matter if they were full-blooded Arius Legacy or if they simply had Arius blood somewhere in their ancestry. Every single victim had some type of Arius lineage.

Until the priestesses.

“These were Pantheon priestesses, Theon,” Luka answered.

“So full-blooded Zinta Legacy,” Theon replied.

“The Celeste Lady was furious considering the Pantheon is part of her responsibilities in correlation with Selection duties,” Luka replied. “They are demanding Tessa be detained until her lineage is determined and until it is proven she is not responsible.”

“Why would she be responsible for this? Wasn’t she at the Tribunal building?”

“I told you, she disappeared shortly after it started. That’s when we felt her panicking.”

“Are you saying Tessakilled the priestesses?” Theon asked.

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