Page 173 of Tempest of Wrath and Vengeance

But she had thought he was Razik, so that didn’t explain anything. His brother might have been able to shed some light on the matter if he’d bothered to give a damn. Which he didn’t.

“It wasn’t something we were expecting, but we’re dealing with it,” Dex continued as if someone had asked him to go on. In reality, it seemed the male just liked to hear himself talk, and Luka wondered how he and Tessa had ever been as close as she claimed they once were.

“Dealing with what?” Luka asked.

Dex only gave him a mocking smile. Now he decided to stop running his mouth.

Silence fell in the room, and for the next two hours, that was all there was. Glares between the two males. Tessa hardly moved, let alone made a sound. The tension was so thick he could feel it.

Still nothing?Theon asked down the bond.

No,Luka answered.And her babysitter won’t fucking leave.

Ignore him,Theon replied.That’s what I always did.

You never ignored him,he said dryly.You’d become irrationally jealous.

Like you are right now?

I’m not jealous. I’m annoyed. There’s a big difference.

A thread of amusement flickered down the bond. This was fucking weird. He didn’t want to be feeling Theon down this thing.

He won’t leave, and I don’t trust him enough to leave her alone with him to even go to the bathroom,Luka added.

And they call me overprotective,Theon muttered.

The last time I left her alone with him, she had some kind of emotional breakdown, and now she won’t wake up.

She’ll wake up, Luka. I think everyone there would be a lot more panicked if they didn’t believe that to be the case.

He was probably right, but when had Theon become the logical one in their friendship? Then again, he’d always been logical, just not when it came to Tessa. Now Luka sat here wondering when he’d become just as irrational when it came to her.

Long ago if he was being honest with himself.

But when she does wake up, make sure she drinks plenty of water and eats something decent,Theon added.

And there he was. It almost made him smile. If only Tessa understood his neurotic tendencies when it came to the ones he felt were his responsibility.

He was about to say something in response when the door to the room banged open. It had him pulling Tessa tighter into him, and she buried her face in his chest. It had to be instinctual because she didn’t make a sound.

A female stormed into the room, her raven hair half up with gold ivy threaded through it. Tall and lithe, her gold dress was stark against her pale skin. Luka didn’t need her to turn around to know her eyes were violet or that she would be beautiful in a haunting sort of way. He even knew what her voice was going to sound like before she spoke.

“What part of don’t let her drink it all at once did you not understand?” the female hissed to Dex.

Dex’s eyes were narrowed, but he’d lurched to his feet. His voice was tight and barely controlled when he said, “You know how impulsive she can be, but we are not alone.”

The female turned, her attention snagging on Luka. “You,” she spat. She turned back to Dex. “I made adjustments for the other, but this is something different.”

“I know what this is,” Dex snapped in reply, grabbing the female’s upper arm and dragging her from the room. The door banged shut behind them, leaving him alone with Tessa for the first time in hours.

Not knowing how long he had, he gently pried her from his chest. “Tessa? I need you to wake up, baby girl,” he said softly, but her breathing didn’t even change. “Come on, my light,” he pressed. “Something.Anythingto let me know you’re all right.”

He wasn’t expecting it when her eyes snapped open, glowing violet irises streaked with gold connecting to his, and gods, thepullto her. He felt his eyes shift, knew they were glowing as brightly as hers.

“Come see,” she lilted in a voice that was not her own. It was eerie and chilling. The voice she spoke in when she was lost to her magic. “Walk my dreams,” she whispered, before her eyes fluttered closed once more.

And he was pulled into nothing.

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