Page 4 of Tempest of Wrath and Vengeance

“Scarlett doesn’t tell anyone anything,” Razik replied.

“That’s not true,” Eliza scoffed.

Razik sent her a frank look before turning back to Theon.

“You do not like Scarlett?” Theon asked.

“No,” he answered.

“Raz,” Eliza snapped, elbowing him in the gut hard enough to make him suck in a breath.

“I see no point in lying about it,” Razik replied, stepping aside when she tried to elbow him again. “Stop,mai dragocen. It is not as if this is a new revelation to you.”

Eliza rolled her eyes, crossing her arms before her grey gaze settled on Theon. “I am assuming you are the Arius prince or whatever?”

“Arius Heir. I mean, Lord.” He sighed, shoving a hand through his hair. He wasn’t entirely sure what he was at this point.

Eliza eyed him another moment before saying, “I am not very confident in your ability to lead a kingdom if you do not even know your title.”

“That is rude, Eliza,” Razik chided, but the twitch of his lips told Theon he was goading her.

Luka did the same godsdamn thing.

Eliza tsked under her breath, tossing a hand in Theon’s direction. “We were sent here to help him, and he doesn’t even know who he is, Raz. How are we supposed to work with this?”

“What, exactly, did she send you here to do?” Theon asked, glancing at Cienna and Tristyn who had gone noticeably quiet.

“That’s what you were supposed to tell us,” Eliza retorted sharply.

Theon’s brows rose at the address. “Do you always speak to Legacy in such a manner?” Then he glanced at Razik. “Youallowher to speak to Legacy in such a manner?”

The female’s lip curled up, baring her teeth, and her hand inched toward a dagger at her hip. Those were definitely flames in her eyes as she replied in a voice that was lethally calm, “He does notallowme to do anything, and if you ever speak to him aboutmyactions again, you will find yourself bleeding.”

“Do you remember how I was trying to explain how the Fae are treated differently here?” Tristyn interrupted, stepping back as Cienna pushed him away from her work tables again.

The female looked like she was about to say something else, but Razik stepped in. “She does not care and neither do I, but let’s discuss something else before she becomes violent.” Eliza glared up at him, crossing her arms again with a huff. He glanced down at her. “I did not say I would stop you if you chose to stab him,mai dragocen.”

The female muttered a curse under her breath, but she looked away, apparently done with the conversation.

“Now that that’s settled,” Razik said, bringing a hand to Eliza’s lower back. She immediately seemed to calm a little, some of that tension leaving her shoulders. Then her head tipped a little as if she heard something, and Theon narrowed in on the action. That seemed an awful lot like?—

“Perhaps we should discuss the female who should not exist,” Razik went on, and the words made Theon’s attention snap back to him.

“If you are referring to Tessa, I will be the one doing the stabbing,” Theon snarled, a short sword appearing in his hand from a swirl of darkness.

“I would assume so,” Razik drawled, looking as worried about the weapon as Tristyn had about Theon’s power earlier. “Isn’t that what this entire prophecy is about?”

“What prophecy?”

“For fuck’s sake,” Eliza groused. “Fae are treated as less than here, but the Legacy don’t know shit. How the fuck does that work?”

“That is not?—”

“He knows plenty. He simply knows falsehoods and inaccurate history,” Cienna cut in, and the room went silent at her interruption.

“I still do not understand how that is possible for how advanced this world appears to be,” Razik said. “Who are they?”

Theon followed his line of sight and turned. Corbin and Lange were standing quietly by, taking everything in.

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