Page 73 of Tempest of Wrath and Vengeance

“What are the odds here, Shea?” Theon asked.

“I don’t know,” she answered. “I’ve never worked on a Tracker.”

“I will send Cienna and Gia to help.”

Tessa looked at him out of the corner of her eye. His eyes were studiously fixed on Roan and Shea, that muscle in his jaw twitching.

“Their knowledge would be appreciated. Is there somewhere we can move him?” Shea replied.

“You can’t move him!” Tessa spluttered, shrugging out of Luka’s grip and lurching forward. “You could make it worse.”

“I’ll help move them wherever they need to go, Tessa,” Luka said.

“No,” she snapped, the bands of light around her wrists that had dimmed flared faintly.

“Tessa, we need to listen to the Healer here. They are the knowledgeable ones.”

“Here is fine,” Shea said, glancing up at them. “We can move him if we can get him more stable.”

“If?”Tessa demanded.

“Why don’t you take Tessa up to get some fresh clothing,” Theon said, addressing Luka. “I will stay with the wolf and Auryon. I’ll let you know if there are any new developments.” Finally, he met her gaze. “Is that agreeable to you?”

She didn’t know. She was so torn because she needed to get out of this dirty sopping dress and clean the blood from her hands, but she didn’t know if she could leave Roan’s side. On top of all that, Theon was giving her a choice, and that was doing things to her she didn’t even want to try to process right now.

So she did what she did best and shut it all down. Her thoughts. Her feelings. She shoved all of herself down deep to keep the world out, and she said in a monotone voice, “Yeah, all right.”

“Are you sure, Tessa?” Luka asked, his tone low.

“Yes. I will be no help here.”

She could feel him studying her, but after a moment, she felt his hand settle on her lower back. They’d only taken a few steps when Theon called out, “The others from earlier today are in my rooms.”

She felt Luka stiffen, but he only said tightly, “Noted.”

It was snowing when they stepped out of the stables and into the gardens. Big flakes were swirling on wind gusts that made the air sting against her flesh. Luka’s fingers wrapped around her elbow, tugging her to a stop. “Now that we are away from Shea, I can Travel us.”

“I can walk,” she said flatly.

“You’re not wearing shoes, and you are…” His gaze flicked to the sky, then back to her. “You’re hardly wearing anything. Walking through this weather in wet clothing is not ideal.”

“Fine,” she said, the word as flat and clipped as the rest had been.

Seconds later they were standing inside a bedroom she had never been in before, but she immediately knew it was his. It had the same modern decor of Theon’s rooms. Only rather than blacks and greys, this room had deep navy blues and dark browns. The bed wasn’t quite as big as Theon’s, seeing as how it wasn’t made for three, but the plush comforter and nearly a dozen pillows took up a lot of the space. An overstuffed soft brown leather sofa was in front of a fireplace that Luka had switched on, and all she could think was how silly it was that he had a fireplace in his room when he could just make his own. More than that, he was always hot to the touch. What did he need a fireplace for?

Theon’s rooms were always neat and tidy; everything had a purpose and a place. But Luka’s space had the same odd trinkets scattered about like he had at the townhouse. Little gold statues, a strange assortment of random dishes, silver candlestick holders, and small bronze tins were throughout the room. Without thinking, she made her way to one. Lifting the lid of a larger tin, she found it inlaid with velvet, at least twenty different rings lying inside. Why did he have all these?

His throat clearing from behind her had her closing the lid before she turned to him. He’d lost his shoes somewhere, and the light from the bathroom was casting a warm glow onto the floor.

“You should shower, temptress. Get out of those wet clothes and warm up some,” he said.

She rolled her eyes. “There is nothing tempting about me at this moment.” She lifted her hands, dried blood caked to them, in emphasis.

Luka said nothing, but she felt something shudder down the bond. She was just too apathetic to think about it right now.

Without another word, she walked to the bathroom, shutting the door behind her. She peeled the dress from her body before stepping into a shower just as grand as the one in Theon’s suite. Thankfully, that meant she already knew how to work the different knobs.

Hot water poured over her, and she watched as the pink-tinged water swirled down the drain at her feet. Eventually, she washed using whatever she found in the shower. Luka had more hair products than Theon used, likely because he kept his hair longer. When she stepped out of the shower sometime later, steam had enveloped the bathroom, the mirror fogged over with condensation.

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