Page 78 of Tempest of Wrath and Vengeance

“But they can die?” Tessa asked.

She’d drifted so close now that Theon could reach out and touch her if he wanted to, and Luka knew he wanted to. He could tell it in the way his fingers twitched at his side. How he leaned closer the smallest amount. How his eyes went from her hair to her mouth to her eyes, as if he was memorizing every detail because he didn’t know when he’d see her again.

“They can,” Theon answered. “Many have.”

“How?”

“That is something we would have to ask Auryon. I do not know the specifics.”

Tessa went quiet for a minute, her attention darting around the space, and Theon dared to glance at Luka. He just shrugged in answer. She was utter chaos waiting to explode in this moment, and he didn’t know how to prepare for that.

“But there are more? They…mated or whatever?” Tessa asked, drifting away from Theon and wandering around the living room.

Touching things.

Things that werehis, and yet nothing stirred in his soul as she picked up an antique frame and turned it over in her hand. No, now his dragon slept peacefully, not even opening an eye.

Fucking useless thing.

“If what Auryon said is true, then yes,” Theon was saying.

“She said they were mine,” Tessa muttered.

“It would appear that is the case,” Theon said. “That they are indeed tethered to you in some way.”

“But how? If I have been here, unless—” She stopped abruptly, her gaze connecting with Luka’s. He arched a brow in question, unsure why she’d suddenly sought him out.

Tessa turned away from him, setting the frame down and making her way around the room some more. He knew as soon as she reached for her hair what was coming next, and sure enough, her mutterings were to herself rather than to them.

“He knows. I need to go back. We have a deal. He has to tell me. I’m holding up my end of the bargain.”

At those last words, Theon’s attention snapped to Luka, accusation heavy in that one look.

“I have no idea who or what,” Luka said in a low voice. Then he jerked his chin in her direction because they needed to be listening. She tended to reveal things when in this state. The things she said were as nonsensical as Cienna’s words most ofthe time, but they always made sense later, when whatever she was speaking of came to pass. The difference was Ciennaknewwhat she was speaking of; Tessa didn’t understand any of this.

“He wasn’t here, and I wasn’t here. They were not here. No one belongs here. Fix the balance. That’s what we need to do,” she continued, that light of hers winding up her arms again.

She stopped so suddenly it was as though she’d hit an invisible wall.

“Can he return with me? Roan, I mean?” she asked Theon.

He hesitated, clearly trying to say whatever he needed to in a way that would not set her off.

“It was a risk to move him when we did,” Theon ventured. “And that was only a short distance. But you can, of course, stay here until he can?—”

“I can’tstayhere,” she cut in.

Theon stiffened. “Of course you can.”

“No. I can’t,” she repeated. “Is that why you helped?”

Theon took a step towards her, and she held her ground. There was no flinching. No keeping space between them. There was no nervousness or fear down the bond, and Luka found himself proud of her for this one act of standing up for herself. For once, she wasn’t depending on someone else to do it for her.

“I already told you, little storm,” Theon said, his voice rough in a way that had a visible shudder roll through Tessa. “I will always give you whatever you need. Roan is clearly important to you. Therefore, he is important to me.”

He took another step, and still she did not move. But her throat bobbed with a swallow.

“If you wish to stay here, you can stay in our rooms. I will stay elsewhere,” he added before she could object. “If you choose to go, I can send updates as often as you’d like.”

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