Page 80 of Tempest of Wrath and Vengeance

When she still wouldn’t look at him, he reached out and took her chin, tipping her face up to his. Violet eyes finally connected, hard and unyielding. He couldn’t blame her. They’d made her into this. They’d forced her not to trust them. He certainly didn’t expect her to apologize to Theon for anything, but he could know all of that and still know she was choosing the wrong side in all of this. Know that they were all villains, but some were worse than others. He was just running out of ideas on how to prove that to her.

Releasing her chin, he sat back. “Eat up, baby girl. While your power might not need it, your body does. It’s already been a long day, and it’s barely past high noon.”

She eyed him as though looking for a ruse in his words before she cautiously said, “You’ll still train me?”

“Why wouldn’t I?”

“Whywouldyou?” she countered.

“That power is a danger to the entire realm if you can’t control it, Tessa,” he answered.

“But by training me, aren’t you basically training me to…”

“Kill everyone in the kingdom I’ve worked my entire life trying to protect and free from a power-hungry Lord? Yeah, I guess I am. But at least it will be contained to just the innocent people here rather than the whole of the realm,” he replied, picking up his burger and taking another bite.

Tessa was quiet after that, finishing her meal without another word. When Theon came back, he didn’t come in. Luka met him at the door, where he handed over a few pairs of leggings, jeans, and tops, along with her phone and earbuds. He gave Luka a quick update on Roan, and then he slipped the onyx ring from his finger and handed that over too.

“I don’t know when I’ll see you again, so you may as well take this now,” Theon said, his voice low. “I have to get back to the Acropolis. Razik and Eliza are waiting for me.”

He paused, and Luka wanted to ask if the male had even asked to meet his possible relative, but he pushed down that impulse.

“The wolf is in the kennels if she wants to see him before you leave,” Theon added.

“I know it goes against everything in you not to be with her, guarding her, keeping her sheltered and safe, but she needs to see for herself, Theon. All the things you’ve tried to protect her from? She needs to see to understand. Just like Axel had to,” Luka said.

“That’s why I sent you to her. Because I can’t…” He trailed off, stepping back from the doorway. “I’m not the one for that. I wish I was, but that can’t be me. I’ll update you later tonight on the wolf.”

Then he was striding down the hall, already scrolling through emails on his phone as he went.

Shutting the door behind him, he turned to find Tessa cleaning up their dishes and placing them in the sink.

“He didn’t eat,” she said, picking up his plate with the untouched burger and fries.

“Can you blame him?” Luka retorted, crossing the room in a few long strides. He took the plate and passed her the clothes. “Put pants on. We can go see Roan before we go.”

She nodded, not bothering to go to the bedroom. She just placed everything on the sofa, slid on a pair of leggings, and left his giant sweatshirt on. While she did that, he went and found a bag. He shoved some of his own clothing into it before grabbing her extra clothes too. None of it was white or cream or light.

Gathering her still damp hair atop her head, Tessa started looking around for a hair tie. Luka sighed, opening a small wooden box on the table beside her and pulling one out.

“Thank you,” she murmured, peering inside the box. Then she paused. “What are all those rings for?”

“Nothing,” he muttered, slamming the lid shut.

“You’re broodier than usual today,” she grumbled.

“Yeah, well, I had to come break up a fight between you and Theon, rescue you from vampyres, and just found out?—”

Her head canted to the side when he stopped talking abruptly. She didn’t ask what he’d been about to say, but he suspected that was because she already knew.

“It’s already been a long day,” he finally finished.

She nodded slowly, but said nothing else. Shifting on her bare feet, she worried her bottom lip, and he wished they could just go back into the bedroom and sit on the sofa doing nothing for the rest of the day.

“We should go see Roan and get back,” Tessa said.

“I know you have said you cannot stay here?—”

“I can’t, Luka,” she interrupted. “This place holds… I can’t.”

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