Page 108 of Tempest of Wrath and Vengeance

“Control it, Tessa,” he ordered.

“That’s just it,” she cried. “Ican’t! It’s too much. It’s too wild.I’mtoo wild. I’m too impulsive. I’m too?—”

He was in front of her before she could utter the next word. Taking her chin between his thumb and forefinger, he said, “You are none of those things. Do you understand me?”

She shook her head, silver pools of frustration welling in her eyes where gold flecks peeked out among the violet. He couldfeelher power vibrating beneath his fingers and see her entire being visibly trembling.

“Okay, here’s what we’re going to do,” he said, his tone a low command. “We’re going to get you cleaned up.”

“That’s not?—”

“One thing at a time,” he interrupted. “Since you came straight here, I’m assuming no one else knows you killed two Legacy today?” When she nodded, he said, “So we need to get rid of the evidence, which means washing away the blood, cleaning up the footprints, and burning this clothing.”

“One foot in front of the other,” she said tightly.

“Yes, Tessa. Exactly that.”

She nodded again, taking in a deep breath as he took her hand and led her to his ensuite. He reached into the shower, adjusting the water temperature. Not sure how hot she’d want it, he left it on lukewarm, only to turn and find her already shedding her bloody clothing and tossing it in a pile.

“So much white,” she muttered, toeing at the discarded fabric.

And it was his turn to take a deep breath as she stood there naked in his bathroom.

“Shower, Tessa,” he ground out while internally fighting with his dragon. “I’ll take care of the clothing and footprints.”

He scooped it up, refusing to look back at her as he left the bathroom as quickly as possible. He held the clothes in his hand while he burned them, his black flames devouring every scrap of fabric and blood, and then he burned the ashes to nothing too. When that was done, he debated what to do about thefootprints. If he burned them away, there would be scorch marks left behind. In resignation, he decided it would be good old-fashioned scrubbing with soap and water, but there was no way he was going back into his bathroom with her naked and wet in there.

He Traveled to her rooms, taking care of her suite first. There was a single set of footprints in here. She truly had appeared here with Brecken and then immediately came to him. He went to her bathroom to get a cloth and soap, and of course, all the towels were white. He’d have to burn that too unless they were going to somehow play it off as her cycle, but with their luck, the Achaz Lord would have the blood analyzed. Burning it would be.

He cleaned her floor before rinsing the cloth and soaping it back up. Then he Traveled back to take care of the floor in his room. After he incinerated it, he swiped up his phone, sending a message to Theon that she was back and fine.

Theon:What the fuck happened? Did she say?

Luka:Apparently she killed some Legacy who tried to hurt her.

Theon:Good.

Luka:That’s what I said, but no one knows it was her.

Luka:And it happened at the Sirana Villas.

Theon:What the fuck was she doing there?

Luka:She insisted on visiting the Villas. But did you know there were more behind the manor house? She seemed relieved when I said I didn’t know about them.

Theon:I had no idea. I’ll look into it.

Theon:Is she all right?

It took him a second to answer that because Theon was going to know exactly what he was talking about when he told him what was going on.

Luka:She’s going through the post-survival and victory high.

Then there was a long pause from Theon before another message popped up.

Theon:I trust you, Luka.

And that was it. Nothing else came in, and Luka cursed under his breath. What the fuck was he supposed to do with that?

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