Page 15 of Tempest of Wrath and Vengeance

“Again, why are you telling me this?”

Luka sighed, pulling the band from his hair and letting the strands fall around his face. “Because you told me to go to her, to find out where Axel is, and she won’t talk to me. I figured you had experience with… Well, you know.”

A long pause greeted him before Theon said, “Are you trying to say I have experience with Tessa completely shutting me out?”

“Don’t act offended,” Luka said, toeing off his shoes before removing his socks.

“And now you are asking me foradviceon how to handle her?” Theon continued, unfazed. “The one she fucked and then left on his knees?”

“Well, when you say it like that,” Luka grumbled, calling his power forth and letting black flames linger.

For so long they’d kept his true lineage quiet. Most had assumed he was an Arius Legacy, and it was second nature to keep his power hidden just as he’d kept his dragon form and Traveling abilities hidden. This was one of the few places he felt at ease and able to drop all his shields and pretenses, even with the truth out in the open now.

There was an exasperated sound on the other end. “You want to know how I got her to finally talk to me when she was actively ignoring me?” Theon asked. “I pushed her, Luka. I pushed her too godsdamn far when the rest of you warned me not to. I told her to get herself under control, and then I pushed her to the point of losing it. I’m not the one to give you advice on this. That’s why I sent you to her.Youare the one she asks for. You are the one she likes to be able to see. You are the one…” He trailed off for another long moment before saying, “You’re the one who has always known she wasn’t the one for this, and now I know why.”

“What does that mean?” Luka asked, extinguishing the flames in his palm.

“It’s nothing I can explain now.”

Suspicion immediately blossomed because the only time Theon told him that was when he was trying to work something out, which usually meant he’d discovered some new information.

“With everything going on, this is not the time to keep secrets, Theon. If you learned something new, you need to tell us,” Luka said.

“Us? We don’t even know where the fuck Axel is right now,” Theon retorted.

“Then what’s the plan?”

“There is no plan, Luka. You’re the one who repeatedly said the plan was fucked.”

“Theoriginalplan was fucked,” he argued. “We can’t just move forward without a plan. That’s just…chaos.”

“The plan right now is for you to talk to Tessa and see if she knows where Axel is. I’ll keep searching on my end while also trying to run an entire godsdamn kingdom.”

“You should probably start by showing up for the Tribunal meetings,” Luka replied dryly.

“I told you I couldn’t get there this time. Not when they call a meeting last minute like this. I’m tied up with something else.”

“Right. Something you can’t explain now.”

“For fuck’s sake, Luka,” Theon sighed. “Just tell me what happened.”

“Now you want me to tell you things?”

“Gods, you’re broodier than usual. When was the last time you went flying? Or went to your cave?”

“I’m there now,” he answered, looking around at the place he’d claimed as his own.

He’d spent an exorbitant amount of money to make it not so cave-like. The floors had been sanded smooth, and he’d paid an Anahita Legacy to enchant pipes so he had running waterthroughout the caverns that branched off from the rest of the space. He even had a high-end kitchen installed, which was ridiculous because he never cooked. But here, no one taunted him about how he liked his giant bed in another cavern room to be a mess of pillows and blankets. Here it was quiet, and he could think. Here there weren’t expectations and demands constantly being made of him. Here there wasn’t a need to prove he was worthy of the blood that ran in his veins.

And here, no one touched his godsdamn things.

“Just tell me about the meeting,” Theon said. “Then go fly for a bit.”

“There’s a lot of tension among the rulers right now,” Luka offered, tucking the hair tie into a bronze tin and picking up one of the rings inside it.

“When isn’t there?” Theon replied.

“This was more than that,” Luka said, rolling the silver ring between his fingers. “Tessa being there was a power play by Jove, whether she realizes it or not. It didn’t matter that she left before things really got under way. The others saw her.”

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