Page 175 of Tempest of Wrath and Vengeance

“Are you all right?” she whispered.

“Why wouldn’t I be all right?” he asked, shifting so he could see her better.

“You were feeling…”

She trailed off, and he jumped in before she could go on. “I’m fine, my light. Areyouall right?”

She blinked slowly, as if the action took too much energy.

“I’m tired. And thirsty,” she rasped.

Fuck. There wasn’t any water in here.

I told you to have water ready for her,Theon chided down the bond.

Luka rolled his eyes, but when he looked back at Tessa, hers were closed again.

“Tessa, he’s right. You should drink something. Eat. Move around a little,” Luka said.

She hummed an acknowledgment, but that was it. Which wasn’t going to work for him. He threw the blankets back, lettingthe cool air hit her skin and watching it pebble, but she still didn’t move.

“Up, Tessa,” he said, slipping from the bed himself.

Give her a minute. She always needs a minute,Theon said.Get her some water. And grab your phone.

Cursing him—and letting him hear it—Luka swiped his phone off the nightstand and made his way to the bathroom to fill a glass with water. He was shutting the tap off when his phone vibrated with an incoming call.

“What?” he growled into the phone.

“How is she?” Theon asked immediately.

“Thirsty apparently.”

“Fuck off with the mood, Luka,” Theon snapped.

He sighed, setting the glass on the vanity and turning to lean against it. “I don’t know how she is,” he answered. “We’re in the same situation here, Theon. I can’t feel her, just like you can’t.”

“But you canseeher,” Theon said, and Luka could hear the thin veil of desperation. “How does she look?”

“I don’t know because I had to go get her water,” he said dryly.

“Can you not be an asshole for the time being?”

Luka sighed again, rubbing at his brow. “Sorry. It has been…an intense few days. It’s different from the Markings. We had known what to expect. This was…not that.”

“Yeah, you’ve felt…off,” Theon said carefully.

He debated saying anything about this, but if he couldn’t talk to his best friend, then who could he talk to? If he couldn’t confide in Theon, then he truly was alone.

“She pulled me into a vision, and it was… I don’t know how she handles seeing that kind of stuff all the time,” Luka finally said. “And this vision? It’s all I see when I close my eyes now. I haven’t been able to talk about it with her, but she woke up for a few seconds before she pulled me in.”

“Pulled you in?” Theon repeated. “Explain that.”

“She said something along the lines of ‘come see.’ Then she closed her eyes, and I was in her vision,” Luka answered.

He knew Theon was pacing on the other end of the line, could practically see him trying to put all the pieces together.

“Her visions are actually why I called,” Theon said. “We got passes for Ekayan Island. Today.”

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