Page 252 of Tempest of Wrath and Vengeance

They weren’t home.

The walk back to the palace took over an hour, and when she finally got there, Nylah stayed outside, prowling the perimeter. Roan, however, followed her up to her rooms, a faithful friend she’d missed terribly.

The sentinels that had trailed her through the city stopped at the gates, a new set of guards taking over. They didn’tbother hiding it. Shutting the door to her rooms behind her, three of them stayed outside. Stupid, really. They all knew she could make portals. Having guards outside her rooms seemed pointless.

Or it would be if she wasn’t so broken.

If she wasn’t back in a place she’d tried so hard to claw her way out of. She thought she’d made it too. More powerful than anyone else. Someone people feared as much as they feared Theon. A villain. A monster. Forcing dark to bow so light could rule.

All of it as fleeting as her visions.

Instead of clawing her way out, she’d only dug a tunnel to another pit of torment. This place was arguably worse. She’d experienced what it felt like to have people fight for her. Gotten a taste of people wanting her, and still she’d pushed them away. Still she’d created a mess.

Or maybe you just don’t know how to let yourself be loved.

Truer words had never been spoken.

She changed out of the black training clothes, sliding on cream, loose, linen pants and a white top. She braided her hair over her shoulder before she crawled onto her bed to wait. They would come for her soon enough.

Roan leapt onto the bed beside her, turning in a few circles before settling down, and she scratched behind his ears.

“I’m sorry we lost her,” Tessa whispered. “I know you were close.”

Roan whined, lifting his head to nuzzle into her hand. She let the pain of losing Auryon wash over her. Another loss and hurt that Luka had soothed away now raw and painful.

She didn’t know why she did it, but she reached into the nightstand drawer, finding the phone Theon had given her.

But that was a lie.

She knew exactly why she did it as she powered on the device. She watched it blink to life, waiting as it loaded and tipping her head back against the headboard. Her eyes fell closed, and she inhaled deeply, then regretted it. Luka had been sleeping in here with her, and there were still traces of his scent in the air.

The phone in her hand suddenly started vibrating, ping after ping sounding loud in the silence. Message after message poured in, and she stared down at the phone, her mouth dropping open. More than a hundred messages were being downloaded to the thing. What in the realms?

With a trembling hand, she thumbed open the text threads, gasping at what she found. Save for a few messages from Axel when he had been trying to track her down, every single message was from Theon. She scrolled up to the first, finding the date it had been sent—the day after she had left him on his knees. There was a text every single day since, sometimes two.

Scrolling back to the top, she clicked open the first.

Theon:I understand the hate. Today, I hate you too.

A bark of laughter escaped her. Probably not the reaction he’d envisioned when he sent that, but wasn’t that what she’d wanted? Him to feel what he’d done to her? Have a taste of her wrath and vengeance?

She clicked on the message sent the next day.

Theon:But I’ll still come for you.

The next.

Theon:I said I’ll still come for you, but I know you don’t want that. Luka is coming. I’ve told him not to tell meanything. He’s loyal. He’ll follow the order. You can trust him, little storm.

A sob hitched in her throat. She opened the next one.

Theon:Axel is missing. I know you don’t have your phone, and this is pointless, but… Fuck.

She scrolled down, opening one a few days later.

Theon:Somehow I have to search for Axel and run a kingdom. I thought I was prepared for this. Turns out I wasn’t prepared for anything.

Tessa scrolled down more.

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