Page 251 of Tempest of Wrath and Vengeance

But what was there to say to this?

His palms landed on either side of her head, flat against the wall as he bent to peer into her face. “Tell me, Tessa. Look me in the face and tell me how you fucking used me. All this time you’ve sneered about me only being here because Theon sent me, when you’ve been using me. Using Theon. Probably using my own godsdamn father.”

“You can’t mean that!” she gasped, finally finding her voice.

“You said yourself everyone wants something, right?” he sneered. “Did you get what you wanted from me?”

“I did not ask you to stay!” she cried. “Not right away. You did that, Luka Mors. Not me.”

He scoffed, the sound so full of derision it made her flinch again. “Well? Did you get what you wanted from me then?”

“It was never like that,” she pleaded. “Not with you. Not in the end. I still have a purpose, and he is still an ally of Arius, not Achaz. I couldn’t free him, and he…”

“He what?” Luka barked.

“He knows my father. My mother. He knows so much,” she said, nearly in a whisper. “He was a link to something I was desperate for. He kept me company when no one wanted me.”

Something that could only be described as a dragon’s growl ripped from him, his palms slamming into the wall again. “If you would ever fucking listen to any of us—me, Theon, Axel—you would know that isn’t true. Theon has wanted you from the beginning. Not to use you. He’s wantedyou. It’s all he’s ever wanted. I had to give you a pet name to remind myselfnotto want you. We’ve loved you far longer than even we realize.”

She shook her head, the tears streaming now. “None of you know how to love.”

“Or maybe you just don’t know how to let yourselfbeloved.”

He pushed off the wall when she didn’t respond to that. Turning his back to her, he said, “You wanted to be a monster? Congratulations, Tessa. You succeeded.”

He was moving towards a passage she hadn’t been down, walking away from her.

“Wait!” she cried, taking a single step. “Where are you going?”

“Away from you.”

“What am I supposed to do?”

“Go home, Tessa,” he snarled. “You never wanted to be here anyway.”

“I don’t have a home,” she said, the words nearly a sob.

“It sure as fuck isn’t here.”

She stumbled, her back hitting the wall as something tugged at her naval. A pull she’d only felt with Luka, but it was how she knew what it was.

She didn’t look back as she stepped through a rip in the air and Traveled from Luka’s cave.

He didn’t want her anyway.

In the end, she had become her own villain.

44

TESSA

She didn’t know how Traveling worked, but she somehow managed to get herself back to the Achaz capital. Not the palace exactly, but at least it was Faven.

At least she was out of Arius Kingdom.

She made her way through the city, not missing the sentinels that started following her from a distance. It didn’t surprise her. She’d been expecting this. Expecting to be watched and monitored after instigating a massacre, then disappearing for a few days.

Nylah and Roan eventually appeared too, sticking close to her sides. Her fingers wound into soft fur, seeking comfort that she knew she wouldn’t find there. They were her companions, yes, but they weren’t her comfort. They weren’t her solace.

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