Page 275 of Tempest of Wrath and Vengeance

“Control the uncontrollable, or to fury they both lose,” Tessa sang, dancing back from the bars. “Life must give and Death must take, but Fate requires more. So much more.” She sprangforward again, practically climbing the bars. “Fate requires balance.”

“Tessa, stop,” Theon said, his voice an order and a small piece of her settled at the tone. “We’re going to get you out of here, and then we’ll figure out the rest. All right?”

A wicked smile curled on her lips. “Destiny beckons, and sacrifice demands.”

“I know, clever tempest. I understand what’s demanded.”

“Who will be left standing when Chaos comes to reign?” she recited, her smile growing wider.

“Get her out of there, Blackheart,” Theon growled. “Now.”

“I’m working on it,” he snapped. “I told you this would normally take a few days. These cells were designed to contain gods.”

“Why would you ever need to contain gods?” Theon demanded. “They can’t come here.”

“Yet,” Tristyn gritted out. “Now shut up and let me work. Keep her talking so she doesn’t fall any deeper.”

Tessa pressed her face to the bars, feeling the magic of them seep into her. She knew her eyes were glowing, couldfeelthem doing so.

“He knows things,” she whispered loudly.

“Yeah?” Theon said, taking a step closer. “What does he know, little storm?”

“He knows the female in the land in the sky.”

He hummed in response, and it did something to her. Her eyes dipped to his mouth. “I know things too,” she murmured.

He stepped closer. Leaning in, his whispered words brushed against her lips. “What do you know?”

“That I am wrong. An imbalance,” she said, suddenly stepping back. Dragging her hand along the bars, a metal rasp echoed in the chamber as she began pacing back and forth. “Too wild. Too reckless. Too uncontrollable. Control theuncontrollable, but it takes more than one.” She paused, looking over her shoulder. “It takes two. I’m not meant to exist. We break all the rules, all the bonds. All the visions and dreams, dreams and visions. Balance and no balance. It’s all the same. Sanity and madness. Where’s the line?”

“Tessa, I need you to stay with me a little longer. I need?—”

She darted forward once more, her grip on the bars so tight her knuckles turned white. “We were always meant to destroy one another, but how do you destroy death when you want to drown in the darkness?”

“Blackheart,” Theon barked. “We are out of time.”

“I know. I know,” he answered. He’d been muttering and drawing symbols and Marks on the ground. He pushed to his feet to face Theon. “Here’s the thing: this area of the Pantheon is designed to keep thingsin. That is what we keep. Everything about it is designed that way.”

“By who?” Theon demanded. “Surely you weren’t here when Devram was created.”

“No,” he agreed. “But others were. Cienna and I are not the only Keepers. There have been others over the millenniums. Some have faded; others still live. One now leads the Apothecary District in the Underground. The point is, on the rare occasion something makes its way into Devram, a Keeper is here to meet it. Cienna and I were no exception. Neither were Xan and Luka when they brought Tessa.”

“What does any of this have to do with getting her out of here?” Theon asked.

Tessa was listening, but she was also restless. She started wandering the perimeter of the room again. No windows. She couldn’t see the sky.

“Because everything about it is designed to keep herin,” Tristyn said in exasperation. “It’s designed to contain gods. It is why technology is not allowed in the Pantheon. It is toounpredictable, and we don’t know what those who make it through are capable of. We give them less to manipulate. I can get her out of that cell, but doing this quick and dirty is going to trigger other enchantments.”

“Such as?” Theon asked.

Tristyn sighed. “You already know we can’t Travel in or out of this part of the Pantheon. But if I break her out of that cell, she won’t be able to Travel at all until I can properly figure out how to break the enchantment.”

“She doesn’t need to Travel. You can Travel us,” Theon argued.

Tristyn shook his head. “You don’t understand. It is an enchantment to slow someone down. If someone comes through, the enchantments are designed to hold them until their intentions can be established.”

“Then how did Dex get through?” Tessa asked.

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