Page 274 of Tempest of Wrath and Vengeance

“Which is what?” Corbin demanded. “Maybe we can help another way.”

“There is no other way,” she replied, moving back down the stairs and heading for the door that would lead to the garage.

“We will be caught, and then we will all pay the price,” Corbin argued.

“Then make sure we don’t get caught,” she answered.

“This is madness,” he said, but a thread of acceptance was creeping into his tone.

Perhaps he was right. Perhaps thiswasmadness. But madness would be needed to carry this out. She truly did not care if she died in the process, nor did she care who went down with her.

If this was madness, it was the only gift Devram had ever given her.

49

TESSA

The wall of the cell was smooth beneath her fingertips as she moved along the perimeter, dragging her fingers. The bands on her wrists bit into her skin, but the ring? Gods, the fucking ring was trying to sink into her power, and her magic was fighting back. It was a constant war within her being, the chaos driving her half-crazy.

Or fully?

Maybe Theon had been wrong this whole time. Maybe the only way to survive in a realm full of monsters and villains wasn’t by becoming one, but by giving in to the mania.

Humming a song from Axel’s playlist, she made another pass. Her bare feet left prints on the dusty floor of the cell. She could feel it humming with power. Not just any kind of power though. This was more than Fae or even Legacy. This was the power of the gods.

This was Chaos.

The very essence of it was infused into this cell. It called to her as if it was a part of her. So much power in one soul. Something so small was never meant to hold something so mighty.

She didn’t hear them approach, too lost to the call of it all, but she heardhisvoice.

“Tessa?”

It was tentative. Uncertain. So unlike him.

She turned to find the Heir of Death staring back at her. Could those emerald eyes see what lay in the center of her being? Could they see the chaos and the depravity? The sacrifices and the betrayal? The apathy and the hunger?

“No, but I can feel it all,” he answered as if she’d spoken the thoughts aloud.

She lurched forward, wrapping her fingers around the bars. “Does it call to you too? Do you understand it? Because I don’t, Theon, and I’m trying. I’m trying to understand.”

“I’m starting to understand, beautiful,” he said gently. “I’m starting to understand all of it.”

“Then you can help?”

“I can help,” he agreed.

Relief flooded through her, and it was only then she noticed the other figure in a cloak. The hood was down, revealing his face. His russet eyes had a sage glow to them.

“Keepers of the realm,” she sang. “You and your sister. Both. Together and separate. So many faces. So manysecrets.”

“What is wrong with her?” Theon demanded, turning to Tristyn.

“We were all so worried about her siding with Achaz, we missed the obvious,” he said. “Even Cienna missed it.”

“Missed what?”

“Dark must bow and light must rule, but Chaos does not choose.”

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