Page 281 of Tempest of Wrath and Vengeance

“Then what the fuck are we supposed to do?” Luka demanded, eyeing Tessa whose face was buried in Theon’s chest.

Funny how this was something he’d craved from the moment he’d claimed her, and now he was trying to figure out how to fix…whatever the fuck they were. All of them. This whole godsdamn mess.

“Ideally, I’d take her to the Underground, but there’s no way we can make it there without magic,” Theon said, his body starting to not feel right. It felt…too heavy. Shaking his head and trying to clear his thoughts, he said, “The manor? It’s closest.”

“Except your father is free,” Luka said grimly. “He’ll be looking for Eviana, and that’s one of the first places he’ll go.”

“Why?”

“It’s a long story to tell when we’re in a secure location.”

His hold on Tessa loosened some, and not by choice. The world around him was going in and out of focus.

“Back to the…” he tried, but his arms fell to his sides. Tristyn lunged to grab Tessa while Luka reached for him.

“What the fuck? Theon? What’s happening?” the dragon demanded.

Fuck if he knew. He just knew he was exhausted. So was his magic. He felt it slowly falling into slumber. Maybe he just needed some rest to recover. Every part of him liked that idea. Blinking was becoming increasingly difficult.

“Move,” came a growled voice before another set of sapphire eyes was staring down at him. He sounded annoyed when he asked, “He was stabbed with a Hunter’s blade?”

“In the back,” Tristyn answered, sounding far away. Or maybe underwater? But that didn’t make any sense unless he’d moved to the river…

“This is going to be unpleasant,” the male said.

And then Theon was burning.

Everywhere.

His arms. His legs. His insides. All of it was on fire, and he couldn’t go anywhere. He was being pressed into the hard ground, being burned alive. Thrashing, he tried to cry out, but his throat was on fire too. There was nothing but heat and excruciating pain as his lungs, his veins, hisbloodwere ignited and scorched. It didn’t stop as it ravaged his body from his feet to his fingers to his scalp. No part of him was granted mercy from the agony.

After what felt like hours, it all stopped. The sky was still dark. Luka still stood over him, and Tessa?—

He lurched upright.

“Tessa?”

“I’m here,” she said, and he found her still with Tristyn. Her eyes were wide, and those were tear tracks down her face. Had she been crying…for him?

“What the fuck was that?” Luka demanded.

He turned to find his friend glowering at his brother. Everything was still moving in slow motion, and he washot. His clothes clung to him, drenched in sweat.

“He was stabbed with a Hunter’s blade,” Razik answered. “It is poison. Not to kill Arius blood but to paralyze. There is no antidote. There are only two ways to remove the poison. One way is burning it from the body with dragon fire.”

“I know that,” Luka growled. “I did the same for Kat once.”

“Then why did you ask? Better yet, why didn’t you act?”

Smoke appeared on Luka’s exhale. “What is the other?” he gritted out.

“Persuading a Hunter to suck it out from the throat. It’s not easily done,” Razik answered.

“That’s…” Luka trailed off, clearly disturbed.

But Theon was starting to think more clearly. “Tessa was stabbed. Before I was.”

Everyone turned to her, but she was sitting up on her own. Still wide-eyed, but she appeared relatively fine.

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