Page 283 of Tempest of Wrath and Vengeance

“What, exactly, are you saying?” Tessa asked, her power vibrating around her.

Theon held her stare when he said, “We’re saying the Revelation Decree was a warning for Devram. If the balance is not corrected, Chaos will reign and the realms will fall. Time has run out. There are signs everywhere. The kingdoms are about to go to war with each other. Lines are being drawn, and old allies are betraying one another. Even the Underground is seemingly in disarray. The Night Children are not supposed to be in the kingdoms. The Fates will come for you, Tessa.”

“So you are…going to hand me over to the Augury? To the Fates?” she demanded, gold and silver sparks floating around her, drifting through her hair. “After all of this, all of your promises about keeping me, you are just going to give me up?”

He smiled then, a soft thing he’d only ever give to her. “No, beautiful. I am going to give up Devram.”

“Theon,” Luka cut in. “I need you to spell this out. What exactly is the plan here?”

“The Fates will come here seeking Tessa, but when they get here, she will be gone,” Theon answered.

“Gone?” Luka repeated. “Gone where?”

He turned to Razik and Eliza. “You are going to take her to Scarlett. I understand a goddess hid in your world for over a thousand years. That should be plenty of time to figure out a way to save her.”

“She can’t go there,” Razik said. “Scarlett will not allow such a harbinger into our world so soon. Not because she does not care, but because she will not subject the people of Halaya to such danger. We are still recovering from a war we barely survived.”

“But she can take her somewhere else? World walk her to another realm to stay hidden for the time being while a solid plan is formed?” Theon pushed.

“We can make sure that is done,” Eliza agreed, stepping closer to Razik’s side.

Turning back to Luka, who was staring at him in disbelief, Theon said, “When the Fates come here and cannot find her, they will destroy Devram, assuming she is being hidden here. It will take some time for them to figure out she still lives, just as it has taken time for them to find her here. This will buy her more time.”

“Destroy Devram?” Tessa said, her tone betraying her confusion. “But…you will still be here? Luka? Axel?”

He pushed off the altar, crossing the room and taking her face in his hands. “Luka will go with you, Tessa.” She was shaking her head, but he still cupped her cheeks. Swallowing his own emotions, he said, “He was always supposed to be yours, right? When I am gone, he can become your Guardian. The way it was always meant to be. Yeah?”

“No!” she spluttered. “You are condemning an entire world to death, Theon. There are innocent Fae and mortals here. There are… No!”

He couldn’t keep himself from pressing his lips to hers, soft and tender. A way they’d never kissed. This was an entirely new battle of acceptance and denial.

Pulling back just enough to look into her violet eyes, he said, “Tessalyn Ausra, I would sacrifice all the realms and all the stars for you. You are perfectly wild. Perfectly untamed. You were not made to be caged, nor were you made to be a sacrifice for a realm that does not deserve such a gift. You were made to live in the light. Go live, little storm.”

She was crying, her tears slipping beneath his fingers, and he swiped them away with his thumbs. But that was not sorrow in her eyes.

It was fury.

“Youliedto me,” she seethed. “You told me you would always find me, and now you areleavingme?”

“I will find you in the After, Tessa. I’ll be waiting for you. You will forever be mine.”

“No,” she said, shaking her head in refusal. His hands slipped from her face. “No,” she repeated. “You don’t get to justdecidethis, Theon.”

He turned to Razik. “You know how to call Scarlett?”

“Yes,” he answered. “We will work out where to hide them.”

Theon turned to Luka, who was still staring at him. Summoning a half tilt of his lips, he said, “It is the last order I’ll ever give you.”

“You’re really doing this? Condemning an entire realm?” Luka demanded.

“To save her from something she never asked for? Never deserved to be shoved into? Yeah, Luka, and I’m trusting you to take care of her,” he answered. “Make sure she leaves.”

The two stared at each other a moment longer before Luka was pulling him into a hug. “You don’t have to do this.”

“I do,” Theon answered. “I’ve finally accepted that I have run out of time.”

Stepping back from his chosen brother, he turned to Tessa once more. She was pacing, her hands in her hair, and he caught her wrist, tugging her into him. “Be happy, little storm.”

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