Page 6 of Tempest of Wrath and Vengeance

Liked that they knew they couldn’t control her.

She was in control now, and everyone below her knew it.

Lady Candra broke the stare first, her eyes dropping, and Tessa slid her attention to the door where Lord Jove was entering the room. His Source, Dysani, was a step behind him. The female’s hands were clasped in front of her, gaze fixed on her Master.

Rordan glanced up at Tessa, a warm smile filling his face as he dipped his chin in greeting before settling into his chair on the raised dais. Six chairs looked out over the rest of the room; all of them were now occupied but one.

Tessa straightened as the bond stirred. It shouldn’t be doing that. But more than that, this wasn’t the stirring ofhimbeing near. She’d been learning to differentiate between the two during her last days with them. The bond with Theon was insistent and demanding, but this was different. This was coaxing and left her wanting. This was?—

“My apologies for my late arrival,” came a male voice that had her stumbling back a step.

What was he doing here? He wasn’t supposed to be here. This was not how today was supposed to go.

“Luka Mors,” Rordan said from his seat. “To what do we owe the pleasure?”

Tessa watched as Luka paused for only a moment to bow to the Lords and Ladies before he steppedontothe dais without invitation. He lowered into the Arius seat as if he had every right to be there. His legs were sprawled, and he leaned back in the chair as though he would rather be anywhere else. No one said a word, and Tessa couldn’t take her eyes off him.

His brown hair was pulled back, tied in a knot on top of his head, and he was in a three-piece suit, all of it black. It fit him like it’d been custom tailored to fit his muscular frame, and it likely had been. And she knew he hated wearing the thing. She’d only seen him in a suit a handful of other times. He usually opted for suit pants and button-down shirts, just formal enough to keep Valter off his back. But Valter wasn’t an issue anymore, and yet here he was, looking like a Lord himself.

A Sargon Lord, she realized, if such a thing were allowed to exist.

It wasn’t until Rordan spoke again that Tessa realized she was clutching the railing so tightly her knuckles were white, and her magic was flaring once more. But Luka never looked at her. For all he appeared to care, she may as well not exist in this room at all.

“I would suggest you explain your actions, Mors,” Rordan said, sitting straighter in his chair. A faint flare of power flickered at his fingertips.

“Theon was unable to attend on such short notice,” Luka said. “As I am sure you are aware, Valter is currently unavailable.”

“Everyone is aware that Lord St. Orcas is handling some pressing matters in the Underground,” Rordan answered.

“Which is why we expected an Arius Heir to be here,” the Serafina Lady cut in with a questioning look to Luka.

She knew Rordan had fed the ruling Ladies some lie about Valter. That was not what surprised her about this whole exchange, and she now had the same question as Lady Isleen. She had been prepared to see Axel. All morning she had been preparing herself to see him. Theoncouldn’tcome here. Not with the bargain they’d made. If he intentionally entered the same space she was in, it would break that deal, and he would incur a curse of some kind. Axel was supposed to be here, not Luka.

“Unless Axel St. Orcas is no longer the next in line?” Lady Isleen continued.

“What are you implying?” Luka asked, his eyes narrowing on the Serafina Lady.

“Theon does have a Match contract,” the Falein Lady mused as if this made perfect sense. “It would stand to reason he could have an heir of his own at this point.”

The entire room went still as thunder rumbled, and Tessa felt the floor beneath her shudder with the sound.

That was when Luka finally deigned to look at her.

Sapphire eyes connected with hers, and her heart was beating too wildly. She shouldn’t care. She’d walked away from him. She’d finally won. Finally taken her freedom, leaving nothing but blood and desolation in her wake.

Because that was what monsters did.

It was the only way to survive in a realm full of villains.

Luka’s attention had already returned to the room as he said, “There is not another heir that I am aware of. Axel is also unavailable. Therefore, as Theon’s advisor and second, forall intents and purposes, I was sent to report back whatever is discussed.”

“This is absurd,” the Celeste Lady scoffed. “You are not of the Arius bloodline. You cannot sit in that seat.”

“Then who do you propose should be in this seat?” Luka countered.

“The next most powerful Arius Legacy,” she retorted.

“Are you saying the most powerful Legacy of a bloodline should have a kingdom seat?”

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