Page 61 of Tempest of Wrath and Vengeance

“One of the things I can’t discuss on the phone,” Theon replied tightly. “I have to go.”

“Yeah, all right,” Luka muttered a second before the line went dead.

Letting the silencing enchantment drift away, Luka tossed his phone across the sofa. Maybe he’d just Travel to his cave tonight. He had a better chance of getting some sleep there. Yet he knew he wouldn’t go. He had this same thought every night, and every night he stayed because if she happened to show up athis door again, he needed to be here. Just like Theon said, she needed to know someone had stayed for her.

And two hours later, when the bond lurched in his soul and his dragon lifted his head, he knew. She didn’t knock on the door like she had last time. No, this time, she created one of those blinding portals directly into his room.

“You need to learn to Travel,” Luka growled, shielding his eyes until the light faded.

He blinked a few times, readjusting to the dim lighting of the room to find her standing between the sofa and the bed. She was in an oversized Chaosphere sweatshirt that went to mid-thigh, and he had no idea where she’d gotten that thing from. The Whirlwinds logo was big and bold across the front, and for some unknown reason, he found himself wondering when the last time she’d even gotten to watch a game was.

It took him a minute to tear his gaze from her bare thighs to realize she was holding something in her hand: his shirt she’d worn his first night here. Dragging his gaze up her body to her face, he found her scowling.

Fidgeting in her irritation, she said tightly, “It doesn’t smell like you anymore.”

Elbow on the armrest, Luka steepled a finger along his temple as he arched a brow. He said nothing, waiting to see what she was going to do.

“Can I just…have a different one?” she finally asked after a long tense silence.

“You haven’t bothered to show up to training sessions, hardly speak more than a few words to me, and avoid me at every turn. Now you show up here and want something from me?” Luka asked.

He watched her hand clench tighter around the fabric, her power flickering before she managed to snuff it out.

“I just need a different shirt,” she said.

“Then get one from your own closet. I’m sure your Lord has provided plenty.”

“Gods, Luka. Can you just not be an ass for one day in your entire godsdamn life?” she snapped.

“Can you not act like a brat for two minutes and have a godsdamn conversation?”

Her eyes flared violet. “I’ll get it myself,” she sneered, stalking towards his closet.

And he let her because he had too much on his mind to bother fighting with her tonight.

She emerged a minute later, the black shirt he’d worn that day now in hand, but she lingered in the closet doorway. Her eyes darted to his bed, the pillows and blankets all perfectly arranged in what others would call a mess. At least here, he wasn’t deemed important enough to have his room tended to daily.

“No,” was all he said when she opened her mouth to speak.

Her features hardened again. “You don’t even know what I was going to say.”

“Were you not going to ask to sleep in here tonight?” When she pressed her lips into a tight line, he said again, “No. If you can’t bother showing up for training, I’m not going to let you sleep in my bed. You don’t get to ice me out and still get what you want from me in the end. I’m not Theon.”

She stared at him in disbelief, her mouth opening and closing a few times before she managed to find words again.

“How dare you,” she seethed.

But he dared all right. Maybe he wasn’t too tired to fight with her after all.

“You think I got what I wanted from Theon in the end?” she said, her fury igniting in those bands of light around her wrists. “I cannot wait to hear how you came to that conclusion.”

"Are you still at his side?" Luka challenged.

"That is because ofme, not him," Tessa retorted. "I did that."

"Did he follow?"

"He can't follow me, Luka. Not without breaking a bargain."

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