Page 69 of Tempest of Wrath and Vengeance

“No!” Theon snarled, his power pushing his Guardian aside again. “This is our fight, Luka. Stay out of it.”

“Stay out of it?” Tessa sneered. “Didn’t you send him to interfere? Glad to see those double standards extend to more than just me.”

“If you’d bother to listen to either of us, you’d know that’s not the case,” Luka retorted.

“I can’t trust you!” she cried. “I can’t trust anyone!”

“What in the name of Anala is going on in here?”

Everyone spun at the female voice. Eliza and Razik stood in the doorway, and fuck. Luka’s face had gone slack in a rare show of emotion.

“Um, Raz…?” Eliza trailed off.

“I see,mai dragocen,” Razik replied, his sapphire stare pinned on Luka.

The silence stretched on until Tessa started laughing, a maniacal thing of glee.

“What is so funny?” Theon gritted out.

“Everything,” she mused. “Eventually, Theon, you’re going to have to let others in on your plans, because all you ever seem to do is give people more reasons not to trust you.”

“And what about you?” he retorted, noting that Luka had regained his composure but refused to look at him.

“I’ve told you from the beginning I was an excellent liar,” she said, that insanity bleeding into her features as she looked around the room. “But you create just as much chaos as I do, don’t you?”

She leapt from the desk, seeming to float to the floor before she was striding towards him.

Luka didn’t try to intervene. He didn’t even tense at the danger prowling towards his Ward.

Tessa stopped a few feet from Theon, her head tilting back slightly so she could look into his face. “Your father has a place in the Leisure District of the Underground. Speak with the Alpha and Beta, and bring a fair bit of coin.”

Nothing about what she’d just said made any sense. His father didn’t have any holdings in the Leisure District, and the Alpha and Beta who ran it were fickle and not to be trusted. They’d turn their back on an ally for a better offer in a heartbeat.

A portal burst to life behind her as she spun to leave, but she paused just before she stepped through it. Looking over her shoulder, she added, “To be clear, this favor is for him, not you. Because I did, in fact, care for him too.”

And then she was gone.

“Luka, wait. Let me explain,” Theon started, seeing his friend extinguish the flames that were still in his hands, almost as if he’d forgotten they were there.

“I need to go make sure she doesn’t destroy anything,” he answered before he disappeared into the air.

Theon pinched the bridge of his nose between his thumb and forefinger, squeezing his eyes shut. He inhaled deeply, holding the breath for several seconds before exhaling harshly.

“I’m going to assume that was Tessa,” Eliza started carefully. “But the male was…”

“My Guardian,” Theon said, opening his eyes and meeting Razik’s shocked gaze. “And if your queen is to be believed, he’s also your brother.”

14

TESSA

She stepped onto the bank of the Wynfell River just outside the Acropolis in the Arius Kingdom. Tessa didn’t know why she’d come here. Going back to Faven would have been the wise thing to do, but her power was still too restless and angry, and she couldn’t get it under control.

Her bare feet sank into the snow that had accumulated, but she didn’t feel the cold as it tried to seep into her bones. The hem of her dress was immediately soaked, wet fabric sticking to her shins and ankles. Threads of light still wound around the length of her arms, her chest, her stomach. Each footstep was echoed by lightning, and not that she had anyone she could admit it to, but she was becoming rather alarmed at the fact that she couldn’t rein this power in.

Useless.

That was what she was with this power. Utterly useless.

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