Page 111 of Dawn of Chaos and Fury
“You heard me. They took her to her godsdamn Estate.”
“Why?”
“Because they’re desperate to keep control of her, and what better way than taking her to the place where all her nightmares started?”
Well, fuck.
He pushed his hair back before swiping a hand down his face. “But you have her now?”
“Not fully,” Theon said, his tone one Luka knew all too well. “We have to wait until the Ladies get here next week to approve me taking the Arius Lord seat.”
“But Valter’s not dead.”
“There’s lots to fill you in on,” he answered. “But all I need to know from you right now is what you’re planning to do. She told me she left. That she wasn’t holding you to anything.”
Luka said nothing, his grip on the phone tightening. Some part of him was jealous that she’d gone straight to Theon. It had always been the other way around. Theon driving her away, and her coming to him. He supposed this was his fault, but she’d pushed him to this point.
“Luka?” Theon said, his tone getting shorter. “What do you plan to do?”
“I don’t know, all right?” he snapped. “She said she was going to leave, and?—”
“And what? You thought I wouldn’t follow her if she left this realm alone? The only reason I was able to let her go to begin with was because I knew you would be with her, Luka,” he retorted.
“She knew where my father was for months and didn’t say a fucking word, Theon!” Luka yelled into the phone. “How the fuck do you expect me to move past that?”
Silence greeted him, stretching on for a full minute before Theon finally spoke again.
“She was doing what everyone in Devram does, Luka. She was doing exactly what we’d taught her. She trusted no one?—”
“She trustedme,” Luka cut in. “I was the one she was pulling into her dreams. I was the one she was making concessions for. And yet she couldn’t tell methis?”
“Did you ever ask her why?”
“Of course I did,” Luka retorted, but when only silence greeted him once again, he let himself really think about it. She’d tried. She’d tried to explain and apologize, but he wouldn’t hear it. And since then…
Since then he’d made it clear where he stood, and she’d done nothing but accept the boundaries he’d drawn.
“I’m not going to tell you what to do here,” Theon finally said. “You’re my family. My brother. The one person I trust without question. We have things to do, and I can’t do them without you. But she’s not going anywhere. Take the time you need. Figure your shit out, but when you come to find us, you best have your mind made up one way or the other. Don’t make her wonder, and don’t give her hope if there isn’t any.”
“Anything else?” Luka gritted out.
“Yeah. I fucking miss your broody ass,” he retorted.
And the line went dead.
Luka stared at his phone, the Firewings logo staring back at him from the home screen. He was no closer to knowing what he was going to do than he was when he’d found that letter. But that wasn’t entirely true either. She’d said she was going to leave, and then what would he do? She would leave the realm, and the choice would be made for him. It was the coward’s way out. He was well aware, and the Fates had fucked him over anyway.
If he wanted to stay with Theon, as his Guardian and family, she would be there. Theon had made that perfectly clear, andhe was right. He needed to decide and have that conversation with Tessa, so there wasn’t any misunderstandings or confusion about where they stood. Then they could both move forward.
Sighing, he slid his phone into his pocket and made his way out to the main living area. He paused when he found Razik and Eliza at the counter eating sandwiches. Razik glanced at him before resuming his meal without a word.
Luka didn’t speak either, continuing to the kitchen and grabbing the supplies still laid out to make a sandwich of his own.
Eliza cleared her throat, setting down her food. “Do we have a plan yet?”
“Well, I know where she is, so I guess that’s a start,” Luka muttered, spreading mayo and mustard on some bread.
“Okay, well?—”
