Page 126 of Dawn of Chaos and Fury
Neither he nor Tessa answered that question, but Theon said, “And what makes you think you’ll be able to detain us?”
Rordan smiled something truly sinister. “I know her power is not what it should be. Not with that cuff absorbing her magic for the last two weeks, even if I couldn’t convince her to eat a pastry this morning to make it slumber even more. Beyond that, youare not yet a Lord. Even if you were, your Source is weakened. You are not strong enough to take me on, but aside from all that, I also have them.”
As he said the words, seraphs appeared in the room. Some Traveling in and some bursting through the office door. More than a dozen of them. Some had power swirling at their fingertips; others had weapons.
“You disappoint me, Tessie,” Dex said, cold and harsh as he glared at her. “I tried to give you everything. I would have taken you home when this was all over.”
“Achaz would never let me live,” she answered. “He would use me to do his dirty work, then kill me for the Arius blood in my veins.”
“And now he will simply kill you,” Dex replied. “Stupid, reckless child.” With a jerk of his chin, he commanded, “Get me the cuff, and bring her to me.”
The seraphs converged, coming for them, and Theon didn’t know what he was doing as he tugged Tessa into his chest. Darkness wrapped around them, swallowing them whole. He didn’t know how or why, but it was instinct to take a step, shadow-walking through the dark.
But he’d never done this before, and he didn’t know where they were when they appeared beside a body of water. Trees surrounded them, and clouds obscured the sun.
“Lake Moonmist,” Tessa said, taking in their surroundings. She looked at him in concern. “We didn’t go far enough, Theon. This is right next to the estate.”
“I don’t even know what I did or how I did it. I don’t know…” He trailed off, feeling helpless and out of his element. Healwaysknew. Always had control of his power.
And then the seraphs appeared.
Tessa was nearly powerless, and they were alone.
Fuck.
25
LUKA
“This is where Fae are raised?” Eliza asked in a tone that told Luka exactly what she thought of that.
“Most of them,” Luka answered as they approached the Celeste Estate main gates. “There are four estates. Some Fae have homes in the cities after they are assigned to kingdoms. But all Fae children are sent to an estate for academics by the age of six.”
“And the Fae just…allow that?”
“It’s how things are done,” he answered.
“It’s cruel.”
“I don’t disagree,” he answered. “But when it’s how it’s always been done, eventually everyone stops questioning. It’s just…normal.” Stopping at the gates, he added, “Devram is on the edge of a reformation. The Lords and Ladies are trying to incite panic to control the masses, but… I don’t think things will stay the same. Change is coming either way.”
“That’s the hope,” Eliza grumbled. “How are we getting in there?”
Luka had used the Tracking Mark that still connected him to Tessa to make sure she was still here. Assuming Theonwouldn’t leave her again, two days ago they’d Traveled to Arobell, the Celeste Kingdom capital city, with Razik and Eliza. They’d all agreed they should leave the cave for a while. Not because anyone could access it with his wards, but because Tessa had clearly been taken from there. There were likely seraphs lingering as spies.
Cienna had taken Xan to the Underground while Razik and Eliza had come with him. At this point, any extra power wouldn’t hurt. They had no idea what they were going to come up against. So they’d rested up in Arobell, letting their reserves fill fully, before they ventured to the estate, being dropped off at the end of the long drive they’d just walked up.
“We could fly over the gates,” Razik offered, a slyness to his voice that Luka didn’t understand.
“Why are you saying it like that?” Luka asked at the same time Eliza said, “Absolutely not.”
Luka glanced between the two of them. “Did something happen when you were flying?”
“No,” Eliza retorted.
“How could it when her feet have never left the ground?” Razik added.
Luka looked back at Eliza in surprise. “Never? You’ve never gone flying with him?”
