Page 129 of Dawn of Chaos and Fury
“What’s the plan here? Travel out?” Luka asked, finally making it to Theon’s side while reaching over and pulling Tessa in between them. He heard her suck in a sharp breath, but he ignored it.
“And go where?” Theon asked, dark mist springing up to block an onslaught of attacks from above.
He had a good point. Luka would bet there were seraphs waiting around the cave now. And who could they trust in the kingdoms? Arius House was questionable, but even if it gave them a few hours to regroup and come up with a plan, it might be worth it.
“What happened to your power?” Luka asked, glancing down at Tessa.
But Theon answered, pulling some kind of cuff from his pocket. Thicker than the usual bands, it resembled a vambrace. It was white and black with gold and silver etchings he didn’t recognize. “They had this on her. Apparently it was absorbing her power.”
“How?”
“We didn’t really sit down and have a conversation about it,” Theon growled, his power converging to snap wings clean off a diving seraph. The being’s cries echoed as Roan pounced, teeth tearing out the female’s throat.
Luka took the cuff, examining it and debating if he could get Razik’s attention. If the cuff had absorbed her power, there had to be a way to get it released. Right?
“Incoming!” Theon yelled, a handful of seraphs rushing them.
Luka passed the cuff to Tessa, saying, “Stay between us.”
“But I?—”
He didn’t hear what she was going to say as he engaged with a seraph. Black flames wreathed his fists, blocking a hit with his arm while landing a punch to the male’s ribs with the other. The seraph grunted, but he didn’t go down. His next hit landed, wrapped in ice, and Luka swore as he absorbed the blow to his jaw.
The seraph was trying to circle him, but he’d had enough of this. He lunged, the seraph clearly surprised as he scrambled to shield, but Luka wasn’t aiming to land a hit. His fingers closed around soft, dark brown feathers, and he yanked hard, hearing several snapping sounds. So much like his own wings, but also different.
The seraph let out a bellow of pain, an ice dagger appearing in his hand, but Luka caught his arm a second before the blade pierced his skin.
And then a dark dagger was in the male’s throat as Tessa practically climbed Luka, using his arm as a step to jump and reach the male’s neck. She leapt, landing in a low crouch while the seraph crumpled and blood sprayed, splattering her golden strands.
“I had it under control,” Luka grunted, watching Theon take down another.
“Never tell me to stay back and safe between the two of you again, Luka Mors,” she retorted, pushing to her feet.
He blinked at her. At the female who’d wanted exactly that when he’d escorted her to a stage to be claimed as a Source. And now…
Now she was a fierce thing of chaos and fury who’d taken control of her own destiny. Who’d kept training, not because shewas forced to, but because shewantedto. Who’d found another way when he’d so often dismissed her. On her own. With Eliza. Both in combat and with her magic.
She’d found herself worth fighting for.
“Why aren’t you using your bow?” he demanded, watching her lips purse in annoyance at his dismissal of her command.
“Why aren’t you using your fucking power?” she shot back.
“Because someone is going to need to Travel us out of here,” Luka retorted. “If I’m too drained, then we’re stuck here— Fuck!”
His hand snapped out, grabbing her and yanking her into his side as three seraphs came from the sky. Hewasusing dragonfire then, two of them nothing but a few drifting ashes before they made it to the ground.
But the third…had disappeared?
“Dex is here,” Tessa said in cold fury. “He’s using his magic to make us see things that aren’t there. This whole thing could be an illusion.”
“He’sthatpowerful?” Luka asked.
She shrugged. “Maybe. They want this cuff.”
She still held the thing in her other hand, keeping a tight grip on it.
“We need to go,” Theon said, out of breath as he came up beside Tessa. “More seraphs just arrived. Even with Razik and Eliza, it’s a deathtrap to stay here.”
