Page 158 of Dawn of Chaos and Fury
“But it didn’t, right?” Theon finally said. “You still have your wings. Cienna said they will heal, and you can still feel your dragon.”
“Yeah,” he murmured. “I can still feel everything.”
His friend didn’t need to elaborate. Theon could still feel the Guardian bond being shredded apart. The excruciating agony. It was a phantom memory that he could feel as if it had happened yesterday. He wondered if it would ever fade.
“We monitor it,” Theon said when the silence grew too heavy. “If anything feels off, we talk to Cienna right away. Or maybe Xan.”
Luka only nodded, taking another drink of his coffee.
“Speaking of feeling off, that Mark on your chest…” Theon said, trailing off when Luka glanced down. He hadn’t asked about it yesterday, which was surprising since he’d immediately asked about the new Mark on Theon’s wrist. “Any ideas what it does?”
“Why would I know that? I didn’t give it to myself,” Luka said. “There was a lot to catch up on yesterday. I assumed it was something Cienna did to save my life, and someone would mention it if that wasn’t the case.”
“Not Cienna,” Theon said with a pointed glance at the sleeping tempest. She’d hardly moved, nestling into his thigh when he’d shifted to sit up. Now her hand rested there, fingers grazing way too close to his dick, especially with her in only one of his shirts beneath the blankets.
Luka’s brows arched in surprise. “Shedid this? How?”
“We don’t know,” Theon answered. “I was— I didn’t see it all, and no one knows what that Mark does. Not Cienna or Tristyn, Razik or Brecken. They say Scarlett can create new Marks because of what she is. That’s Eliza’s theory. That Tessa did the same. The thing is, Tessa doesn’t know what she did.”
Luka’s lips twitched as if he was fighting a smile. “Of course she doesn’t.”
“Cienna said we wouldn’t know until you woke up, and even then, it might be a while before we figure it out. Until something activates it, I guess. Unless you’ve noticed anything?” Theon asked, but Luka only shook his head. Theon had figured as much, but he’d hoped it would be one thing that could be solved right away.
As if he couldn’t help himself, Luka drifted closer to the bed, rounding to the other side, before taking a seat. Theon could see his fingers flex on the coffee mug and knew exactly what he was fighting—the urge to reach over and touch her.
“Did she talk to you about it?” Theon asked because this whole dynamic was something they’d never actually discussed. It had just sort of…happened.
Luka glanced at him. “You don’t know?”
He knew they’d argued. He knew there’d been frustrations. He knew they’d fucked. Tessa’s emotions down the bond had been a myriad of feelings he couldn’t sort through fast enough. He’d forced himself to stay downstairs. Not to come up here and mediate, because they needed to figure their shit out first before they figured it all out together.
And he needed to know what Luka had decided. Sure, they’d fucked, but he knew as well as anyone that didn’t mean anything. It could have been a “one last time” thing, or it could have simply happened with the height of emotions. But Luka coming to bed last night made him believe it was more than that.
“She told me her stipulations, yeah,” Luka said, balancing his coffee mug on his knee. “But are you… Are we— We’re really doing this? You’re truly okay with it?”
“Did you tell her yes?” Theon asked, reaching down and smoothing back her hair without thinking.
“I didn’t answer her,” Luka admitted. “We had a lot to sort through, and adding that to the mix with everything else was a lot. But I also wanted to talk to you first.”
“I already agreed to her stipulations,” Theon said. “I told you that.”
“But did youwantto?” Luka countered. “You are the soon-to-be Arius Lord. I understand if we need to keep her… If she needs to be only— Fuck, why is this so difficult?” Luka muttered, brushing his hair from his face.
“She needs both of us,” Theon said. “If these last months have taught us anything, it’s that. One of us isn’t enough to keep her balanced and in control.”
“It’s unconventional,” Luka said. “We’ll get pushback on this. That’s why I’m saying if we need to keep the ‘wife’ title solely between her and you, I understand.”
“The whole world is changing,” Theon argued. “This can change too. Is it something I ever thought I’d be arguing for? Not in a thousand decades. I never imagined sharing. Never thought it would be something I’d agree to.”
“Exactly,” Luka said. “It’s not in your nature.”
“And it’s not in yours,” Theon countered.
“I’m more likely to share than you.”
“Says the male who was ranting to me about too many people touching his things.”
“That’s different,” Luka growled.
