Page 172 of Dawn of Chaos and Fury
She gasped as she sat up, light and dark swirling around her as she choked down gulps of air. Sweat covered her, and her heart was beating far too fast.
“Easy, baby girl,” Luka said from her right, rough fingertips brushing down her back. “We’ve been trying to wake you for the last five minutes.”
Another hand cupped her chin, gently turning her head to meet emerald eyes.
Emerald eyes just like Arius’s.
“You’re okay, Tessa,” Theon said quietly, his thumb brushing along her skin. “It was a vision.”
His darkness was out too, hovering around him, and she glanced over shoulder to find Luka’s black flames doing the same.
“We were trying to reach you any way we could,” Theon explained, drawing her focus back to him. “Do you want to talk about it?”
She shook her head, pushing hair out of her face with a trembling hand. “I just want to shower. Rinse off,” she said, pushing away from both of them to climb off the bed.
“Tessa,” Theon called after her, but she waved them off, shutting the bathroom door behind her. Leaning against it, she let her head fall back, her eyes closing.
The mirror gates.
Those fucking mirror gates.
There was something here that Achaz needed, and he would use the mirror gates to come here and find it.
All the more reason to destroy them. She could destroy them all, save for one. Those who wanted to leave, return home, could go, and then she’d destroy that one too. The Fates wouldn’t be able to come here, and neither would the gods. It would solve all their problems. She could do this.Thiswas her destiny. Her purpose.
Lifting a hand, Chaos swirled, carrying a message to the only one who could likely help her.
It was fifteen minutes later when she stepped from the shower and a message returned. She plucked it out of the swirl of magic, reading the note:
Let’s start with the Falein Estate. Tomorrow night. Meet in the kitchen when your bodyguards have fallen asleep.
Setting the note in the drawer with her things, she pulled a brush through her hair before returning to the bedroom. She wasn’t surprised to find them both still awake, two sets of eyes watching her warily.
“What did you see, Tessa?” Luka asked as Theon pressed a bottle of water into her hand.
“Nothing important,” she answered before she took several long swallows and replaced the cap.
“I find that hard to believe. You were trapped in that vision. Has that happened before?” Luka pressed.
She pursed her lips because the answer was no. She’d never beentrappedin a vision.
Except she had.
During assessments. But this wasn’t that. This was just her power being uncontrollable.
“Let’s go back to bed. We can discuss this more in the morning,” Theon said, his hand landing on the small of her back. He urged her forward, and she crawled back beneath the blankets.
Luka was immediately there, pulling her into him, his palm hot even through the thin material of the shirt she wore. Theon settled in behind her, his arm draping over her waist and resting on her hip. Normally this would settle her soul but not tonight. Tonight her power was hungry and wanting. Tonight she craved Chaos, and tomorrow she would have it.
She crept down the stairs, her bare feet light on each step. It had taken Theon and Luka forever to fall asleep tonight, mostlybecause they were becoming more insistent about her telling them of her vision the night before. But they didn’t need to be involved. She’d destroyed two mirrors now, and both times had been catastrophic. Last time, Luka had nearly died. She’d go in, destroy the mirror, and Travel back. She’d be back in bed before sunrise, and if they discovered she was gone…
She’d deal with that later.
She was under no obligation to report her actions to them. They didn’t own her. No one did.
The faint glow of the light they always left on over the kitchen sink guided her to the room, and she found Brecken there, leaning against the counter.
“What are you doing here?” she asked, pausing in the doorway.
