Page 194 of Dawn of Chaos and Fury
Wandering down a hall, she trailed her fingers along the wall, studying the large empty frames. Some were gold, some silver. Some were wood and others were inlaid with jewels. Such a bizarre thing to collect.
Continuing to the kitchen, she poured herself a glass of water before rummaging through the cupboards for something to eat. The sound of Luka’s bedroom door opening had her turning and stilling as the two of them emerged. They were both in lightweight pants, and they were both shirtless.
And there was a tension rolling off them that instantly had her on alert.
She straightened, setting her glass aside as her eyes roamed over bare skin and muscles that disappeared below waistbands riding low on their hips.
“We need to discuss a few weeks ago,” Theon said, his tone all cold fury.
Her gaze snapped to his. “What?”
“Falein Kingdom,” he continued. “What were you doing there, Tessa?”
Even knowing they wouldn’t hurt her, she took a step back from them as they prowled closer. “Looking for a mirror gate. You know this.”
“Why?”
“To destroy it.”
“Because?” he pressed.
She gasped as black flames suddenly licked at her skin. They didn’t burn, but they made herburn.
“Tessa,” Theon barked.
“If I destroy the mirror gates, they can’t come here,” she said, distracted by the way Luka’s fire was teasing her.
“The Fates?”
“The Fates. Achaz. Any of them,” she replied, lifting a hand to watch tendrils of black flames dance along her palm.
“Achaz can’t come here,” Theon said.
“What?” she murmured, that magic toying with the bands of light around her wrists.
“Achaz can’t come here,” Theon said again. “Unless you know something we don’t?”
That had her eyes dragging back to his at the realization of what they were doing. That fascination turned to anger.
“Just ask me,” she snapped. “You don’t have to distract me.”
“Apparently we do,” Luka said, and she gritted her teeth when his magic suddenly tightened its hold, pulling her hands behind her back. “We tried asking you, temptress. Multiple times we asked you about that vision that trapped you.”
“It had nothing to do with that vision,” she retorted, yanking on the bindings at her wrists.
Theon clicked his tongue. “I know you’re an excellent liar, beautiful.”
She tugged at the magical hold again, but Luka’s power only tightened.
Then Theon added his too.
And she was somewhat weakened. They’d spent hours this morning in that training arena, and she’d let her power free to do what it pleased. She hadn’t had time to rest, let alone time to replenish her reserves. She was still powerful, but so were they. Together more so, but still?—
“This was a set up,” she accused. “It had nothing to do with letting me siphon power.”
“Of course it did, Tessa,” Theon said, moving to stand in front of her and taking her chin between his thumb and forefinger. “We always know what you need. You needed to breathe. Needed to experience joy, and gods, were you a vision. Your laugh competes for one of my favorite sounds in all the realms.”
“What’s the other? The sound of your own voice,” she snapped in irritation.
