Page 208 of Dawn of Chaos and Fury
“You keep saying that. I’m beginning to question if you know the meaning of the word,” she replied.
“If you didn’t summon me to send them back, then what do you need?” Scarlett asked sharply. “I cannot send you any more aid, and I?—”
“I do not need you to send anyone else to this world,” Tessa interrupted, her tone carrying that eerie ring. “When the gates open, more things enter than should.”
Scarlett stilled. “Like what?”
“Like things that smell of the stars and stories yet to be told,” Tessa answered.
Scarlett glanced up at Sorin, whose brows were pinched in thought as he listened and watched.
“We summoned you for a reason though,” Theon interjected after a few seconds of awkward silence. He held up his arm, showing the Mark around his wrist. “Cienna said you created this Mark.”
Scarlett glanced at it once, then back to Tessa. “I did.”
“And now we need to add the third piece,” Theon continued. “She said she couldn’t do it because?—”
“Because she doesn’t have enough Chaos,” Scarlett interrupted. “Yes, yes. You are okay with this, Cousin? It is what you want?” She glanced between them. “Two annoying, hovering males seems like an unnecessary pain in the ass.”
“Scarlett,” Sorin sighed, resting his hand on her shoulder. “Cienna explained this to us.”
“Yes, but you know how I feel about the Fates trying to force our path,” she replied with faux sweetness.
“It is my choice,” Tessa cut in. “It was my stipulation about the Mark that required a new one be created.”
Scarlett smiled. “I simply wanted to be sure. Having been to your world…”
“I understand,” Tessa said, “but it is my choice.”
“In that case, listen carefully and watch,” Scarlett said. “You’ll use blood mixed from the three of you for this, but it must be drawn precisely.”
The next several minutes consisted of Scarlett drawing a Mark in the air with her starfire. Over and over again, while Tessa did the same on paper Theon had grabbed for her. And over and over again, Scarlett corrected it. A line that needed to curve more. Two lines that couldn’t touch. Three lines that had to cross at a specific place. More than that, because it was going around their wrists, the curvatures had to be perfect too.
“Out of curiosity,” Tessa ground out when Scarlett told her it was wrong yet again. “What will happen if I fuck this up?”
Scarlett shrugged. “Depends on which part you fuck up, I suppose.”
Tessa tsked, rolling her eyes. Luka had felt her frustration growing and growing, and he knew she was reaching a tipping point.
“This is a waste of all our time. If this is something I’m supposed to be able to do, shouldn’t my Chaos justknow? It did for the Mark I gave Luka.” She tossed her pencil aside, grabbing a new piece of paper. “I didn’t need a scion or blood for that,” she went on, slipping into that tone once more. “We just knew what to do. Knew what we wanted.”
Her hand hovered just above the paper, thin streams of her power twisting and writhing.
“Tessa,” Luka warned at the same time Theon said, “Tessa, stop.”
“Let her go,” Scarlett said, a hand pressing to the glass. “She’s right, in a sense. She knows the Mark and what she wants.”
“You can’t tell me that’s how creating a new Mark works,” Theon retorted.
“Not entirely, but she’s not creating a new Mark, is she?” Scarlett drawled.
Tessa was singing that godsdamn revelation song, and he was about to intervene when she lifted her head, and they both started. Her eyes were glowing violet, swirling with her magic. Slowly, she moved her hand, and on the paper was a Mark, shimmering faintly.
Theon tentatively reached for it, holding it up to the mirror, and Scarlett smiled darkly. “Perfect. Just like that, Tessa.” She was still humming, one hand in her hair. Scarlett’s smile faltered. “Did you ever learn her mother’s lineage?”
Theon shook his head. “Achaz, obviously, but I don’t know her grandmother on that side.”
“She’s trapped,” Tessa said simply, spinning in a slow circle. “Locked beneath the sea.” She stilled, looking over her shoulder and locking eyes with Scarlett. “For now.”
