Page 286 of Dawn of Chaos and Fury
“They can’t come here, Tessa,” he said calmly.
“Because it will upset the balance?” she drawled. “I’m here, aren’t I?”
“If it were that easy, don’t you think Achaz would have already come to Devram?”
That was a valid point. All of her visions confirmed the same. He couldn’t come here. There was something keeping him from entering.
“Fine,” she said, holding out her hand. “Give me the rings.”
“Tessa, if you need time—” Theon started.
“I don’t. Now,” she insisted, her power growing restless as she prepared to let it breathe.
“Tristyn will need to take it from here,” Xan said. “This is Witch magic now.”
Witch magic. Blood magic. Marks and enchantments. It didn’t much matter to her. She was ready to be done with this.
Tristyn had already drawn an upside-down triangle on the ground nearby, and he gestured for her to come closer. “Place a ring at each point,” he said, features dark in concentration.
“Have you done this before?” she asked, placing the rings.
“Have I repaired a portal key? No,” Tristyn replied. “They are rare, and those that do exist are hidden away.” She nodded, letting Tris guide her to the center of the triangle. “Normally there would be incantations involved, but since this one was altered and is keyed to your blood, I think your blood and chaos will do.”
“You think?” she asked incredulously as he passed her a small knife.
He shrugged with a wink. “We’ll improvise if we need to.”
“This doesn’t seem like something we should improvise.”
“You’re altering everything, wild fury,” he said. “It’s all improvising at this point.”
“Right,” she muttered, dragging the blade across her palm as Tristyn stepped from the triangle. She couldn’t let it drip to theground in fear of summoning Hunters, so instead she let it pool, her chaos merging with it. Then, just like she had with Xan’s collar, she pulled threads of her power and sent them to the rings.
It was innate somehow, letting her power do this. Recreate something. Everything came from Chaos, so it only made sense her chaos would be drawn to making something new.
The rings rose into the air until they hovered at eye level, light springing from each one and meeting in the center. That light turned dark, a churning mass of onyx as streaks of purple and gold flared until a ripple of power radiated out from the thing.
Tessa blinked, the light receding. Everyone around her was getting up from the ground. Tristyn was holding Theon back while Xan held Luka’s shoulders.
“You can’t go to her right now,” Tristyn gritted out. “Not until this is done.”
“The fuck I can’t,” Theon snarled, shoving Tristyn off him, but Razik was there, helping the deity.
“I’ve seen this done before,” Razik snapped. “If you interrupt the process, it could cause something you don’t want. The last being I saw repair a portal key didn’t survive it.”
Theon stilled at that, and his voice was death when he said, “I was never told that was a possibility.”
“She’s stronger than that Witch was,” Razik gritted out. “But I’m assuming you don’t want to chance anything.”
The stone in front of her was a mix of colors now. Marbled onyx with white and violet running through it. Her magic was reaching for it, coils of chaos wrapping around it tightly and drawing it to them. Tessa reached up, taking it between her fingers. It pulsed in her palm. It was odd to think about. This other-worldly power in the palm of her hand. If she closed herhand, squeezed tightly enough, maybe it could just…cease to exist.
Or maybe we could create something new. Use that power. Take it as our own.
Tessa!Luka growled in her mind at the same time Theon snapped,No, Tessa!
She slowly turned her head to them once more. They couldn’t stop them. No one could stop them. Not the gods. Not the Fates. This was theirs anyway. She was theirs?—
“No, you are not,” Theon snarled, his darkness slamming into Tristyn and Razik and throwing them back. He prowled forward, not caring about the ritual mark on the ground or the power she held in her fingers. He gripped her chin, forcing her eyes to his. “The only ones you belong to are me and Luka. Not the gods. Not the Fates. And you certainly do not belong to the fucking Chaos. Do you understand?”
