Page 34 of Dawn of Chaos and Fury
“He has turned completely,” Katya offered. “But that isn’t the problem. The problem is Bree.”
Theon didn’t seem surprised by this in the slightest. He only nodded for her to continue, but Axel was the one to speak with a sigh.
“You know she was the one keeping me for a time. She let me go under the assumption the bloodlust would cause me to kill Kat, and I would have if you hadn’t been there,” he admitted. “Bree thought I would kill her, then return and pledge loyalty to her House. She wants to rule the Underground.”
“And now?” Theon pressed.
“She showed up here when she’d heard I’d returned. She saw Kat, and there were words exchanged. But she already knew. Before she came up here, she had the covens clear out all the blood stores in the Underground. The only place to get blood is the Dispensary District.” He paused for a moment, wincing as headded, “I may have also insinuated I was going to be the one to take the Underground, which may have started a feud.”
Theon snorted a laugh, scratching his brow with a finger as he absorbed all the information. “How much blood do you have left?”
“I’m almost out. That’s why it’s not safe for Kat to be around me,” he answered, looking down at his wife.
She scoffed, rolling her eyes and crossing her arms. “I still do not believe you will do anything to me. Besides, I have fireandshadows at the moment. If you would use your head and think logically, you’d realize I can defend myself.”
“Shadows?” Theon asked, his brows shooting up. “From the babe?”
Kat nodded as Axel said, “It happened before I sent her with Tristyn.”
“You didn’t say anything,” Theon said, looking at Kat.
“I couldn’t,” she replied, a hand dropping to her stomach and rubbing along the side. “Eliza helped me hide it. I didn’t know who to trust. A Fae carrying a Legacy’s child? And an heir at that? I had to protect him.”
“Him? It’s a male?”
Kat nodded, a small, soft smile filling her face.
Theon turned away then, striding to the bags he’d hauled in with him. Picking one up, it clinked lightly. He didn’t come any closer than he’d been previously, keeping a healthy distance and respecting the boundary Axel had drawn. He placed the bag on the ground, then stepped back from it as he said, “It’s rations. Several bottles. Take them.”
Axel’s eyes went wide, going from the bag to Theon and back. Then he lunged forward, unzipping the bag to find more than two dozen bottles. He snatched one out, drinking the entire thing in seconds, and he nearly sank to the ground in relief. Warmth filled his veins, and for the first time in nearly twoweeks, he felt normal. He didn’t feel like he was on edge or out of control. He felt sane. He felt powerful. It hadn’t tasted great, nothing like what he craved from Kat, but it had done what he’d needed.
He recapped it, tossing it aside as he turned back to Kat. Her eyes went wide when he was before her in the next breath, and before she could scold him about moving so fast, he’d taken her face in his hands and planted his lips on hers.
He swallowed her gasp of surprise as she melted into him. The blood still lingered on his taste buds, but he could also taste her. Hot and fiery. Lucious and perfect. Her hands landed on his torso, fingers tracing lines beneath his shirt. If Theon weren’t standing mere feet away…
Forcing himself to pull back, he didn’t go far, touching his brow to hers. “I’m sorry, kitten.”
“I’ve missed you,” she whispered.
“I didn’t want to hurt you.”
“I know,” she murmured.
“I wouldn’t be able to live with myself,” he said, a thumb swiping along her cheek.
“Can you please let me help?”
He huffed a rueful sound. “It sounds like we have to fight the Fates.”
Her hands came up, fingers wrapping around his wrists where he still held her face. “That sounds like we’ll need an army.”
He stilled, pulling back to study her, and the way she was looking at him? Gods, it made him feel like he could do anything.
His lips brushed hers again before he tucked her into his side and turned to his brother. Theon’s hands were in his pockets, eyes looking anywhere but at them as he tried to give them this moment. He may have become resigned to the world’s demise,but Axel wouldn’t go down without fighting. They deserved a future. Hissondeserved a future.
Sensing his attention on him, Theon lifted his head.
Holding his brother’s stare, Axel said, “I need your help.”
