Page 42 of Dawn of Chaos and Fury
“Where is my bow?” she interjected.
Luka’s brow furrowed in confusion. “What?”
“My bow. From Auryon. It’s ours.”
“Ours,” he repeated slowly.
She nodded, bouncing on her toes. “She left it to us. Said it was our birthright.”
“Tessa, maybe you should get some rest. When was the last time you slept?”
She shot forward, pushing onto her tiptoes as she spoke inches from him. “Do you know what I see in my dreams, Luka?”
“No, Tessa,” he said carefully. “I don’t know what you see in your dreams. Not anymore.”
She fell back, moving to the wall and dragging her fingers along the stone. “I see all the things that will never be. They torture us,” she murmured. “Light and dark. Beginnings andendings. My dreams haunt us. They are nightmares. I do not like it there.”
“You still need to sleep,” he insisted. “I know you just filled your power reserves, but you still need to rest. If you’re not taking care of yourself, it’s easier for your power to take control. It is why Theon was neurotic about your diet and schedule.”
She whirled at his name, lightning flickering in her eyes. “He no longer wants me.”
“Tessa, that isn’t?—”
“There you are,” said a male voice that had both of them spinning as Tristyn came into view down the passage.
“Keeper of Lies and Deceit,” Tessa greeted, her eyes narrowing.
“Wild fury,” he answered in kind, a mocking note to his tone. Thank the gods he’d finally stopped coddling her.
“I’d ask where you were, but you’d simply lie about it,” she replied with a sneer.
He sent her a smirk as he slipped his hands into the pockets of his leather jacket. There was a faint sage glow to his russet eyes, making them appear almost hazel. The male may have dropped the coddling act, but he was still prepared to face Tessa as the deity he was.
“Where are you off to?” Tristyn asked, looking around the passage as though he wasn’t monitoring what kind of threat she was in this moment.
“Shouldn’t you know the answer to that?” Tessa sang, dancing back from them to press a palm to the wall once more. Her power snaked out of her, winding along the rock, and Luka reached out, yanking her hand away.
“The gods help you if you destroy this cave, Tessa,” he growled.
She didn’t even look at him as she said, “The gods never help me. I don’t see why they’d start now.”
Tristyn cleared his throat, sending a warning look to Luka as he said, “I think you’re confusing me with my sister, wild fury. She’s the one who can see the ever-changing.”
Tessa hummed, pulling her wrist from Luka’s grip. Her hands fell to her sides, where she fisted them in the fabric of her dress. “Then what do you want?”
“I’m glad you asked,” he said with a hint of mischief. He pulled his hands from his pockets, opening one before her. In the center of his palm were two rolls of lull-leaf.
Her eyes narrowed as she met Tristyn’s gaze once more. “Is this how your father keeps the peace as well?” she asked, picking up one of the rolls and twisting it between her fingers.
Blackheart’s eyes darkened. “My father views peace as optional in most cases, and he decides when it’s a weapon to wield.”
She only hummed once more. “Then what is this? A peace offering?”
“Without pizza andagaveheart?” Tristyn scoffed. “What kind of a peace offering is that?”
Seconds ticked by, the passage falling eerily silent until she held the lull-leaf back out to him. “I don’t trust you, Tris,” she said with a sigh.
The male’s arrogance faltered, but only for a moment, before he took a single step forward. “What do I need to do, Tessa? I’ve sworn loyalty to you. What can I give you in penance?”
