Page 6 of Dawn of Chaos and Fury
Had he felt guilt, living in this luxury while his sister had been banished and hiding in the Underground, being hunted by the Arius Lord? Had any part of him felt an ounce of regret? She doubted it. He had his own purposes and motives, and he didn’t seem to care who he used to obtain them. His sister could suffer. Injustice could reign. And her? He could keep any secrets and plans from her until it benefitted him the most. She’d thought he was different from the rest of this godsforsaken realm.
I can have motives and still care. It does not have to be one or the other.
Power flared at her fingertips. Bright light refracted back into the room, but there was more. Sparks of energy. Embers of black and white. Faint flecks of silver and gold.
She inhaled deeply, trying to calm her soul. Not that it worked. It never worked.
Tristyn’s words rattled around in her head.
It does not have to be one or the other.
But she had a purpose too. A purpose that could be fulfilled if she simply left this world. Let the Fates come and do what they do best.
Fuck over everyone and everything.
But that would mean?—
“We agreed you weren’t going to do that anymore,” came a growl that had her pausing.
She hadn’t realized she’d stepped back from the windows. Had started pacing. Had her hands in her hair, tugging at the strands.
Slowly, she turned, lifting her gaze to his as Luka tossed something onto a nearby table before striding across the room. Hands still in her hair, she backed up with every step until her back pressed to the window. She said nothing, unsure of what he was referring to. She didn’t recall agreeing to anything.
Reaching for her hands, he methodically untangled her hair from her fingers. There was no tenderness in his touch. No soft glance or reassuring look. Just…duty.
That was what she’d become to him. A duty given to him by his Ward.
Not that she could blame him.
And maybe it was better this way. It was easier to do what needed to be done when you were alone.
“So we’re going to continue with the silence, then?” Luka asked as he finished, taking a step back from her, his stare hard.
She slowly lowered her hands to her sides, fingers curling into the fabric of the shirt she wore. It wasn’t his. She actually had no idea where the clothing had come from or when she’d changed into it. She didn’t even remember coming here.
Folding his arms across his chest, he added, “You should shower and get dressed. Everyone is meeting in an hour to discuss our next moves.”
She watched his irritation grow when she only stared back, gritting her teeth as everything in her soul strained for him. Her power wanted his, and again she wondered if he could feel her struggle.
With each day that passed though, she was sure he couldn’t. Neither could Theon because she couldn’t feel them either. The silence down the bond was deafening, telling her just how broken it was. The quiet was so loud, it made her want to scream and rage. Leave and stay. Save and destroy.
At some point he had moved. She didn’t know when, but he’d stepped closer. She felt the barest of touches as his fingertips trailed down her arm, as if this was the last thing he wanted to be doing, but again, she was his duty. But that touch… Gods, that touch calmed everything just enough to give her some reprieve from the madness, and her eyes fluttered closed.
There was an audible sigh before he murmured, “What am I going to do with you, Tessa?”
Her eyes snapped open, and she lurched away from his touch.
What was he going to do with her?
The wild, untamed, chaotic thing that could never do as she was told or be what she was supposed to be.
What was he going to do with her?
The one who could never clean up her own messes and who always needed saving.
What was he going to do with her?
The Source that couldn’t submit, and the one expected to understand everything, yet be told nothing.
