Page 84 of Dawn of Chaos and Fury
“I’m done with games. I’m done with your lies. I want truth, and I want answers. You can give them to me, or I’ll find them myself in much less…favorable ways,” she’d replied, lifting a hand and letting her power surge until a small storm spun in her palm.
“So foolish,” he’d sneered. “Trying to outwit a god when you are nothing but a child.”
“And you?” she’d countered, taking small steps back until she felt the wards once again. “What exactly are you? Other than a lying, traitorous bastard. You’re enslaved to that very god.”
Then he’d smiled, and it had made her second-guess herself. Made her magic tense, ready to defend her.
“Oh, Tessalyn,” he’d purred, slinking forward and following her path. “I may be caged, but you? You are the key to my freedom.”
Something had shifted then, as if a veil was being lifted or a curtain pulled back. He wasn’t alone like she’d thought he’d been. There’d been others with him. Not Oralia like she’d been expecting, but these were seraphs. At least a dozen. And whileshe’d been distracted by their sudden appearance, Dex had pounced. Before she could react, a cuff had clamped around her wrist before something had slammed into her head from behind and her world had gone dark.
With a growl of irritation, she adjusted the cuff, not even feeling the sting as she swung her legs over the side of the bed. This wasn’t like Theon’s bands. She couldn’t take this one off, and it was preventing her magic from healing her. Her head was pounding from the hit, and her power was coiling in her veins, full of fury as she stalked to the single window in the small room. One look through the glass, and she knew exactly where she was.
The Celeste Estate.
She lurched back, stumbling over her feet. Why had he taken herhere? She assumed he’d take her back to Faven. Not…
Breathe, she ordered herself, focusing on keeping control. It was more imperative than ever.
She was away from Luka and Xan. This is what she’d wanted. They were trying to get her to leave, and she was trying to…not leave. Not yet.
Taking a few more calming breaths, she looked around the room. Two single beds. Two small dressers. A dormitory.
She made her way to the door, surprised to find it unlocked. With a turn of the knob, she stepped into a hall she knew far too well. Counting the doors confirmed her suspicions that she’d come from Dex and Brecken’s room. It only made her anger simmer more.
Within minutes she was crossing the courtyard and into the main building, ignoring the Fae who stayed back, trying to blend into the walls they pressed against. She had her sights set on one hallway, one door, and she threw it open when she got there.
Only to find Dex sitting behind the extravagant desk, a piece of steak halfway to his mouth. His surprise quickly disappeared, morphing into tolerance as he said, “Took you long enough.”
“Where is Moth— Where is Cordelia?” she corrected herself.
Dex scoffed as he chewed his meat. “Hiding from you, of course. Everyone is so on edge with you running around, turning their precious buildings into piles of rocks. If I wasn’t so irritated by it all, I’d find it humorous.”
“Sorry to give you another mess to clean up,” she sneered, taking in the office she’d spent so much of her childhood in while avoiding the small cupboard on the wall.
He waved her off. “I’m not so much irritated with you as I am with them. They focus on such trivial things here. Even Rordan seems to have forgotten the end goal.”
“Which is what?” she asked absentmindedly, hating being in here and knowing that was exactly why Dex had chosen it.
“Getting you home where you belong, of course.”
Her head whipped back to him, only to find him not even looking at her. No, he was busy cutting another bite of meat as though she truly was the dismissive nuisance she’d always felt like.
“I’m having a plate brought for you,” he said. “Take a seat.”
“Fuck off,” she retorted.
He clicked his tongue in disapproval. “Is this not what your little letter demanded of me? No pretenses? Only truths and answers?”
“Take this off,” she countered, lifting her arm to show the cuff. “Then we can chat all you want.”
“Make a blood vow not to harm me, and we can discuss that,” he countered. She scowled at him, and he smirked, knowing he’d won for now. “Take a seat, Tessie.”
“Stop calling me that,” she snapped.
He sighed, placing his silverware on his nearly empty plate and pushing the dish aside. “You summoned me, Tessa. With your erratic behavior as of late, can you really blame me fortaking precautions? Oralia said you attacked her the last time you saw her.”
“I did,” Tessa said simply, starting to wander around the room. She let her fingers drag along the wall. “She is irritating.”
