Page 87 of Dawn of Chaos and Fury
Slowly, she let her eyes drag up his form. He waited until she met his emerald irises, swirling with darkness and already fixed on her, before Theon said, “I’ve come for what is mine.”
PART TWO
BEGINNINGS
17
TESSA
“Thank you,” Tessa murmured when a glass of wine was placed before her on the table.
The same seraph from Cordelia’s office moved around the space, placing drinks before the three other people in the room. She’d never been in here. She’d never beenworthyof seeing the second and third floors of the main Estate building. These two floors were Cordelia’s private living quarters. But Dex had apparently been privy to these spaces all the time, and Tessa wondered when Cordelia had learned that he wasn’t Fae at all. Had she always known? If not, when had Dex revealed it? How often was he in this very room while she’d been huddled in a small dark cupboard, her stomach aching for food?
The seraph left the room, and the tension was oppressive as it hung in the air. Theon hadn’t looked away from her once, gaze fixed on her and watching her every movement. Felicity Davers sat to his right, across from Dex, who sat next to Tessa. The lounge they sat in was lavish, exactly like Cordelia’s office. Rich fabrics, flashy colors. Everything to exude her importance, and now they sat at this table for six, somehow intimate yet formal.
“I have fulfilled the requirements for my lordship,” Theon was saying, still focused on Tessa. “Prolonging this is only making me want to end your life sooner.”
“I know this is hard for you to understand, as most things are for Arius and his lineage, but you don’t get to have something just because you want it,” Dex sneered.
“And yet that’s exactly what happened for Arius and Serafina, is it not?” Theon asked, bringing his glass of liquor to his lips and taking a drink. Still holding Tessa’s stare the entire time. “Is that not what this whole vendetta is about to begin with?”
“Such arrogant fools. All of you,” Dex retorted. “As if Achaz would let the cunt of one female dictate the fates of all realms. This is bigger than Serafina and Arius. It always has been. They used to be part of it until they were swayed.”
“The way Rordan and Valter used to work together until Rordan was swayed?” Tessa asked, glancing at the male she’d once considered her closest friend.
The male tipped his head from side to side, debating his answer before finally saying, “The Fates like to watch the different ways history could have played out.”
Her brow furrowed. “What does that mean?”
Dex finally deigned to look at her, his features cold as he said, “Perhaps if you’d be who you were meant to be, you’d know the answer to that. Instead, you choose to throw tantrums and give yourself over to whoever gives you what you want.”
“Watch it,” Theon barked, his darkness snapping out like a whip and striking Dex in the chest. Felicity gasped, but Tessa only stared at the thin line of red that seeped into Dex’s white shirt before dragging her eyes back to Theon.
To find him still fixated on her.
Her head tilted as she took him in yet again, and then her eyes narrowed when Felicity reached over, placing her hand on his arm and leaning in to murmur something. She couldn’t hearit. All she could hear was the blood rushing in her ears as her gaze dropped to the Union Mark on the back of Felicity’s hand.
The hand touching Theon.
The hand?—
“Eyes on me, clever tempest,” came the low command, but it had her gaze snapping back to his, a knowing look on his face.
“Eyes on you,” she repeated slowly, reaching for her wine glass. It was the first words she’d said to him since he’d arrived at the Celeste Estate over an hour ago, and something akin to relief washed over him until she added, “Every time you say that it’s followed by pretty words attempting to lure me into submission.”
“Thank Achaz you finally recognize that,” Dex said, swiping up his drink.
“Of course I do. It’s all anyone does in this realm,” she replied, holding emerald irises as she brought her wine to her lips. She took a sip, her tongue sweeping over her bottom lip when she finished, and she watched Theon’s gaze dip to the movement. “Pretty words and extravagant actions to distract from true motives.”
The clicking of a tongue sounded before Felicity spouted, “Always so dramatic.”
Tessa’s smile turned serpentine as she slid her gaze to the female. “What pretty things did he promise you, Ms. Davers?”
“It’s St. Orcas now,” she replied with a saccharine smile.
“Is it?” Tessa asked, swirling her wine. “It sounds to me like nothing is official until Rordan and the ruling Ladies arrive to confirm everything.”
“Semantics,” she gritted out.
