Page 139 of Dawn of Chaos and Fury
“I do,” Tessa tossed back, uncoiling like a cat from the chair and stretching.
Axel huffed a laugh as she bent to pick up the food that had spilled everywhere, breaking off another piece of chocolate as she did. She piled it all back on the plate, setting it on the end ofthe bed before retrieving the water bottle and taking a drink. As she recapped it, the small bit of mirth between them dissolved, and she focused on Luka once again, worrying her bottom lip.
“I am sorry, Axel,” she said quietly. “I did learn how to hurt and hate from this realm, but I learned what true friendship could look like from you.” She turned her head to look at him. “I truly am sorry, but I know pretty words don’t mean shit.”
“In this case, they do, Tessa,” he said, far more gently than their previous words had been.
She nodded, looking back at Luka. “Did you really marry her?”
He huffed a laugh, moving closer. Shoving his hands in his pockets, he said, “Yeah, I did. Did you really marry Theon?”
It was her turn to huff a laugh. “Yeah, I did. You’re going to be a father.”
“Glad to see we’re continuing to state obvious things.”
She glanced at him, giving him a weak smile. “I can’t imagine that was planned. Was it?”
Axel sighed. “No, it wasn’t, but it is something we need to talk to you about.”
Her brows arched. “Me? I don’t know anything about children. Even when I was one, I was never really around them.”
“It’s not about raising them or anything,” he said with a wink. “But rest a bit. Eat some food. Kat is sleeping, but I know when she wakes, she will want to speak to you right away.”
“I don’t know what kind of help I’ll be, but I can try.”
“That’s all I ask,” Axel replied, taking a step toward the door. Then he paused, turning to walk backwards as he spoke. “I have an extra phone and earbuds. I’ll bring them to you.”
Her smile was small but there when she answered, “I’d like that very much.”
“I’ve never seen a Mark like that,” Razik was saying when Axel and Kat came into the room a few hours later.
“But you’ve been alive for…a long time,” Tessa argued. “You could have seen it in passing at some time, right?”
“These two are older than I am,” Razik said dryly, gesturing to Cienna and Tristyn. “I don’t see you questioning their lack of knowledge.”
“Have any of you seen anything similar?” Theon cut in, standing next to the chair Tessa was curled back up in. “Or do any of you have any idea what it could be or do?”
“I’m well-versed in Marks, wild fury,” Tristyn said. “That is one I’ve never seen before.”
“So it just appeared? That’s not possible,” Theon said in frustration.
“Of course it’s possible,” Eliza said from where she perched on the end of the bed. “Scarlett can create new Marks because of what she is. Why wouldn’t Tessa be able to?”
“But I didn’t,” Tessa insisted.
“That you know of. Maybe you didn’t know what you were doing,” she countered.
“Cienna?” Theon asked, looking at the Witch.
“It is a new Mark we’ve never seen before,” Cienna replied. “Tessa is unlike any other. It would make sense that she can create Marks unlike any other.”
“I’ve only ever drawn one Mark,” she argued, all eyes on her now. Her fingers dug into the fabric of the armchair, and Theonsat on the arm, taking one of her hands in his. Some of her tension eased, but even Axel could see it was still present.
“Be that as it may,” Tristyn said, “the fact remains you are one of a kind, Tessa. I suspect you will continue to discover new facets of your gifts throughout your immortal life.”
“But as for that Mark,” Cienna said, gesturing to Luka’s still form. “We won’t know what it does until he wakes. And even then, we may not know right away. Magic is volatile, and a debt is owed.”
“And when will he wake up?” Tessa gritted out.
