Page 13 of Dawn of Chaos and Fury
And all the while, she just lay there humming.
Humming that stupid Revelation Decree song.
“Tessa,” he said, his tone sharp. A command that usually made her pause, but there was nothing this time. She didn’t look at him. No blink or start. “Tessa,” he tried again. “There is a discussion happening downstairs that you need to be a part of. Information you deserve to know.”
She still didn’t acknowledge him, that storm in her hand growing, and Luka had never felt so godsdamn helpless. He wasthe grandchild of the god of war and courage; he didn’t know how to accept defeat. But that was exactly what he felt was happening as he crossed the room and sank to the floor.
He tipped his head back, resting it on the bed beside her and listening to her hum. As much as he hated it, his entire being relaxed a little. Just being next to her was like taking a drag of lull-leaf. Whether it was the bond he’d been dragged into or something else, he didn’t know, but he let himself revel in it just for a moment. Tonight everything was going to change forever, and he selfishly wanted this last bit of peace.
He didn’t want to think about how he’d failed in his duty as a Guardian. There was no other word for it when his Ward was welcoming his own destruction with open arms. He didn’t want to think about how, for the briefest of moments, he’d had everything. Family. Acceptance. Love. He didn’t want to think about how it had all shattered so quickly, and he didn’t want to think about all the conflicting emotions that came with that. How he’d given in to his fury. A controlled recklessness.
“I don’t know how we recover from this,” he said, his eyes falling closed.
She never ceased her humming, but he knew she was listening. He wasn’t even sure what he was saying or why. Maybe because the two people he used to talk to were being left behind, and he had no one else.
It’s a lonely club being the grandchild of gods, but we don’t have to be alone anymore.
Her words from days that felt like a lifetime ago flitted through his mind, his chest aching at the memories of it all.
“We’re going to a new world, Tessa, and all we’ll have is each other,” he said into the room, his eyes still closed. “I don’t know what that looks like. I don’t know how we do that after the betrayals we’ve faced here.”
Because in the end, that was what he felt. Betrayed by Tessa. A thousand times over. But he also felt betrayed by Theon. For thinking he could walk away from him after decades of surviving together. How that betrayal was what ultimately made him feel like a failure. He was just as furious with Theon as he was with Tessa.
“I know he’s the one you need right now. I don’t know how to be that. He’s the one who’s always protected us from ourselves, and I know you need him. You hate it, but you know it too.” He fell silent, the seconds stretching on filled only by her humming. Then he said in a voice so low he didn’t even know if she could hear him, “I don’t know how we live without him.”
He’d realized it before they did. Theon might have understood it in the end. Tessa was still figuring it out, but the three of them were so intertwined, surviving without a piece of them seemed impossible. And it wasn’t because Theon had pulled him into the warped Source bond. The Fates could only control so much, and no one could control Chaos.
It was only then he’d realized the humming had ceased, the entire room going quiet and still.
Luka opened his eyes and lifted his head to find her staring at him. The small smile on her face was one he could only describe as terrifying madness.
“Tessa…” he said carefully, unsure of what to say or do as her power consumed her more and more. Knowing that with each passing day, they were losing her, and it only made the path ahead that much more uncertain.
She rolled onto her stomach, her hair falling over her shoulder. So close to him now, her breaths fanned across his cheek. He turned too, keeping his eyes trained on her.
Never turn your back on a predator.
Her head tilted as she watched him, and he waited for her to speak, to blink, to doanything.
He jolted, nearly shifting to his dragon form when her hand shot out, reaching for him, yet her touch was soft as her fingers danced across his lips. And when she opened her mouth, finally speaking to him, her tone had that eerie ring that made the hair on the back of his neck stand on end.
“You ask the wrong questions, Luka Mors.”
In the next blink, she was standing on the bed before leaping lightly to the floor. Her humming once again filled the room as she moved to the windows, her fingers sliding along the glass as she paced the length of the room.
Back and forth.
Back and forth.
The drizzle in the room had stopped, but so had the raging winter weather outside. It was completely still outside. Not a breeze or stray snowflake.
Unease filled his gut as he stared at her. Bare feet. Hair wild as the fingers of her other hand wound into the strands. Eerie humming. Power echoing and mirroring her every move.
A calm before a storm.
A darkness before a dawn.
That was what he was staring at.
