Page 152 of Dawn of Chaos and Fury
Theon grumbled about “dragon tantrums,” and then he huffed a laugh when Luka snarled under his breath. But just as he reached the kitchen doorway, he called his name.
Luka paused, not looking over his shoulder, but stilling all the same.
“Not that it should matter, but if it does, know that I agreed to her stipulations,” Theon said. “I just need you to know that.”
He didn’t ask what he meant. Maybe it wouldn’t matter in the end. Maybe what he had to say wouldn’t make a difference now that Theon had what he’d wanted all along. While he wasn’t surprised, he was…something. His dragon was up, trying to pace in his soul at the thought of someone else having what he’d claimed, and while Luka was grateful to feel the thing, now was not the time to have it trying to drive his actions.
Climbing the stairs, he didn’t bother knocking when he reached the door to Theon’s room. She was bent over something on the small sofa, and she straightened at the sound of the door.
Wide violet eyes landed on him, looking him up and down, before she turned back to whatever she was doing.
“I’m sorry,” she murmured. “I was trying to be out before you came back.”
The door clicked shut behind him, and he crossed his arms. “What do you mean, ‘out?’”
Packing. That was what she was doing. She was putting odds and ends into a small bag.
“Eliza and Razik have been staying in the room across the hall. That’s your room, right? They’ve been staying there. Axel and Kat are upstairs. You need a room?—”
“So do you,” he interrupted.
“I don’t need a room,” she said. “I can sleep on a sofa just as well.”
“I doubt yourhusbandwill allow such a thing,” he retorted, and yeah, the word sounded a little bitter.
Tessa froze for a moment, slowly setting down the items in her hand before she turned to face him. “He told you already?”
“Thank the gods he did. You probably would have kept it from me for months.”
Her eyes dropped to the ground, and gods. He was a fucking prick, but he was also still furious with her.
He said nothing else, watching her struggle with what to do. Finally, she turned back to the sofa, returning to packing that fucking bag.
“I just need to grab a few more things, and I’ll be out of your space,” she said.
“This is Theon’s room.”
“But you are still healing, and now that you are awake, I won’t…”
Luka glanced at the chair where she’d been sleeping, then back to her. “Did you sleep there for the entire three weeks?”
“I’m sorry I was asleep when you woke,” she answered. “I didn’t mean to be.”
“That wasn’t what I asked you.”
She zipped the bag then, turning to face him once more as she lifted it over her shoulder. “Yes, I did. I just needed to see…”
“See what, Tessa?” he demanded.
“I needed to watch your chest rise and fall because it didn’t for a time, Luka,” she said, tears already pooling in her eyes. “You weren’t moving, and your heart wasn’t beating, and I needed to see you wake up. Even if I missed that part, but I needed…” She cleared her throat, wiping at the tear that had slipped free. “And now I have, and I know you don’t like me in your space, so I will leave.”
“Go back to the way things were in the cave,” he said flatly.
“I mean, I know it will be different, and maybe eventually things will be— I don’t know, Luka. I don’t know what you want me to say or do. I don’t know what you want from me right now,” she said, her hands coming up and reaching for her hair.
“Don’t you dare,” he growled. “We agreed you weren’t doing that anymore.”
She froze, but her eyes flashed. “We agreed to a lot of things that aren’t happening,” she retorted. “So again, I ask you, what do you want from me? Because I’m tired of trying to figure it out.”
