Page 17 of Dawn of Chaos and Fury
He was the same as Dex, Oralia, and Brecken.
The female pulled her hood back while simultaneously pulling a dagger from her hip, spinning the point against her gloved finger. She smiled, the tips of fangs visible, and the smile held a tinge of madness that Tessa recognized as honey-colored eyes connected with hers.
Her head canted to the side in a predatory manner while she said to the male, “I was beginning to think she’d gotten the date and time wrong.”
“You don’t trust my sources?” came yet another female voice that had Tessa spinning again.
“Depends on which one it was,” replied the first female, still spinning her dagger.
The newcomer breezed into the room, carefully closing the door behind her. Arched ears were just visible through her long dark red hair, and Marks peeked out of the wide collar of her long-sleeved top. Tessa also suspected the nose piercing wasn’t her only one, and once again, honey-colored eyes settled on her.
“I know it’s calling to you,” she said to Tessa, moving farther into the room, her white sneakers quiet on the gleaming floor.
Tessa remained quiet, watching them all and trying to figure out what was going on in yet another vision she didn’t understand. The Chaos wasn’t driving her mad; thesegodsdamn glimpses of everything and nothing were going to be what pushed her over the edge.
“How long do we have?” the male asked, planting himself between Tessa and the hole in the center of the room. His feathered wings flared wide, as if creating an additional barrier, and she could tell just by looking at him he was a trained warrior, perhaps even more so than Razik.
“Anala is doing her part. Again,” the dark-haired female said bitterly.
“We can’t help it if she’s his favorite,” the first female said.
But Tessa had stopped listening to them as the thing in her soul yanked her forward. She stumbled a step, the male going rigid as she got closer.
“Em…” the male warned.
“I’ve got it,” the dark-haired female snapped before focusing on Tessa once more. “Listen for his call. Don’t go deeper.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Tessa said, trying to peer around the male as the first female slunk to his side, a dagger in each hand now. As if they anticipated a fight was about to happen. Maybe it was because her power wanted… It justwanted.
“Resist it just a little longer,” the female—Em—said. “If you go to it, he’ll find you and the balance will never recover.”
“There is no such thing as balance,” Tessa retorted, taking another step forward.
“There is,” Em insisted. “But if he finds you, he’ll just add you to his collection that keeps him in power. Is that what you want?”
Tessa faltered, unsure of who or what they were talking about.
“That’s what he does,” Em went on, noticing her hesitation. “He finds. He creates. He cages. He will keep you.”
“I am no one’s,” Tessa hissed, her power flickering at her fingertips.
And the floor shuddered.
“Shit,” the male muttered. “He’ll have felt that.”
“I thought you said you had this under control,” the other female snapped, stepping to Em’s side. “That we just needed to keep her distracted for a minute or two.”
“That’s what he said,” Em retorted.
“This is why I don’t trust your godsdamn sources.”
The door being thrown open had them all turning as an ethereally beautiful female strode in. Her red-gold hair hung in loose curls down to her waist, amber eyes honing in on Tessa.
“We are out of time,” the female said, her voice fire and power. She never slowed, coming right up to Tessa. “You must go. Find the one who chose Death. She has your answers.”
Then her hand thrust out, her palm, wrapped in flames, slamming into Tessa’s chest, and she fell into Chaos again.
The stars tumbled. The worlds fell.
