Page 26 of Dawn of Chaos and Fury
Theon methodically worked through his father’s study, packing up books and maps. Anything that might prove valuable. He wished he could just move this entire room, along with the library in Arius House. Countless hours were spent poring over these volumes. Sometimes with Luka. Sometimes with Axel. Usually by himself. But he had to travel light. He couldn’t take all of it as well as his personal effects. Not to mention some of Tessa’s belongings he wanted to keep.
That red dress she’d dropped the night she’d taken control with one hand.
The fleece blanket she often wrapped herself up in on the balcony.
The necklace she wore the first time they faced his father as a united front.
The coffee mug with the cracked handle she favored.
The godsdamn bright purple flip-flops.
He was on a rolling ladder searching the top shelves when he heard the footfalls. Immediately tensing, he slowly descended, setting aside the three books he held and sliding his hands into his pockets. The footsteps drew closer, and he tilted his head in interest. These weren’t the heavy steps of his father or the hesitant and quiet movements of the staff.
“Hello,Mother,” he sneered when the door opened, Cressida standing in the doorway.
How foolish of her considering they’d learned she’d been working with Cordelia and Rordan for years now. Not to mention she’d helped set a trap for Tessa to bring her to heel and ruin.
“Oh. It’s you,” Cressida sighed, her disappointment evident. “I thought your father had finally returned home.”
“You mean the male you’ve been double-crossing for… How long has it been?” he replied, his tone cold and dark. “From the very beginning?”
But his mother only smiled in return, something just as icy. “You think you have this all figured out, don’t you, Theon? The academic and the clever one of the family.”
She moved deeper into the room, her long black dress clinging to her figure. It was a casual piece, but she still wore her heels. They clicked loudly with every step until she reached the desk, picking up a decorative paperweight. She spun it in her hand, gaze fixed on the object as if she wasn’t worried about her son’s calculated temper in the least.
“I think I have a pretty good grasp on things at this point,” he finally gritted out when she only continued to toy with the decor.
“Always researching and scheming,” she went on, as though she hadn’t been waiting for him to speak. “Digging into things you needn’t have bothered with. If only you could have done as you were told. Been what your father had tried to train you to become.”
He went utterly still. How many times had he said such similar words to Tessa?
She sighed dramatically, “This would have all been taken care of if you hadn’t insisted on Selecting that wretched cu?—”
She didn’t get to finish. Theon was across the room before she could blink. His hand wrapped around her throat, he cut off her words and shoved her back into the desk.
“Do noteverspeak of her like that,” he snarled. “Then again, you won’t be speaking much longer. You set her up. You worked with Cordelia to break her and cage her. You fed information to Rordan to take her from me. Did you really think I would never find out?”
She choked out a gasp, and he loosened his grip to let her speak. With a derisive laugh, she said, “You’re just like your father, Theon. Too wrapped up in your own agenda and power to notice what’s going on around you. You didn’t even realize the female wasn’t Fae until it was displayed to everyone at the Emerging. For someone so clever, you miss what’s right in front of you every single time.” She paused, then added, “Although, I suppose that’s not entirely your fault. Considering what you are.”
His hand tightened again, and a sharp gasp slipped past her lips when his power seeped from his palm, adding to the pressure. “Tell me everything, or I kill you right now.”
“You…can’t,” she choked out.
His darkness wound up from beneath his hand, crawling along her jaw and making its way to her parted lips.
“You think I care because you are my mother?” he asked. “You’ve never been affectionate towards me. You’ve never cared. You are my mother by title only, and you hurt her. Tried to take her from me. The cost of that transgression is your life.”
She sputtered, and his power eased a fraction. “I raised you,” she rasped.
“Caris raised me, and then Pen when she was murdered. Try again,” he sneered, removing his hand altogether to let his power do the work.
Her lip curled into a sneer of her own. “I raised you even though you weren’t mine. You won’t kill me, Theon, because killing me will kill the one who actually birthed you. Then you will never have answers to questions you didn’t even know you had.”
“What are you talking about?” he demanded.
She shifted, and he felt a hand brush his thigh. Looking down, he found her pulling up the skirt of her dress. He lurched back a step, his darkness keeping her pinned to the desk. “What the fuck are you doing?”
She said nothing as she pulled her dress higher. Then she shifted just enough to show him where a Mark stood stark against the flesh of her inner thigh. It was in a place few would ever see, and certainly not him, and it was one he’d never seen before.
