Page 276 of Dawn of Chaos and Fury
Theon blinked, the memory surfacing. Shehadbeen gone for days. They were more than a handful at that age, and Pen hadn’t been able to wrangle all three of them, much less for days on end. That was what they had assumed they were being punished for, but…
“You’re my mother?” Theon asked, restating what was now an obvious question. The emerald eyes. The midnight hair. Even some of the facial features were the same.
“It’s why you look like Arius,” Tessa murmured. “Two distant bloodlines with a twist of fate.”
“I’m told you are not like him,” Caris said. “That none of you are. That you’ve found love and that somehow, you are not like him.”
“Who told you that?” Theon asked, taking another step closer.
“Eviana has been visiting.”
Right. Eviana.
He turned to tell the Fae males that they would go find her in a moment, but the landing was empty. So were the stairs.
They’d gone off without them.
48
EVIANA
Ahand covered her mouth, and her eyes went wide as she was dragged into a hall bathroom. Then she went still when the door closed, and she came face-to-face with Lange.
“By the gods,bellana,” Lange muttered. “Does he only let you piss once a day? We’ve been waiting forever.”
Corbin had removed his hand from her mouth, but he still had an arm wound around her. She wriggled from his hold, facing them both now.
“What the fuck are you doing here? And how?” she hissed, knowing she didn’t have much time.
She had been allowed to go to the bathroom, but she also had to return with a new bottle of scotch for Valter. If she took too long, there would be consequences.
“We’re here to get you,” Lange answered. “Tessa is here, along with Theon, Luka, and Axel. They’re with Theon’s mother. Did you know she was here?”
“Of course I knew she was here,” Eviana snapped. “I helped put her here.”
“And you never told him?” She stared back at him. “Right,” Lange muttered, rubbing at his nape. “I suppose you couldn’t.”
“We don’t have a lot of time,” Corbin stated.
“Obviously. What’s the plan?” she retorted.
This timetheystared back at her.
“You came here without a fucking plan?” she demanded. “Did I teach you fools nothing?”
“We sort of have a plan,” Lange countered. “Theon and Axel are here to kill their father. So once that’s done, we’re good to go, right?”
“They are here to kill him?”
“Well, I’m guessing he’s not going to let them simply walk out the nonexistent front door with their mother,” Lange drawled. “Speaking of, why the fuck isn’t there a door?”
“Oh my gods,” Eviana muttered, going over all this new information and trying to pull together a plan. Priya wasn’t just going to go with them. She was too enamored by Valter.
“I have to get back or he’s going to come looking for me,” she said. “Come backwithTessa, Theon, and Axel, but first…”
She faltered, clasping her hands in front of her. Out of habit, yes, but also out of nerves. She felt the most in control when she was doing something she was used to. Something that came as naturally as breathing.
“What is it, nightmare?” Corbin asked, clearly trying to lighten the mood.
