Page 5 of Dawn of Chaos and Fury
How bizarre to want to stay with a phantom.
As if he could still hear her thoughts, he whispered, “You can’t stay here.”
She stiffened, his fingers trailing down her spine.
“It’s too dark for you here, little storm,” he continued. “You hate the dark.”
“As much as I hate you,” she retorted.
His fingers paused on her lower back before a low huff of laughter escaped him. “Always a battle with you, right?”
Despite herself, a small smile tilted on her lips. “Always.”
“Tessa, I—” But he broke off, his entire body tensing, and she pulled back to look up into his face once more.
His gaze was fixed on something beyond her, and she turned to see a figure off in the distance. This far away, she couldn’t make out much, even with enhanced senses. She could only see the long black hair blowing in the increasing winds around a distinctly feminine form.
“Is that…Auryon? Is she a phantom here too?” Tessa asked, moving to take a step closer, but his hold on her tightened, keeping her close.
“You need to go,” he said. “It’s not safe for you here right now.”
“When was it ever?” she countered, her voice hardening.
He cupped her cheek, regret and longing staring down at her. “I’ll always find you. I’m forever yours.”
Tessa pursed her lips, lingering a second longer before stepping from his hold. She wouldn’t argue with him. It hadn’t worked before; she wasn’t under any illusion that it would do any good now.
Adjusting the bow across her chest, she didn’t say another word as she made her way back to the mirror gate. The figure across the vast expanse watched, not moving.
“You broke me too,” he called after her, making her pause. “In ways I never could have imagined. So hate me, Tessa. Hate me and break me and make me feel it all, but would you save me? If you could?”
Her fingers traced along the symbols etched around the mirror, searching for the one she needed. She pulled a dagger from where it was sheathed at her thigh, slicing her palm and pressing it to the marking before she looked over her shoulder one last time.
“Maybe,” she answered, before she stepped through the mirror.
PART ONE
ENDINGS
1
TESSA
The chair was empty.
It was always empty when she woke. But she knew he sat in it while she slept. His scent lingered in the room, so strong and fresh he must have just left. She wondered if he could still feel her stirring down the bond despite how broken and fractured it was now. He would hate that. Hate that he was bound to her in any way. He valued loyalty above all else, and she’d betrayed that. Betrayed him.
But for the first time since Theon had left them in that chamber, she wished Luka was sitting in that chair when she blinked her eyes open. For the first time, she wished he was there, just to calm the turmoil in her soul.
Truth be told, she wasn’t sure how long they’d been here. Days for sure. Weeks? Possibly. They tried to talk to her, but she couldn’t hear them. Sounds were muffled. She was too lost to herself, her thoughts, her fury. Trying to make sense of something, anything. But she couldn’t get her thoughts in order, and even if she did, she had choices to make.
So many choices.
It was what she’d always wanted, and now there were so many, it felt crippling.
Sliding from the bed, Tessa made her way to the floor-to-ceiling windows, pressing her palms to the cool glass. Every room of this three-story penthouse had them. On the top floors of the towering building, she could see over the vast expanse of the Acropolis below. The Pantheon in the center, grand and regal on the hill it occupied in the center of the city. The Tribunal building a few blocks away. The shopping centers to the south, while the building she was in sat in the heart of the corporate district to the west.
And while she could see everything outside, she knew there were more spells and wards on the glass than there were floors in this building. No one could see in. She would expect nothing less from a male who changed his identity on a regular basis. Tristyn Blackheart had been here for centuries, and only in the last few months had he dropped all his glamours.
