Page 65 of Dawn of Chaos and Fury
Tessa stared back at her, unsure of what to say because was she…giving her an order?
“Well?” Eliza said irritably.
“Well, what?” Tessa asked.
“Are you going to try it? Or is this a waste of my time?”
“I didn’t ask you to come in here,” Tessa said, utterly perplexed by this entire interaction.
“Just try it. And don’t tuck your thumb,” she added.
“Yeah, yeah,” Tessa muttered. Luka had drilled that into her as much as he’d drilled her stance into her.
Planting her feet in the proper position, she readied herself, inhaling deeply. Then, twisting from her torsoandhips, she punched out, keeping the path of her fist straight. And, yeah, all right, there was more force behind it.
“Good,” Eliza said. “You learn quick.”
Tessa turned back to her, hands dropping to her side. “I’m sorry, but what are you doing here?”
“I brought you something. Or rather, I stole you something. But I hear it’s yours anyway, so is it really stealing?”
There was a bright burst of flames that had Tessa twisting away, but when she turned back, the female stood there with a bow in her hand. Memories of the last time she’d held it clawed up from the dark places she’d locked them away, and with them was her magic as her control slipped the smallest amount.
Auryon’s bow.
Herbow.
“You stole this?” Tessa said, reaching tentatively for the weapon. “From Luka?”
Eliza nodded. “I’m sure he’ll be pissy as fuck when he realizes it’s gone, but I’ve dealt with plenty of dragon tantrums.”
Tessa took the bow, feeling the weight of so much more than wood and string as she held it in her hand.
“I don’t even know how to use it,” she whispered, but gods, her power was buzzing inside her. Frenetic and forceful, it was drawn to the bow in the same way it was drawn to power, and she wasn’t entirely sure what to make of that.
“No better time to learn,” Eliza said. “We can go outside.”
“It’s the middle of the night,” Tessa argued. “I won’t even be able to see anything to shoot at.”
“And I’m a fire Fae,” the female retorted, lifting a palm where flames sprang to life. Flames that were allowed to breathe and dance and had purpose.
“Tessa?” Eliza asked when she didn’t respond.
“Sorry,” Tessa murmured, still transfixed on the fire before she shook her head to clear it. “I get… Wait, where is Razik? You two are never apart.”
The female huffed a laugh. “We are, in fact, often apart. My Court is on one continent; the king he serves is on another.”
“That seems inconvenient.”
Eliza shrugged. “We make it work. Are we going outside or not?”
Truthfully, breathing fresh air and seeing the sky sounded like the perfect distraction, so Tessa nodded, falling into step beside Eliza as she looped the bow across her chest.
“You are his Source, right?” Tessa asked, keeping her voice low since the rest of the cave slept.
“I am,” she answered.
“By choice.”
