Page 8 of Dawn of Chaos and Fury
As if a cup of coffee could fix her. Fix this. Fix anything.
But she took it anyway, the hot cup warming her hand as she reached for a cracker and took a bite.
“Let her be,” Luka said from across the room, where he’d commandeered an armchair. An ankle propped on his knee, he steepled a finger along his temple. “She doesn’t need to be coddled. If she wants to act like a child and give everyone the cold shoulder, let her.”
He was probably expecting her to bristle. React in some shape or form. But she didn’t even bother glancing at him, instead setting her cup down and filling a small plate with a bit of food. If he wanted to go back to how they were before, she could do that. Him a broody prick, and her… Well, she wasn’t going back to how she was before, but if he wanted to pretend they’d never been anything, she could do that.
Swiping up the cup of coffee, she moved to stand near the windows, setting her dishes on a side table as she stared out, biting into a doughnut she’d picked up. The grey sky swirled with snow, a storm of flurries and ice that drifted to the ground. The snow should be lessening as they moved towards the spring equinox, but the weather had been cold and dreary.
She didn’t notice the weighted silence that had settled over the room until Tris lightly cleared his throat. “It’s been two weeks since we…”
“Stole her from the Pantheon cells?” Cienna supplied.
“I guess we can call it that,” Tristyn muttered.
“I don’t know what else you’d call it.”
“Freeing her?”
“Tempting fate?” Cienna countered.
“We’re tempting fate every day we stay here,” he retorted.
Cienna hummed in agreement. “And now it is time to step away and let them dictate their own steps, Tristyn. We’ve interfered enough here.”
Interfered?
It was an interesting choice of word since neither of them offered any guidance until their hands were forced, and even then their guidance was vague.
“That’s simple enough,” Luka interjected. “We need to leave. That decision has already been made.”
“And go where exactly?” Tristyn said. “Isn’t that what’s been holding us back? Well, besides…”
He trailed off, and Tessa watched in the glass reflection as he gestured in her direction.
“If she doesn’t want to speak and contribute to anything, then she can’t complain about not having a say and not having choices,” Luka said.
Still she said nothing, only taking another bite of her doughnut. As if she’d let anyone take her choices from her again.
“You are sure Scarlett won’t let us go to Halaya? Just until we figure everything out?” Luka finally said.
“We’ve discussed this several times already. My answer isn’t going to change,” Razik said, his tone sounding as irritated as his brother’s.
“And if we simply show up?” Luka asked. “An ‘ask forgiveness later’ type of thing?”
Tessa huffed a laugh to herself at his response, picking up her coffee and taking a sip. It tried to warm her bones where a permanent chill had seemed to settle. She didn’t know if it’d ever thaw again.
“That’s a terrible idea. You should always have a plan,” Razik replied.
“That is the plan,” Luka shot back.
“And if she denies forgiveness?”
“Stop it. Both of you,” Eliza cut in. “Perhaps the best course of action is to summon her in the mirror and ask her. Even if she says no, she’ll likely have an idea of where we could go.”
“Or,” Razik drawled. “The male who clearly prefers to travel the realms and doesn’t want to be tied down could give us some ideas.”
That was the comment that had Tessa peeking over her shoulder to see how Xan would react to his elder son’s clear vitriol. Luka looked like he was holding back a retort, and Razik was glaring at his father, refusing to be the first to break the stare. And Xan?
