Page 105 of Rain of Shadows and Endings

“Somewhat possessive?” Axel interjected, arching a brow.

“The point is,” Theon pressed on, pointedly ignoring his brother. “No one gets near her without one of us with her. This stays between us for now. I have already informed the Priestess not to forward the report to my father. That I would deliver the results myself.”

“He is going to see it when he reads the report,” Luka said. “It plainly states it.”

“Then I will have a false report made while we are in Rockmoor. We must have some forgery connections here, don’t we?”

“On it,” Axel said, pulling his phone from his pocket.

Theon nodded a thanks to his brother before he continued. “Anyway, while her safety is obviously important now, after the Emerging Ceremony, it will be a top priority. Being my Source should go a long way in keeping her safe, but that kind of power will draw people to her like a moth to a flame. Not to mention Father will be livid.”

“Agreed,” Luka said. “What are your thoughts for the Acropolis?”

“She is never left alone,” Theon said. “I know you will have your own suite in the apartment lodgings there, but I would feel more comfortable if you spent the majority of your time at the Arius townhouse with me and Axel.”

“I will be with you two most of the time anyway,” Luka replied with a shrug.

“I also want you to start training her.” Theon’s phone buzzed in his pocket again, and he carefully fished it out, trying to avoid waking Tessa. “Why is Felicity Davers confirming our change of plans from lunch to dinner?”

“Because if you were still going to meet her for lunch, you would have needed to be there ten minutes ago,” Luka answered. “When you messaged me that Tessa still hadn’t woken yet, I had a feeling it would go like this. I arranged for a dinner reservation rather than lunch.” Theon narrowed his eyes at his friend, and Luka held up his hands placatingly. “You are already going to be keeping something major from your father, Theon. You don’t need to piss him off more by telling Felicity to fuck off today.”

He was right. Theon needed to do whatever possible to keep his father’s suspicions low right now. He sighed, sending a quick message back to the female confirming the change of plans.

“How long until we can get out of here?” Axel asked, looking up from his phone. “I have a guy that can meet with us in an hour to get us a fake report. He lives in the suburbs though. It will take at least a half hour to get there.”

Theon glanced up at the fluids bag. “The Priestess said once these are gone, her IV can be removed, and we can go.”

There was a lull in the conversation before Axel said, “Are you going to tell her the results?”

And Theon didn’t know the answer to that. Did he tell his Source that she was going to be the most powerful Fae in Devram? Would it make her resist everything even more? Make her think she could fight it harder once her element had emerged? Or would it make her give in? Knowing she will be hunted and fought over, and that by giving in to the bond, she would be safer. More protected.

Or did she already know? Had she known all this time, and that was why she’d been resisting everything so adamantly? Had she thought she had gotten away with it, only to be caught off guard in the end?

“I don’t know,” he finally answered.

And he hated it. He hated that he didn’t have an answer. That he didn’t have control over this entire situation.

But the well of power sleeping in his arms?

He would soon have control over all of that, and then he could take control of Arius Kingdom.

23

THEON

A moment later, the door opened, and Rhett came into the room. He paused for a moment when he saw Tessa curled in Theon’s lap, a brief look of surprise passing over his face before it quickly vanished.

“I’m here to take out the IV,” he said, looking up at the empty fluid bag.

Theon nodded once, and the male moved forward. As soon as he began unwrapping the IV site, Tessa stirred awake. He gently pulled the catheter from her arm, his eyes meeting with Tessa’s as she watched him.

“Do you need a restroom before you go?” Rhett asked her.

“That would be great. Thank you,” she replied, her voice hoarse from screaming and disuse. She shifted her gaze to Theon. “Do you have my clothes? So I can change too?”

“I am coming with you,” Theon answered.

Tessa sighed as she pushed off of his chest. “We’ve discussed this before. Boundaries.”

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