Page 13 of Rain of Shadows and Endings

“Do not try to negotiate out of this, Tessa. It is time,” he said simply, his glass making a slight thudding sound when he set it down.

He made to stand, but Tessa blurted, “I need to use the restroom first.”

His eyes narrowed. “There is a bathroom in the Marking Suite.”

Damnit. That wasn’t what she wanted. She wanted to be left alone for five godsdamn minutes so she could think and come up with a plan. Looks like she’d be getting those five minutes in the bathroom.

“It can’t wait,” she replied, fidgeting and crossing her legs as though she were about to wet herself right there.

Theon looked sufficiently irritated as he said, “We can stop on the way to the suite.”

She nodded in agreement and allowed Theon to pull her chair back and help her to her feet. She saw Dex, Oralia, and the others standing on the edge of the crowd, still watching her. The Fae hadn’t been invited to eat yet. They wouldn’t be until the Legacy were finished. The entire meal she had tried to come up with a way to get them a message, but Theon had been watching her like a godsdamn hawk.

As they descended the steps from the dais, Tessa knew this was her last opportunity. Theon’s hand pressed to her lower back once more, and when they drew close enough to Dex, she said, “I didn’t notice a restroom in the corridor earlier. Are you sure there is one on the way?”

Theon nodded once, his gaze fixed straight ahead. “There is one halfway down the hall to the right.”

“Perfect,” she replied, and she saw Dex slip away out of the corner of her eye.

Perfect indeed.

As they made their way out of the grand hall and into the corridor, Theon slid his hand from her back and pressed it to her neck, right over where he’d forced the tonic into her body. Tessa jerked back at the pressure on the bruised and tender spot, her eyes snapping to his accusingly. “What are you doing?”

“My power is healing the bruise.”

“Arius Legacy don’t have healing gifts.”

“I will be able to heal you. It is a component of the Source Markings, and it is proof the tonic has taken effect, allowing my magic to slip past and heal you.”

“Why didn’t you do that to begin with?”

“Because it is tradition for Sources to bear the bruises for the evening until they receive their first Mark,” he explained, reaching for her neck again.

She felt his dark magic rush under her skin, soothing the ache. “I thought the Arius Kingdom did not care for customs?”

“Careful, Tessalyn,” he warned. “My patience will only be pushed so far.”

When they reached the female restroom, Theon tugged her to a halt. “Five minutes, Tessa. If you are not back out here in five minutes, I will come in and get you.”

“Understood, Master.”

A growl rumbled from low in his throat. “We have much to discuss when we arrive home.”

Tessa turned away from him, but before she could push the door open, someone else came out.

“Oh, pardon me,” Oralia said, quickly offering a curtsy to Theon before hurrying off.

Theon didn’t even acknowledge her. “Five minutes,” he said, jerking his chin towards the door.

Tessa hurried in and immediately scanned the room. Five stalls were to her right, sinks on the left wall. A small window was high on the back wall, but not so small she wouldn’t be able to squeeze through it if she could get up there. She took a step towards it when a humming sound caused her to pause.

She drew closer to the stalls and stilled outside the third one where the humming was loudest. Tessa pushed the door open to find a phone sitting on the back of the toilet, vibrating with an incoming call. The Fae did not generally have phones until they were working in their assigned kingdoms, but she’d lifted plenty of them from unsuspecting Legacy. Corbin was weirdly skilled with technology, considering they rarely had the opportunity to use such things, but he managed to wipe any security measures taken off the phones they had lifted in the past, leaving them untraceable. Their small group of six had two stolen phones they shared among themselves, this being one of them. And because it wasn’t known they had the phones, they weren’t checked to make sure the settings were changed in the Pantheon.

The call rang out and immediately started vibrating again. She snatched it up, connecting the call and bringing it to her ear. “Dex?”

“Tessie.” Dex’s relieved voice came through the speaker. “We’re going to get you out. We’re going to—”

“No, Dex. It’s immediate death if you’re caught. They will accuse you of attempting to kidnap a Source. You and anyone with you will be killed on the spot. We can’t risk that,” she argued, already knowing where he was going with this.

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