Page 131 of Rain of Shadows and Endings

Theon’s voice was low and dangerous and sent small tremors down her spine, but she smirked up at him. “I don’t know why you’re surprised. I told you what I really did when I said I went to the restroom at the restaurant. Agaveheart, remember?” She held up the now nearly half empty bottle of liquor before she took another pull from it.

“You are outside. In the dark. Drinking and smoking,” he ground out from between his teeth with barely contained rage.

“And eating pizza. The horror.” She cut in with mock dismay, taking the final drag from the lull-leaf before stubbing it out on the arm of the bench.

“With…” She saw his head turn so his focus was on Tristyn now. “You.”

Not wanting him to do anything to Tristyn, Tessa lurched to her feet. Which turned out to be a bad idea because she didn’t realize just quite how much agaveheart she’d had to drink. Fae and Legacy metabolisms were much faster than mortals, so it took more to get them intoxicated. She’d clearly reached that threshold. Or maybe the lull-leaf added to everything. Either way, she stumbled, and Tristyn reached out to catch her before Theon could. Before she could thank him, she was ripped from his hands.

“What did I say about touching her again?” Theon snarled, holding Tessa tightly to his chest.

“We were just talking,” she scoffed. “Relax.”

“Relax? Did you seriously just tell me to relax?” Tessa couldn’t help but tense at his soft tone. That tone scared her more than when he raised his voice. “I woke up to find you gone. I could tell you hadn’t gone far, but the fact you were gone at all—”

“Clearly I’m fine,” she replied, trying to push off of him.

“Clearly our definitions of ‘fine’ differ,” he bit back.

“She’s not lying,” Tristyn cut in. “All we did was sit out here and talk while eating pizza and—”

“Smoking and drinking. Yes, I can see that,” Theon snarled. “Are you aware she is a Fae in service to this kingdom?”

“I did not summon her to my side. I did not provide the alcohol to her,” Tristyn retorted dismissively. There was no way he knew he was speaking to the Arius Heir. “She got that all by herself. Apparently she already told you how.”

Tessa tried—and failed—to hide her smirk.

“I think it’s best if you fuck off now,” Theon growled, tightening his hold on Tessa. Then he jerked her back, looking down at her. “What are you wearing?”

Tessa looked down too, realizing she was still wearing Tristyn’s coat. “Um, a jacket?”

“Take it off. Now.”

He didn’t even give her a chance to take it off herself before shoving it down her arms. Tessa caught it before it fell to the ground, holding it out to Tristyn with a small grin. “Thanks for letting me borrow it. And for the pizza and lull-leaf.”

Tristyn took his jacket back, draping it over his arm. “I really should get going anyway. I have an early meeting. You good?” He gave a pointed look over her shoulder at Theon.

“I’m good. Thank you for the last hour. It was nice to…talk to someone,” she admitted, and Theon’s fingers on her tightened even more as he began tugging her towards the stairs.

“Night, fury,” Tristyn called after her, and she offered him a little wave.

Theon didn’t say a word, leading her to the private elevator. When the doors opened, he pulled her roughly in, and in her drunken state, she stumbled against the back wall, gripping the railing when the elevator began its ascent. She opened her mouth to say something snarky, but before a word could form on her tongue, Theon spoke first.

“Tessalyn, tell me everything that you have done since you left our bed. Speak.”

Her eyes flew wide at the unexpected entrancing, and words tumbled from her mouth as she tried to work around the order the best she could. “I came downstairs and collected the agaveheart I had sent here. I went outside for fresh air, and Tristyn was out smoking. We started talking and shared lull-leaf and the agaveheart. I mentioned wanting pizza. He went and ordered some while I borrowed his phone. When he came back, we sat and talked until you showed up.”

The elevator came to a stop, and the doors slid open. Before she could take a step to exit, Theon was in front of her, crowding her against the wall. “Before I address everything you just said, did he touch you?” His eyes were manic and desperate, dark wisps swirling among his irises while tendrils of dark shadows reached for her.

“No.”

His entire body relaxed a fraction, and he slid a hand around to the back of her neck. He pushed her ahead of him, steering her towards their room. “Do not make a sound when we get inside. If you wake up Luka or Axel, you will be in even more trouble.”

“I mean, does it really matter at this point?” she drawled.

The grip on her nape tightened as they came to their door. Theon reached around her, gripping the handle, but before he pushed the door open, she felt his breath on her ear. “I just want to make sure you are aware that had you accepted this godsdamn bond, I’d be finding a much better use for that mouth of yours tonight.”

Tessa stilled, heat flooding through her at his words, but she scoffed, “Too bad you’re not mortal. I’d show you all kinds of things with my mouth.”

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