Page 257 of Rain of Shadows and Endings

“Right,” she murmured, rocking on her toes as if she suddenly couldn’t stay still.

“Are you hungry, Tessa?”

“Do you think I will need blood?”

“What?” Theon balked.

“Blood,” she repeated. “Like you drink.”

“No,” Theon said immediately.

“It’s a fair question,” Luka said from the sofa. “If she’s Legacy—”

“She’s not Legacy,” Theon interjected.

“Don’t be stupid, Theon,” Axel sighed. “She has Achaz power, which means she has some blood of Achaz. And based on the power displayed tonight? I’m going to go with a lot.”

“Not to mention her Mark matches ours,” Luka said, holding up his forearm to show the Mark identical to the one on Tessa’s forearm.

Theon turned back to her. “Did the Keeper say anything to you?”

“Not really,” she answered, rocking on her bare toes again. “Can we go outside?”

“It’s the middle of the night.”

“I like the dark. It makes the light shine brighter.”

“Don’t you think it would be better to rest? Or eat? Or…” he trailed off as she made her way to an armchair and plopped into it, apparently abandoning her efforts to go outside.

“You all have a lot of Marks. Why couldn’t I see them earlier? You said they could be seen by those who have the blood of a god.”

He had said that, and now that she mentioned it, she was right. She should have been able to see them all along. The only explanation he could come up with was that whoever had bound her power had somehow nullified all of her bloodline’s magic. Bits and pieces of her power had broken through when her emotions had been in a heightened state, and to be honest, Theon was a little worried the same would happen even with the bands in place.

“Do they all mean something different?” she asked when Theon didn’t answer.

“Yes.”

“Will you tell me about them?”

His brow arched as he slid his hands into the pockets of his loose pants. “You want to learn about the Marks?”

“Yes, please.”

The pleasantry made both his brows shoot up. “I can tell you about the Marks.”

“And my lessons? When will those start?”

Theon glanced at Luka and Axel, who both just shrugged.

“The Fae begin lessons in three days. You will start them then as well.”

“With you?”

“Some of them,” he answered with a nod.

“And Mother Cordelia?”

“I think that is something we may need to reconsider, but not tonight.”

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