Tempest of Wrath and Vengeance (Legacy #3)

4. Luka

4

LUKA

“ T his is fucking stupid, Theon,” Luka griped as he yanked his tie off and threw it across the room. His phone was on speaker, sitting on the coffee table before his sofa.

“It’s not stupid, Luka,” Theon replied. “What’s stupid is you calling me right now. I told you not to contact me. Not to tell me anything.”

“What exactly have I told you? You felt her emotions as much as I did,” he answered, shrugging out of the suit jacket. He hated wearing all this, but he’d had no choice in the matter when he was meeting the rulers of the realm as the representative of Arius Kingdom.

“Then why are you calling me right now? To tell me what I already know?”

A frustrated growl escaped him as he started working the buttons of his shirt. When he finished undoing the final one, he sank onto the sofa, his shirt falling open as he swiped up his phone and brought it to his ear. “She was there.”

“Where?”

“At the Tribunal hearing.”

“Again, why are you telling me this?”

Luka sighed, pulling the band from his hair and letting the strands fall around his face. “Because you told me to go to her, to find out where Axel is, and she won’t talk to me. I figured you had experience with… Well, you know.”

A long pause greeted him before Theon said, “Are you trying to say I have experience with Tessa completely shutting me out?”

“Don’t act offended,” Luka said, toeing off his shoes before removing his socks.

“And now you are asking me for advice on how to handle her?” Theon continued, unfazed. “The one she fucked and then left on his knees?”

“Well, when you say it like that,” Luka grumbled, calling his power forth and letting black flames linger.

For so long they’d kept his true lineage quiet. Most had assumed he was an Arius Legacy, and it was second nature to keep his power hidden just as he’d kept his dragon form and Traveling abilities hidden. This was one of the few places he felt at ease and able to drop all his shields and pretenses, even with the truth out in the open now.

There was an exasperated sound on the other end. “You want to know how I got her to finally talk to me when she was actively ignoring me?” Theon asked. “I pushed her, Luka. I pushed her too godsdamn far when the rest of you warned me not to. I told her to get herself under control, and then I pushed her to the point of losing it. I’m not the one to give you advice on this. That’s why I sent you to her. You are the one she asks for. You are the one she likes to be able to see. You are the one…” He trailed off for another long moment before saying, “You’re the one who has always known she wasn’t the one for this, and now I know why.”

“What does that mean?” Luka asked, extinguishing the flames in his palm.

“It’s nothing I can explain now.”

Suspicion immediately blossomed because the only time Theon told him that was when he was trying to work something out, which usually meant he’d discovered some new information.

“With everything going on, this is not the time to keep secrets, Theon. If you learned something new, you need to tell us,” Luka said.

“Us? We don’t even know where the fuck Axel is right now,” Theon retorted.

“Then what’s the plan?”

“There is no plan, Luka. You’re the one who repeatedly said the plan was fucked.”

“The original plan was fucked,” he argued. “We can’t just move forward without a plan. That’s just…chaos.”

“The plan right now is for you to talk to Tessa and see if she knows where Axel is. I’ll keep searching on my end while also trying to run an entire godsdamn kingdom.”

“You should probably start by showing up for the Tribunal meetings,” Luka replied dryly.

“I told you I couldn’t get there this time. Not when they call a meeting last minute like this. I’m tied up with something else.”

“Right. Something you can’t explain now.”

“For fuck’s sake, Luka,” Theon sighed. “Just tell me what happened.”

“Now you want me to tell you things?”

“Gods, you’re broodier than usual. When was the last time you went flying? Or went to your cave?”

“I’m there now,” he answered, looking around at the place he’d claimed as his own.

He’d spent an exorbitant amount of money to make it not so cave-like. The floors had been sanded smooth, and he’d paid an Anahita Legacy to enchant pipes so he had running water throughout the caverns that branched off from the rest of the space. He even had a high-end kitchen installed, which was ridiculous because he never cooked. But here, no one taunted him about how he liked his giant bed in another cavern room to be a mess of pillows and blankets. Here it was quiet, and he could think. Here there weren’t expectations and demands constantly being made of him. Here there wasn’t a need to prove he was worthy of the blood that ran in his veins.

And here, no one touched his godsdamn things.

“Just tell me about the meeting,” Theon said. “Then go fly for a bit.”

“There’s a lot of tension among the rulers right now,” Luka offered, tucking the hair tie into a bronze tin and picking up one of the rings inside it.

“When isn’t there?” Theon replied.

“This was more than that,” Luka said, rolling the silver ring between his fingers. “Tessa being there was a power play by Jove, whether she realizes it or not. It didn’t matter that she left before things really got under way. The others saw her.”

“Wasn’t that the point of the meeting? To discuss how to handle Tessa now that they know what she is?” Theon asked, shuffling sounds coming through his end before it quieted down again.

“They don’t know though,” Luka argued, placing the ring back inside the tin and snapping the lid shut. “They are all worried about her paternal line, and Jove keeps trying to play off her maternal line.”

“Do you think he knows?”

“I honestly cannot tell. He insists she is not more powerful than he is, but merely being the granddaughter of Arius would make her more powerful.”

He could practically see Theon rubbing his jaw as he said, “But she’s hardly displayed any Arius gifts for being a direct descendant. All of her gifts have manifested as Achaz powers. That would suggest she’s just as close, if not closer, to Achaz.”

“Except the ability to summon storms. That is neither of them,” Luka said, getting to his feet and moving to a wall of empty frames.

They both fell silent at his words because it put them back at the beginning of all this. They’d learned so much about her, yet still had no solid answers.

“I think that’s ultimately the missing knowledge for Jove too,” Luka finally said. “He knows she has Achaz blood, but does he know about her visions and Witch heritage?”

“There is no way they know she’s essentially Achaz, Zinta, Arius, and Serafina. They would have already killed her,” Theon said. “They would have never let her get this strong or this powerful.”

“Unless Jove thought he could control her.”

“Control the uncontrollable,” Theon muttered. “It all goes back to that stupid prophecy.”

“Tell me again what your theory about her maternal line is,” Luka said. He should be writing this all down. Theon could keep facts straight in his head, but Luka had always been more visual.

“There are texts that suggest Achaz had a child with a daughter of Zinta. I don’t think Tessa is that child because those texts were written centuries ago, and Tessa is obviously only twenty-four years. But beyond that, she could be anywhere in the line.”

“So we know nothing,” Luka said bluntly, running his fingers along an ancient gold frame.

“We know her paternal line, but the other things… Yeah, we know nothing,” he answered, sounding utterly defeated.

“Theon, you keep trying to do this alone, and you don’t have to. You know that, right?”

“It’s my responsibility,” he replied.

“No, it’s?—”

“Is there anything else?” Theon interrupted, his tone going hard.

Luka sighed, not wanting to push this during a phone conversation of all things. “Yeah. There’s one more thing. When the meeting was concluding, it was reported that two priestesses were found dead at the Pantheon.”

The pause on the other end was deafening.

“Like the Arius Legacy that have been turning up dead?” Theon finally asked.

They’d been finding bodies all throughout the Acropolis for the last two weeks. It was another reason the emergency meeting had been called. It didn’t matter if they were full-blooded Arius Legacy or if they simply had Arius blood somewhere in their ancestry. Every single victim had some type of Arius lineage.

Until the priestesses.

“These were Pantheon priestesses, Theon,” Luka answered.

“So full-blooded Zinta Legacy,” Theon replied.

“The Celeste Lady was furious considering the Pantheon is part of her responsibilities in correlation with Selection duties,” Luka replied. “They are demanding Tessa be detained until her lineage is determined and until it is proven she is not responsible.”

“Why would she be responsible for this? Wasn’t she at the Tribunal building?”

“I told you, she disappeared shortly after it started. That’s when we felt her panicking.”

“Are you saying Tessa killed the priestesses?” Theon asked.

Raking a hand through his hair, he said, “I don’t know, Theon. But all the evidence is pointing to her. Not the Augury.”

“She can’t… She wouldn’t…” But Theon trailed off, and Luka knew he was cataloging all the evidence in his mind.

He had sat there and listened as the rulers of Devram had done the same. Lord Jove hadn’t even tried to argue any of the points. Luka had tried, but he’d quickly realized the error of that because of course he would defend the Arius Heir’s chosen Source. He’d suddenly found himself being questioned about the Arius Kingdom’s intentions in Selecting her.

To put it bluntly, all of this was a fucking mess.

“What was the outcome?” Theon asked.

“Rordan swore he had things under control and that she would be confined until all their questions could be answered.”

“Maybe that’s for the best.”

“Can you repeat that? Because it sounds like you just said locking up the female who shattered wine bottles and has powers no one can identify is a good idea,” Luka said in disbelief. “You, of all people, know what happens when someone tries to confine her.”

“If she’s confined and more bodies show up, it will prove her innocence. Not only that, they’ll be the bad guys as much as we are because she thinks they’re giving her freedom,” Theon reasoned.

“By the gods,” Luka muttered. “Are you listening to yourself?”

“You called me, remember?” Theon retorted.

“Fuck all that has done.”

Theon made an annoyed sound. “Go flying. Then maybe you won’t be such a broody ass.”

“Get in touch if you get any leads on Axel.”

“Don’t call me again, Luka.”

He didn’t bother answering, instead disconnecting the call and tossing the phone aside. While he understood the thought process behind having no contact, that was impossible when the three of them were bonded. Mental conversations between them were not private, and when emotions became too much, they all felt them. Theon would have heard the entire conversation he’d tried to have with Tessa, but Theon had stayed quiet, as if he weren’t there at all. But he was there, and Tessa would have known that. She would have felt him down the bond.

He had no other way of contacting her though. She didn’t have the phone Theon had given her. Short of just showing up at the Achaz Lord’s doorstep, he wasn’t going to see her, let alone talk to her. Theon had pushed and pushed, forcing his way into the very air she breathed, but at least she’d spoken to him.

Removing the remainder of his clothing, he made his way down a short passage that emptied onto a ledge overlooking the Ozul Mountains. It was well hidden, and even if someone managed to find it, he’d paid ungodly amounts for wards from, ironically enough, Lilura Inquest.

With a flash of pale blue light, he shifted into his dragon form. Scales rippled as he stretched his neck and wings. He hadn’t been in this form in weeks. Claws scraped on stone when he moved to the edge, and yet all he could think about was the look on Tessa’s face when she’d seen him in this form the first time. Awe and wonder had filled her features as she’d reached out and run her hand along his scales, her fingers gentle and cool against his hot skin.

He shook his head, trying to shake off the memory before he leapt into the darkening sky.

He was standing in the city center of Rockmoor, the capital city of the Arius Kingdom, and he was standing among carnage.

Bodies were everywhere. The streets were red, and the cries of the dying filled the air. Phantoms glided among them all, gold weapons in their hands that silenced the cries. Luka had never fought in a war, but he knew that was what this was. It was a battle, and one side had lost terribly because these weren’t warriors dead on the ground. These were common Legacy— males, females, and younglings.

And standing in the center of it all was Tessa.

She was fury incarnate as she held a golden sword of her own, blood glistening on the blade. She looked as she had the day he’d found her stabbing wildly with an arrow. Blood was splattered across her face and in her hair. There was nothing of the female they’d found at the Pantheon all those months ago. There was only cold wrath and wickedness on her features when she crouched beside one of the dying. There was no pity, no mercy, as she said something softly to the person before pulling a golden dagger from a flash of light and slamming it into their chest. Her power followed, arcs of crackling light making the male scream as he arched off the ground.

The silence that followed was deafening, but it also allowed his enhanced hearing to pick up on the low conversations happening.

Luka shifted his eyes, his pupils turning to vertical slits so he could see farther and more clearly when one of the phantom figures glided closer to Tessa. It was then he realized they weren’t exactly phantoms. Not as the being reached out with a hand and swept Tessa’s hair over her shoulder. Luka clamped down on the growl that swelled in his chest as his dragon snarled at someone else touching her.

“Are you pleased, your grace?” the figure asked, his voice icy and eerie. Tessa didn’t even react though, as if she was used to conversing with them.

“It is what must be done,” Tessa replied tonelessly, violet eyes sweeping over the chaos around her.

“This realm is yours, your grace,” he replied, circling around her.

Where were her wolves?

“The realm is Rordan’s, not mine,” she answered, reaching to sheath her sword down her back, the gold glinting in the gloomy day. “I want nothing to do with this godsforsaken world.”

“You wish to go home?” the being asked.

“I have no home.”

“But you do, your grace, and you would be welcomed,” he purred, a semi-corporeal hand skimming along her lower back, and Luka couldn’t hold in his growl at that touch.

Violet eyes snapped to his, but she appeared to be the only one who heard him. The beings did not react, and the dead did not stir. But her eyes narrowed, and even from here, he could see the lightning flashing in them. Her head tipped to the side, the gold dagger still gripped in her hand.

She was a godsdamn vision.

Golden hair flowed around her, and her entire being was humming with a faint glow. Her white dress was cut low in the front, reaching to her bare feet with deep slits up the side. She had some type of leather armor strapped along her torso with vambraces on her forearms. All of which was splattered with blood. She looked almost as if she’d stepped from another world, standing among the ruin.

Actually, she looked like another version of Auryon, only with blades instead of arrows and light instead of dark.

“You are not supposed to be here,” a voice hissed, moments before he was yanked backwards by one of the beings.

Luka whirled to find a gold dagger at his throat and a female standing beside the phantom being. These had to be the Hunters Tristyn had warned them about. The female was beautiful in a haunting sort of way. Tall and lithe, her raven hair was stark against her pale skin. It was woven into a simple plait, strands of gold interspersed among it. Her gown was gold, and so were the bangles on her wrists. Her eyes, though, were bright violet as they glared at him.

“Did she call to you? Or were you sent?” the female demanded.

“I don’t know what that means,” Luka replied.

“We shall see, young warlord,” she sneered, before her hand shot out, slamming into his chest.

Luka lurched to his feet, tripping over the mess of blankets and pillows as he looked around wildly, blinking sleep from his eyes. He was still at his cave. It was still dark. His black flames still cast a low glow over the space. He was still alone.

But somehow, he’d also just been in one of Tessa’s visions, and he didn’t know what the fuck to do with that.