Tempest of Wrath and Vengeance (Legacy #3)

6. Theon

6

THEON

T heon eyed the two Fae who were seated stiffly on a sofa across from him. After spending an entire day in the Underground a few days ago, everyone had come back to the Arius Estate just outside the Acropolis. He didn’t want to go back to Arius House because his mother was there, and frankly, he didn’t trust half the staff. More than that, even with all the chaos going on, the Selection Year was still proceeding as normal. The townhouse would not have been big enough because when he said everyone had come back here, he meant everyone .

He’d been able to rescind the death order on Cienna, freeing her from the Underground, but the enchantment had taken hours to undo. It was why she’d never been able to leave, even with her magic and skills. Had she left, his father would have been immediately alerted along with several dozen of his sentries. The complicated network of tunnels and passages in the Underground, along with her own spells, were what had kept her hidden all these years. Even when she and Tristyn were sure they’d all been lifted, she still insisted on a glamour from Tristyn the first time she stepped outside, and Theon could have sworn there were tears shimmering in her eyes before Tristyn had Traveled them all here.

All of them: Lange, Corbin, Cienna, Gia, Eliza, and Razik. The only one Tristyn had refused to bring here was Katya. In fact, he’d refused to even tell Theon where Katya was, saying he’d sworn to Axel he’d keep her safe. The male had insisted on putting up his own spells and enchantments around the Arius manor and estate before bringing her here, and it wasn’t as if Theon was in any position to argue. He was finally the godsdamn Arius Lord, and he was more powerless than ever before.

With a sigh, he raked his hand through his hair. “Are you comfortable in your room?” He asked Corbin and Lange.

They both shifted under his stare, but Corbin was the one to say, “The room is more than adequate. Thank you, my Lord.”

“You don’t—” But Theon stopped himself because in what world was a Fae not supposed to be thankful and respectful to a Legacy?

“I swear to Anala, Raz, if you say one more word about that bowl, I’m going to throw it against the wall,” came a female voice.

“Eliza, if you intentionally break something that valuable, I’m going to?—”

“What, Razik?” she drawled as they entered the sitting room. She looked wholly annoyed and utterly unconcerned with his threats. “What, exactly, are you going to do?”

The Fae didn’t acknowledge any of them as she flopped down onto an overstuffed chair, but Razik was right on her heels. His hands landed on the armrests on either side of her, and he brought his face close to hers when he said, “I will haul your ass into the sky.”

Her grey eyes narrowed. “You wouldn’t dare.”

“Of course I would,” he scoffed, but his lips twitched into the smallest smirk that was clearly meant to infuriate the female.

And it worked, but not in the way Theon was expecting.

Eliza went still for a moment before she leaned forward, holding his stare. Whatever passed between them had Razik’s eyes shifting to vertical slits and glowing blue.

Theon cleared his throat as Eliza settled back in her chair, but she didn’t look at him. Instead, her attention turned to the two Fae on the sofa. “Do you two know Katya?”

“Do you know Katya?” Theon demanded.

She slid her gaze to him before looking pointedly back at Lange and Corbin. The latter shifted, clearly uncomfortable, as Lange said, “Yes, but not well. We were raised on the same estate, but I never interacted with her there. I didn’t interact with her at all until we were moved to the Celeste Estate.”

“Why were you moved?” Eliza asked, shifting her legs so Razik could sit on the arm of the chair.

How were they just…fine now? After what had clearly been some kind of argument and power struggle?

“We don’t really know,” Lange answered.

“Who would know?” she pressed.

Lange shrugged. “The Estate Mothers, I suppose.”

Eliza only hummed. Tristyn and Cienna had clearly briefed them on some of the inner workings of their realm, so they knew the bare minimum of what was being discussed.

“Katya mentioned theories. Does she have theories on this?” Razik asked.

Corbin rubbed at the back of his neck. “Kat and Axel are the ones with the theories. They’re better at explaining them.”

“But Axel is missing, correct?”

Lange glanced at Theon before looking away again and nodding.

“And your father has him?” Eliza asked, finally deigning to address Theon.

“Sort of,” he answered.

Eliza’s eyes rolled to the ceiling as if she was praying to the gods for patience. “How does someone sort of have a person imprisoned?”

“Tessa has my father, so I suppose, in a way, Tessa has Axel,” Theon snapped, irritated with the way this conversation was going.

Razik straightened at his tone, his eyes narrowing on Theon, but it was Eliza who scoffed, “It is no wonder this realm is damned.”

“It is damned because the gods didn’t follow their own fucking rules,” Theon spat. “It is damned because the balance was tipped long ago, and we are the ones paying for it.”

Eliza laughed . An all out laugh of disbelief.

“Is that what you believe?” she asked. “From my understanding, you just learned of that supposed betrayal between Arius and Achaz. How do you explain the imbalance in this world since its creation?”

“What are you talking about?” Theon gritted out.

She didn’t say a word, but her grey eyes flicked to the Fae who were watching the exchange.

“You cannot fault me for believing something to be true when that was all I’d been taught. All I have seen my entire life,” Theon argued.

“You cannot recognize injustice?” she countered. “Because from what I understand, there are those in this realm who can , and have been working for decades to counter it.”

“Please direct me to these referenced revolutionaries,” Theon drawled because where the fuck did this Fae get off telling him all about this realm when she’d been here a handful of days?

But again her eyes flicked to the two Fae on the sofa, and Theon stilled.

“That is not entirely true,” Lange interrupted. When Theon only arched a brow, he added, “I mean, how could it be? We’re not even decades old.”

“Then what is she talking about?” Theon said, and Corbin shifted so he was blocking Lange, but both of them swallowed thickly.

“I did tell you that you would find allies in unexpected places if you chose to fight back,” Corbin answered.

Theon didn’t have words as he stared back at the male. Hazel eyes held his stare, and Theon didn’t miss how tense Lange was. He knew his power was there, just below the surface, and somehow he also knew that he would attack a Legacy to defend Corbin.

And he also knew that the other two people in this room would side with them. He might be the most powerful Arius Legacy, and he’d take at least two of them out with him, but he wouldn’t win this fight with a dragon and three Fae of different elements before him.

Taking a deep breath, he stood, Lange and Corbin tensing even more, but Theon made his way over to the alcohol cart, pouring himself a measure of whiskey.

“We will discuss more of that in a bit,” he said after swallowing the entire glass. Pouring a refill, he turned to Razik and Eliza and said, “Tell me of your Source bond.”

Eliza’s brows shot up as Razik said, “What of it?”

“You chose her as your Source?” Theon said.

Razik glanced at Eliza, who had pulled her legs up onto the chair. Her hands were in her sleeves, fingers curled around the edges.

“We have a complicated history,” Razik answered. “But she offered to be my Source as a means to a different end. We discussed what that would mean after which I accepted her offer.”

“So she chose to be your Source?” Theon asked in confusion.

“Yes, but it was not for my benefit.”

“That doesn’t make sense. Who else would it benefit?”

“We were in a war. My power was needed to win that war. I was needed for my power. She did it for the greater good, not for me.”

Theon nodded, watching Eliza carefully as he said, “But you are more than that now? It wasn’t a bond you necessarily wanted, but now you do? What changed? How did that happen?”

“There were other factors,” Eliza replied, leaning slightly into Razik. Theon was sure she hadn’t even realized she’d done that. It was just a natural thing that Tessa had done with him when she was too distracted to remember to hate the bond between them.

“Care to elaborate?”

“No,” she snapped.

His fingers clenched around his liquor glass as he tried to keep his composure. He wasn’t used to this. His entire life he had been taught to intimidate and silence those who questioned him. Resistance was met with a show of power. There wasn’t cooperation, only domination.

It was a realm full of villains after all.

Even these last months of trying to build relations with some of the other kingdom heirs it had all been about gaining an upper hand. Great if they could be amenable, but find something to lord over them? Make them bow to his wishes as much as his Source was supposed to? That was always the real goal because that was where the power lay.

But there was none of that here. Razik and Eliza couldn’t care less, and why would they? If things got too intense here, they could fuck off right back to their home world. The truth was, he needed them, and they knew it. Clearly Blackheart knew it too, or he wouldn’t have sent for them.

So instead of pushing Eliza on this entire matter, he said tightly, “I am told our Source Marks differ from yours.”

Eliza blinked, looking up at Razik once more. “Is this what Scarlett was talking about?”

“I’m presuming so,” he answered, standing now. “She told me you believe there are four Source Marks.”

“Because in Devram there are four Source Marks,” he replied.

Razik’s eyes slid down, narrowing at the hand that clutched the liquor glass. “That’s not a Source Mark. That’s the Achaz symbol.”

He wanted to punch this male in the godsdamn face.

“I am aware it is not a Source Mark,” Theon gritted out.

“Then what is it?”

“Vengeance.”

“Our dearest Tessa bestowed that upon him,” came a male voice, and they all turned to find Tristyn.

And with him was Katya.

Her black ringlets flowed over her shoulders, golden eyes scanning the room. She was wearing black pants and a cream tunic that was stunning against her dark skin. Her outfit vaguely reminded him of what Cienna would wear, which made sense since she’d been staying with her in the Underground from what he could gather. Axel had told Tristyn to keep her safe, and he’d taken her to Cienna, who was also wanted by his father. Theon couldn’t deny the genius of the move.

Katya reached up, tucking her hair behind an arched ear. A small, sad smile tilted on her lips when she met Theon’s gaze.

And then she started to drop to a knee.

“Don’t,” Theon said in a rush, lurching forward a step before he could stop himself. When she paused, her head tilting in question, he added, “It is not necessary here.”

“Are you not the acting Arius Lord?” she asked, and gods, she sounded tired.

“I am, but it’s not— You don’t?—”

“I have never known you to be this inarticulate.”

“Really?” Eliza cut in. “Because that’s all he seems to be since I met him.”

“No,” Katya said, moving deeper into the room. “Theon is actually quite academic and astute. He was simply never taught how to process his emotions.”

Eliza huffed out a laugh, and by the gods, when had this day become about evaluating him and his strengths and weaknesses?

Kat stopped a few feet from him. Looking up into his face she said, “Thank you for rescinding the order to have me sent to Julius and Mansel. I am sure that would have been an unfavorable experience.”

“It would have been more than unfavorable,” he replied.

“I know,” she whispered. “It’s why he did what he did.”

He hadn’t even processed what he was doing when he thrust his liquor glass towards her and said, “Here. You need this more than I do.”

Her gaze slid to the glass then back up to him before she tentatively reached for it. “Thank you, my Lord.”

At no point in his nearly three decades of life had he thought he would ever hate hearing those words directed at him, but gods, did he loathe it in this moment.

She took a small sip of the liquor, not even wincing at the burn, before she asked, “Is there any news of him?”

Theon shook his head, unable to say the simple word.

Katya only nodded before her eyes swept the room again, searching for what, he didn’t know. But she didn’t seem to find it as she worried her bottom lip for the briefest of moments before straightening and appearing to shove aside whatever she’d been thinking about.

“What are we discussing?” she asked, holding the liquor glass at her side.

“Why Tessa gave him an Achaz Mark,” Lange supplied, sliding down the sofa to make room for her, but she didn’t move to join her friends.

“She did what?” Kat asked, her gaze immediately going to his hand.

“It was just her getting revenge. It means nothing,” Theon gritted out, his hand clenching into a fist.

She blinked several times before she said, “I just told them you were intelligent, and here you stand, making me a liar. She may be impulsive, but even Tessa has intention behind her actions, Theon.”

“This was anything but impulsive, Katya,” Theon retorted. “This was a calculated move.”

“Exactly,” she replied, taking another sip of her liquor.

He didn’t have time for this. Turning back to Razik and Eliza, he said, “Can I see what your Source Mark looks like? So I can compare it to ours?”

With an exasperated sigh, Eliza pulled back the sleeve of her shirt. Of course, the female made him come to her, and Razik stood far too close, as if he thought Theon would hurt her.

Eliza’s Source Mark was on her forearm, and it looked… Well, it looked similar to the last Source Mark given in Devram, which only served to further their theory that the first three Source Marks weren’t Source Marks at all.

“When Scarlett was here,” Theon said, continuing to study the Mark on Eliza’s arm, “she became upset when she saw Tessa’s first two Marks.”

“So I was told,” Razik muttered. “Do you have Ash Riders here?”

“I don’t know what that is,” he murmured, seeing exactly how the Guardian Mark had been incorporated with their final Source Mark.

“They can move through ashes and smoke. Believed to be of the Anala bloodline,” Razik went on.

Theon glanced up at him, finding his eyes narrowed across the room. “Are you talking about Auryon?”

“I don’t know what that is.”

“ That is a she that can move through smoke and ashes, but it was random you brought her up now,” Theon answered.

“Because she’s here,” Razik replied.

Theon whirled around. He hadn’t seen the female since well before Tessa was taken from him, and he had so many questions for her, starting with why the fuck she’d kept her real motive for being here a secret.

“Where?” Theon demanded, looking around the room and not finding a trace of her.

“By the window,” Razik answered.

“There is nothing there,” Theon said.

“She’s there,” he replied. “I haven’t seen her leave yet.”

“But you saw her enter?”

Razik nodded. “Only because I am used to watching for them.”

Theon hadn’t felt her cross the wards though. He’d had to alter them for Tristyn, which he’d done begrudgingly, but it made the most sense. With his newly revealed Traveling abilities, he could come and go without others knowing. The gods-only-knew the turmoil it would cause if it was learned Tristyn Blackheart, founder of Lilura Inquest, was seen aiding and playing favorites with the Arius Kingdom. No, his involvement in all of this would need to be kept a secret just as the male had kept his identity a secret for decades.

The wards had never been designed to keep someone like Auryon out though. Because why would they? She wasn’t a Legacy or Fae, and that was what these wards were designed to detect. The female had been able to access almost anywhere whenever she wanted in Devram. If she was here now, how many conversations had she listened to or encounters had she watched?

“Auryon,” Theon seethed. “Are you too much of a coward to even face me now?”

His hand snapped up to catch the arrow he’d been expecting, the thing inches from his chest as the female stepped from smoke. Her long black hair had ashes drifting among the strands, and swirling grey eyes were glaring at him. Her leathers were in place over her black pants and top, ashy footprints left in her wake as she stalked towards him.

“Call me a coward again, Theon St. Orcas,” she snarled, another arrow appearing from smoke. She had it nocked on her bow in the next blink.

“What else would I call someone who came to another world and hid her true motives?” he retorted, his own power rallying. Darkness writhed around him, tendrils reaching for the female while some of his magic wrapped around him, preparing to defend.

Luka and Tessa apparently felt it too. He felt both of them pause down the bond, but Luka didn’t reach out, thank Arius. The last thing he needed right now was Tessa hearing them interacting. And Tessa? She was probably hoping whatever was happening would finally be his end.

“I owed you nothing, descendant of Arius,” Auryon sneered. “You asked if I was here for her, and the answer was yes.”

“Yet you came to me for permission to get to her,” he countered. “You knew even then you needed my trust?—”

“I wasn’t here to gain your trust. I couldn’t care less if you or your Guardian trusted me,” Auryon said, lowering her bow. “I was here for her. It was her trust I needed, and I had it until the end.”

“You lost that trust,” he sneered.

“Then I guess we have something in common,” she retorted.

The smirk that tipped up on the corner of his lips was nothing short of the darkness that ran in his veins. “She knew to expect it from me. I’ve never given her any reason to think otherwise, but you? Your betrayal was so much worse, wasn’t it?”

Her features went just as dark as she glared back at him, her fingers tightening on her bow at her side.

“Tell me, Auryon, what will Temural do when he learns you failed your task to save his daughter?” he went on.

To his shock, Auryon tipped her head back and laughed. “How na?ve of you to think it is only Temural you must worry about.”

“Me?” Theon asked. “You are the one who failed.”

“But you are the one who broke her.”

The words hit their mark, and Theon felt himself wince as he stepped back from her.

“So instead of trying to shift blame and make me the bigger monster here,” Auryon went on, the arrow disappearing as she looped her bow across her chest, “perhaps we should focus on what we are going to do to pull her back before it is too late. Because if we lose her completely, this will no longer be just a war between Arius and Achaz. If we lose her, wild and fury will come for you.”

He rolled over in bed with a heavy sigh. He’d been tossing and turning for the last three hours. It didn’t surprise him. Sleep had been hard to come by for weeks now. With both Tessa and Luka being gone, he wasn’t even sure why he tried. To make matters worse, he could still smell Tessa on the sheets from the last time they’d stayed here. There was no way he was sleeping in the master suite that had been his father’s. So he’d taken the room he’d always stayed in, but they hadn’t stayed here since the night of the Emerging Ceremony.

The night that had led to the Bargain with his father.

With a frustrated grumble, he threw the blankets off and sat up, grabbing his phone from the nightstand. He cleared the messages from Felicity, ignoring them like he had all the other messages for the last two weeks. There was nothing else, and he wasn’t sure why he’d expected there to be. The other people who would be trying to get a hold of him in the middle of the night were either locked up somewhere or didn’t want to speak to him.

Tossing his phone aside, he made his way to the bathroom. Bracing his hands on the vanity, he lifted his head to look in the mirror. He looked as exhausted as he felt, and he knew there would never be a restful night’s sleep without her. The bond strained at the thought of her, and because he was weak, he let himself remember a time when she would curl into him, her hand resting on his chest. He let himself think about how she would seek him out, whether for comfort or reassurance. For the briefest of moments, he’d glimpsed what it could have been like, and it’d all been a lie on her end.

Gods, he craved those lies.

Reaching down the bond, he pressed a palm along that wall that was keeping him out. He felt the shudder on her end, and he smiled despite himself.

Until she let him in and spoke.

What do you want, Theon?

Only you, Tessa. It’s all I’ve ever wanted.

You mean my power.

Maybe in the beginning, but not anymore. You could be a mortal, and I’d still only want you.

There was a pause before she said, Your lies are still pretty.

I’ve never lied to you.

He felt her scoff before he felt something else.

Want.

Need.

Desire.

It will never be enough, beautiful.

What are you talking about?

You touching yourself right now.

A dark laugh skittered down the bond. What makes you think it’s my hand doing the touching?

Theon gripped the counter harder, darkness seeping from his palms. Tessa…

Do you want me to tell you what he’s doing?

Is it Luka?

There was another pause. Why would Luka be here?

He couldn’t even respond as he thought of another touching her.

He’s got two fingers in my cunt, and my breast in his mouth right now, and gods. It’s so ? —

He didn’t hear the rest as his fist slammed into the mirror. Glass shattered, raining down on the vanity. Shards were embedded in his knuckles, and he watched the blood stream. It dripped onto the dark countertop, but he couldn’t feel it. He couldn’t feel anything besides the fury and the envy and the pain of knowing she was finding pleasure with someone else.

You made me bleed. Now I make you bleed, Theon.

Then she shoved him out, putting that wall back up down their bond as her dark laugh echoed in his mind.