Tempest of Wrath and Vengeance (Legacy #3)

21. Theon

21

THEON

E verything about this felt wrong.

That was all he could think as he walked towards the stone house that had been built into a northern wall of the Underground. The home of the Shifter Alpha and Beta had floor to ceiling windows on each of the three levels. It stretched along a good ways, easily three city blocks if not more. While the main floor was used for business and running the Leisure District they oversaw, the upper two floors were where they lived along with several of their family members, both immediate and extended.

Theon’s shoes stirred the dust of the makeshift road, and he glanced to his right where Tristyn was keeping pace. He looked as formidable as any Arius Legacy, and Theon wasn’t entirely sure why. It had taken quite a bit of convincing before the male had finally agreed to accompany him. But Theon needed someone with him because he didn’t have Axel or Luka.

And that was why this all felt wrong.

A male he didn’t fully trust was at his right, and to his left was Katya, a fresh Mark on the back of her left hand. He still didn’t like that she’d taken the thing, especially when Kylian and Giselle answered his request the very next day. Granted, they’d made him wait an additional week for this meeting.

Katya had asked Eliza to tell her how to use the Mark to find Axel, but neither Eliza nor Razik could offer any type of instruction. They both told her that each pair was different, and it was something she would need to learn on her own. Theon knew it frustrated Katya to no end. It wasn’t something she could read about and learn from a book. Theon understood that annoyance well. How many hours had he spent in books trying to figure out his own Source bond?

That had been eight days ago, and Katya still hadn’t felt Axel again, if she even had to begin with. Guilt churned in his gut because if this twin flame thing wasn’t real between them, Axel was going to hate him for allowing Katya to take that Mark. But there was fuck all he could do about it now. They could only move forward, and hopefully something good would come of it if this meeting turned out to be pointless.

A white owl was perched on top of a gate as they approached, a loud hoot sounding. Theon nodded to the shifter guard, knowing that hoot had been announcing their arrival. Several wide steps led them up to the house where two large snow leopards were lounging, golden eyes pinned on them.

“Zara. Nico,” Theon greeted the siblings who were often on guard. They were a distant relation to the Alpha and Beta, and he couldn’t recall a single visit where they hadn’t been stationed here.

The large double doors were thrown open, a broad male staring stoically at them. His dirty blond hair reached past his shoulders and was braided back while the sides were shaved. Muscled and tall, the male was a wolf shifter and a mean fucker at that. Which was why he was the one who greeted all guests and escorted them to the Alpha and Beta.

He rarely said anything, but today was apparently the exception as dark blue eyes narrowed on Tristyn. “What the fuck are you doing here?”

Tristyn, in true arrogant fashion, pulled a roll of lull-leaf from his brown leather jacket. “It’s been a while, Altair,” he answered, lighting the lull-leaf. “Thought I’d drop by and catch up.”

“That is not why we’re here,” Theon cut in, throwing a glare at Tristyn. “He’s here because he’s helping me with a confidential matter. The Alpha and Beta are expecting me.”

“I know they are expecting you ,” Altair replied, his stare still fixed on Tristyn. “But I’m betting they are not expecting him . You are usually accompanied by your brother and Luka.”

He wasn’t wrong, which just circled back to all of this feeling wrong without them here, but he was also more than curious about what had happened between Blackheart and the Shifters. The Shifters were easily offended, but they were also not people you wanted to be on the wrong side of.

“Be that as it may,” Theon said, letting his magic drift around him while he adjusted his shirt cuffs beneath his suit jacket. “Who does and who does not accompany me does not need to be monitored by anyone when I give you all such freedom here, wouldn’t you agree?” Altair’s stare slid to him, and Theon’s smile was tight and sharp as he added, “This is also a pressing matter, so you can escort us to Kylian and Giselle now.”

It was clear this was a dominant command. Altair’s mouth pressed into a thin line, and he stepped aside to let them in.

The floor was laden with ornate rugs that muffled their footsteps as they were led past several of the windows and into a room that was situated deeper into the cave wall. There were no windows in this room. Only two overly large chairs at the front that were suspiciously similar to the chairs the Lords and Ladies sat on at Tribunal Hearings.

A male was seated on the one on the left. His brown skin appeared even darker in the low lighting of the room that cast shadows across them all. He was solidly built, his brown hair shaved on one side while the other was long, reaching nearly to his waist. His olive eyes watched them intensely, a stern look on his face as they approached.

On the other seat sat a female. The word beautiful wouldn’t do her justice. Her wine red hair brushed her collarbones, while light grey eyes passed over them with an amused gleam. High cheekbones, full lips, and fuller breasts with curves that made both males and females stare, she was sipping from a golden chalice, one long leg crossed over the other.

The pair of them were mates, and they were also power shifters. While most Shifters only had one other form, power shifters could shift into any animal or anyone, and they were rare. So rare, Theon only knew of six of them in the Underground. They could also shift energy and matter, but they did each have a preferred form. Kylian favored a large, black jaguar, while Giselle often shifted into a giant python.

The doors thudded shut behind them, but Theon knew Altair stood just outside.

“Thank you for agreeing to see me,” Theon said, his darkness still drifting around him both as a warning and as a reminder of who he was.

“Anything for the Arius Lord,” Giselle said with a sensual purr that rolled over him like a physical caress.

“He’s not the Arius Lord yet,” Kylian said in a deep voice. “And bringing Tristyn Blackheart into our home is not the way to start this encounter. Did he not tell you he is not welcome here?”

“I did relay to him that this would likely not go well with my presence, but you know how the Lords and Ladies can be,” Tristyn said with a mocking sigh as he took a toke of his lull-leaf. “No one can tell them what to do.”

Theon slowly turned to him, but Tristyn didn’t appear to notice as he blew smoke from his lips. Tamping down on his irritation, Theon returned his attention to the Shifters.

“Tristyn is not your concern here. He is accompanying me on another matter, but let’s cut right to the heart of things,” Theon said. “I am told my father has holdings in the Leisure District. As the new Arius Lord, those holdings now belong to me. I need to know their locations.”

“I have no idea to what you are referring,” Giselle said, and if Theon didn’t know how cunning the Shifters were, he would have believed her. Maybe she was speaking the truth, but they could lie so smoothly, it was nearly impossible to take them at their word. He needed proof, but if there truly were no holdings, how would they prove that?

“Even if we did, as was already stated, you are not the Arius Lord yet,” Kylian added.

“A technicality,” Theon scoffed. “Either way, I am the acting Arius Lord. Even if that weren’t fact, I would still be the Arius Heir, and it is still my kingdom that allows you to govern this District so freely. I’m sure that could be changed rather quickly if necessary.”

His power thickened around him, black swallowing his emerald irises. Neither of the Shifters moved, but neither of them had a retort for him either.

“But now that such matters are settled,” he went on, letting his magic wane as he pulled his darkness back to him, only letting wisps linger. “I am also prepared to pay what is necessary for the information.”

“Are you?” Giselle asked, her chin resting in her hand as she swirled her chalice.

“Yes,” Theon answered immediately.

“And if the price is not coin?

Not how he thought this was going to go, but he said, “I’m listening, assuming this price is within reason.”

“Within reason?” Giselle asked with a small lilt of laughter. “What price is too high for this information you are desperate to have?”

He thought about lying about the desperation part, but who was he kidding? Axel had been missing for weeks. He was getting desperate.

Giselle’s eyes flicked to Katya, who was standing quietly a step behind him, like a Fae had always been taught to do.

“She is not part of these negotiations,” Theon said quickly.

“So possessive of your Fae,” Giselle tsked.

“Not possessive, but protective of what is my responsibility to keep safe,” he replied, his magic trembling with the desire to speed this along.

“Like your people,” she commented.

“Yes, like my people.”

“And your family.”

“Yes,” he gritted out.

“Glad you see it that way,” she continued. “Because we are also very protective of what is our responsibility to keep safe. Like our people. And our family.”

A small, knowing smirk pulled at the corner of her lips when Kylian spoke. “And what of your companions? Are they willing to pay such a price?”

“You negotiate with me,” Theon said sharply.

Kylian’s sharp smile had every part of him on high alert as something wild and predatory entered his eyes. His eyes shifted to feline pupils when he said, “A bargain then, young Legacy.”

By the gods. All these fucking bargains being made left and right. Eventually, this was going to catch up to them.

“State your desired terms,” Theon said.

“Find our missing Shifter Prince.”

Theon once again blinked at him until all he managed to say was, “I was unaware one of your children was missing.”

“My children are all accounted for,” Kylian replied. Those feline eyes slid to Tristyn. “My sister’s child, however, is not.”

Theon turned to Tristyn, finding him staring at the Shifter Alpha in horror. Theon had never seen the male so unpoised.

“You never told me there was a child,” Tristyn said.

“It wasn’t your business to know,” Kylian replied coldly. “But it seems we have also reached desperate times.”

“I need someone to fill me in here,” Theon said, looking between the two males before he turned to Giselle. “How and when?”

“I think Tristyn can fill you in on the how. As for the when, twenty-three years ago,” Giselle said, her features hardening.

“And how, exactly, am I supposed to find him?” Theon asked.

The small smirk returned. “I suppose it is a good thing you brought Tristyn along after all. Between him and his sister, you should be able to come up with something.”

“Sister?” Theon repeated, once again turning to Tristyn.

But he was glaring at the Shifters. “Thanks for that,” Tristyn ground out.

“I would call it karma, but truly, it’s just vengeance,” Giselle replied sweetly.

The moment they reappeared inside the penthouse of the high rise, Theon rounded on Tristyn.

“You couldn’t have said something before we came here?” Theon demanded, his darkness whipping out and latching onto the male. “Or, you know, any of the times we’ve had interactions.”

Tristyn looked from him to the black threads wrapped around him then back again. There was no mistaking the way his russet eyes took on a sage green glow before Theon’s power stuttered as if confused. It slowly loosened, despite Theon’s hold on it, but his magic resisted, as though there wasn’t a threat standing before them.

“Everyone believes the god of peace and serenity is just that. Peaceful. Calm. The god everyone would pray to in the midst of war and conflict,” Tristyn said, his tone low and forceful. “The thing no one realizes is that he is just as cunning as any god. He can be just as cruel when he makes everyone around him feel serene and relaxed just so he can shove a blade into their back.”

It took a minute to process those words, his brain feeling sluggish and lax, but when he did, he found Tristyn idly twirling a dagger between his fingers.

“You’re a Pax Legacy,” Theon sneered. “But that doesn’t explain how Cienna is your sister because she is clearly a Witch.”

That was what Tristyn had begrudgingly revealed to him after Giselle’s little comment. There hadn’t been time to dive into the specifics. No, instead Theon was sporting yet another Bargain Mark. This one was on the back of his shoulder. Theon would locate this lost Shifter Prince and only then would they reveal the location of his father’s holdings within the District. At least they’d admitted that he did in fact have holdings, so Theon could try to locate them on his own.

“I am not a Pax Legacy,” Tristyn said. “Pax is my father.”

“Bullshit,” Theon huffed, but even as he said it, he knew it was true. Why wouldn’t it be?

“As for Cienna, yes. We are full-blooded siblings. Pax fell in love with one of Taika’s descendants,” he replied.

“So you are both Pax and Taika Legacy?”

“We are not Legacy at all. A direct descendant of a god makes us deities,” Tristyn answered. “And before you ask, Tessa is more than that, despite being a direct descendant of Temural.”

“Of course you know that,” Theon muttered.

“Anyway, the magic of the witchcraft sisters favors females. I can access it, but it takes more effort on my end. She favors healing and potions; I favor enchantments and spell enhancements.”

“All of Lilura Inquest’s technological advances,” Theon said in realization. “That’s how you built your company.”

“Something like that,” Tristyn said with a sly smile, still twirling the dagger.

“If Pax is your father, you’re not from this world.”

“Has anyone ever told you how smart you are?” Tristyn asked mockingly.

“Fuck off,” Theon snapped. “Everyone keeps berating me for not knowing things when I’ve been taught one thing my entire life. Even when I found books and texts that challenged the history I was taught, they were so sparse I couldn’t substantiate anything. Then I come to find out you’ve been here this entire fucking time doing fuck all to change a godsdamn thing.”

Tristyn moved fast, but Theon met his advance with a short blade pulled from a swirl of black. The male might be a deity, but Theon had been trained in the most ruthless of manners. Still, he could feel Tristyn’s power weighing on him, coaxing his magic into passivity, and he found himself wishing Tessa or Luka were here. He could draw from either one of them because he would certainly weaken faster than Tristyn.

“You think I have been doing nothing for hundreds of years while I was waiting for her to get here?” Tristyn demanded, and there was no russet color left in them now. They were pure glowing sage green.

“Waiting for her to get here?” Theon repeated in confusion.

“You all whine and complain about being forgotten by the gods, when the reality is you all like it. There’s no one here to correct you. The Lords and Ladies can keep everyone in the dark, and the gods that do manage to meddle here are never caught because everyone thinks they can’t be here. You all have been isolated for so godsdamn long you forget that anything is possible if one is willing to pay the price.”

Tristyn’s breathing was harsh after his tirade, and Theon was still trying to wrap his mind around what he’d said. He was still stuck on the same question though.

“What did you mean when you said you’ve been waiting for her to get here?” Theon repeated, slowly lowering his blade when he was sure Tristyn wasn’t going to lunge at him again. “How many years have you been here?”

“Four hundred fifty-nine years, seven months, and twelve days,” Tristyn answered, his arm falling to his side.

“You know down to the day?” Theon said in disbelief.

“You’d know too if it was the last time you’d seen the one you’d sacrifice anything for,” Tristyn replied.

Theon couldn’t argue with that. He already counted how many days it’d been since he’d seen Tessa.

Eight.

Eight days with each day feeling longer and longer as the bond made everything that much more intense.

“You’ve been separated from your…wife? For over four centuries?”

“She’s not my wife. Not yet,” he answered. “But she will be.”

“Where is she?”

Sadness filled his face, the glow in his eyes fading. “I don’t know.”

“You don’t… I don’t understand,” Theon said.

“It’s not for you to understand,” he answered. “The point is, I’m here. Helping you. Because if Tessa continues on the path she’s on, we’ll have much bigger problems than the underhanded politics of Devram.”

“Explain that,” Theon said, his fingers clenching around the hilt of the short sword he still held.

“You know all this already,” Tristyn said in annoyance. “Auryon told you if something happens to her, her parents will come for you.”

“Because it will be my fault?”

Tristyn appeared to debate that for a minute before saying, “That’s fair. They’ll come for the realm.”

Theon sighed, a faint throbbing starting at his temples. “We’ll come back to…all of that. Right now, tell me what the fuck happened with the Shifters twenty-three years ago.”

Tristyn shrugged out of his jacket, tossing it over a nearby chair. Pushing a hand through his hair, he said, “When Tessa was brought here, she became lost.”

“Who brought her here?”

“I can’t tell you that,” he answered. “But we were trying desperately to find her. I went to the Alpha and Beta to ask them for aid. Shifters are excellent trackers. The next best thing to an actual Tracker. Outside of this realm, the Shifters favor Temural, as do most animals, and he favors them. I didn’t give them details. Only that I was searching for a missing child. Kylian and Giselle wouldn’t leave the Underground, but Kylian’s sister, Khari, agreed to help.

“Every lead we found eventually led to a dead end, and after two years, we were both getting anxious. I was watching every request that came through Lilura’s Inquest hoping for a new direction to go in, but Kylian was demanding that Khari return to the Underground. It was getting harder to keep my real identity a secret because I couldn’t Travel or move around as freely with her. But more than that, about a year into our search, we had come across a Fae who was on the run, trying to make his way to a rumored safe haven for the Fae. Khari fell in love with the male, a water Fae. She didn’t want to go back to the Underground. She wanted to stay with him.”

“That’s why they hate you?” Theon asked.

“No, they hate me because Khari was captured and held hostage for over a year. And apparently she had a child in that time,” Tristyn answered. When Theon only waited expectantly, he went on. “We were in the Celeste Kingdom following a lead. Knowing what I know now, we were so close to finding her, but we were attacked. Not for me. Not even for the Fae, but for her. Somehow they knew she was a Shifter. Long story short, they killed the Fae, I was incapacitated, and she was taken.”

Theon’s brow furrowed. “Taken where?”

“The Sirana Villas,” Tristyn said, looking anywhere but at Theon. “I don’t know how much you know about what goes on there?—”

“I know what happens at the Villas, but Tessa mentioned there are other Villas behind the manor.”

Tristyn nodded. “They…” He pushed out a long breath, his hand going through his hair again. “They basically do experiments there. Force Fae to conceive with Legacy. Try to create stronger Fae.”

“That’s forbidden,” Theon said automatically. Because it was. There were laws against it. It was why the Fae were given their contraceptive shots regularly.

Tristyn gave him a mocking look. “Because those who run this realm clearly follow their own laws. They’re as hypocritical as the gods. The Sources of the Lords and Ladies? All of them have Legacy blood. No one else knows. They had them specially bred for this exact purpose.”

“That can’t be true,” Theon said, but even as he spoke the words, he knew it was. It sounded exactly like something the rulers would do.

It sounded exactly like something his father would do.

“Anyway,” Tristyn said when the silence lingered. “Khari was taken and housed there. Apparently they succeeded in forcing her to carry a child.”

“Are you saying there is a half-Shifter, half-Legacy somewhere in Devram?” Theon asked. “That’s who we’re looking for?”

“I don’t know who the father would be. Could be Legacy. Could be Fae. Could be another being,” he replied with a shrug. “But to start, we should try to speak to Khari.”

“Like that’s an option,” Theon scoffed. “They practically kicked us out of their home after I made the bargain with Kylian.”

“I would be willing to speak to Khari if the Alpha and Beta are open to it.”

They both turned to find Katya in the doorway.

“No,” Theon said immediately. “It’s too dangerous.”

She gave him a small but challenging smile. “I think we’re well past this, Theon, don’t you?”

“Axel is already going to kill me for letting you take that Mark,” he said. “There is no way I’m letting you speak to Khari on your own.”

“Then send someone with me,” she insisted. “I’m part of this, Theon. I became part of this long before I took this Mark,” she added, lifting her left hand in emphasis. The Mark stood out, dark against her warm skin. “You can’t do it all yourself. You have to let others help, especially with Luka and Axel not here.”

“I’ll think about it,” Theon said tightly, this whole idea of compromising and conceding a foreign concept.

Katya nodded. “Please do. I’m going to make some food. Would you like something?”

“You don’t have to do that,” Theon said.

“But I am offering to. I’ll see what I can find.”

The kitchen would be sparse here, but he let her wander off. He knew it was more about her needing something to do rather than the need to eat. He’d learned that about her these past weeks. She kept herself busy to the point of exhaustion. He suspected it was to keep from thinking too much about Axel. If she let herself stop for even a moment, she felt like she was giving up on him.

At least that was how it felt when it came to Tessa and all of this mess.

“I think I remember this,” Theon said.

“Remember this? You would have been, what? Four years?”

Theon nodded. “I was forced to sit in on his meetings from the time I was three years. I vaguely recall mentions of a missing child.” When Tristyn only stared at him, he asked, “If you had found her, where would you have taken her?”

“To the Anala Kingdom,” Tristyn answered, watching him carefully.

Theon only nodded as he made his way to the alcohol cart because of course that was where he’d take her. To the kingdom that kept everyone else out. To the kingdom that had been content to let the Arius Kingdom take the brunt of the hatred for centuries so they could go about their own agendas as unnoticed as possible.

“What’s her name?” Theon asked, pouring the whiskey into glasses. “The one you haven’t seen in over four centuries.”

He watched Tristyn swallow thickly as Theon brought him a glass of liquor.

“Lilura,” he answered hoarsely.

Before Theon could comment, both his and Tristyn’s cell phones pinged with multiple incoming messages. The two glanced at each other, pulling their phones out. It was rare to get any kind of service in the Underground, but he suspected it had something to do with the male he was currently sharing a drink with.

“By the gods,” Theon murmured at the same time Tristyn said, “Fucking Fates.”

Urgent message after urgent message came in. Some were texts. Some were messages left after missed calls. But all of them said the same thing.

There had been a massacre at the Sirana Villas. All the casualties had been Legacy, and the Fae housed there were missing.