Tempest of Wrath and Vengeance (Legacy #3)

28. Luka

28

LUKA

T his is why Tessa needed to learn to Travel, Luka thought to himself.

He had stepped from the air directly into the study at the Arius manor, and Theon hadn’t even noticed. There was no bright light alerting him to his presence. The wards allowed him passage, and Theon was so engrossed in whatever he was reading on his laptop, he hadn’t realized he was here.

It was surreal really. To see him sitting at that desk. Something they’d worked so hard for. Talked at length about. Dreamed about the day it was him there instead of Valter. And even if Theon hadn’t officially been given the Arius Lord title yet, there was no one who could take it from him. He was the most powerful Arius Legacy. The St. Orcas line had made sure of it with all their careful Matches over the centuries.

“Lordship looks good on you,” Luka said.

Darkness appeared, hovering around Theon as he lurched to his feet.

“You fucker,” Theon muttered, closing the laptop.

His magic lingered, not because of any threat, but because he needed to let it breathe. It wasn’t uncommon for him to let his magic free while they sat around late at night planning.

“What are you doing here?” Theon asked, rounding the desk.

Luka met him halfway across the space, the two of them embracing, and fuck, it felt good. Axel would have given them shit, but he was going to hug his best friend after all this fuckery.

Theon stepped back as he said, “She’s not with you.”

Luka could hear the disappointment in that statement. “I think she would have come with me, if anything just to see Roan, but the Achaz Lord has her under watch at all times right now after the destruction at the Villas.”

“So it’s true? She did that?”

“She hasn’t admitted it outright to me, but yeah. I’m certain it was her,” Luka answered. “I’m sure you felt her that night too.”

Theon hummed an acknowledgement, sliding his hands into his pockets. “She knows you’re here, though?”

“She does,” Luka answered. “Actually, she sent me here.”

Theon arched a brow. “She sent you here? For what?”

“We’re trying to figure something out, but first tell me what’s been going on here.”

He listened while Theon filled him in on his trip to the Underground with Tristyn Blackheart of all people, his meeting with the Shifters, and Axel showing up and nearly killing Kat.

“He really left?” Luka asked when Theon finished telling him about Axel’s note.

“According to the note he left, yeah,” Theon sighed.

“Cienna could be wrong. He didn’t think to wait to make sure?”

“He’s too worried about hurting Katya.”

Luka could understand that, but he also understood how hard it was to stay away from someone you felt drawn to. Would that change if this twin flame bond no longer existed between them? Luka didn’t know, but Cienna had been wrong before.

“How is Kat?” he asked.

Theon shoved a hand through his hair. “Not well. She stays in her room when she’s not at her required classes.”

“That’s not any different than before.”

“She’s not well,” Theon said again. “Some of it could still be recovering from the attack by Axel, but she stays curled in bed. She’s hardly eaten anything since we came back from the Underground.”

“Does she even need to continue the classes? Do Lange and Corbin, for that matter? They seem kind of pointless seeing as they’ve already been claimed,” Luka said.

“Do they need to? Probably not. Does it keep up appearances and play nice with the other kingdoms? Yes,” Theon answered.

“Valid point.”

“Give me an update on this bargain you made with Rordan,” Theon said.

Luka shrugged, crossing his arms. “Not much to say. I gave him the ring. Never seen him wear the thing. I’ll watch for a chance to steal it back. He’s never asked me anything about my lineage, and?—”

“But if he does, you now have a potential relative to worry about,” Theon interrupted.

Well, fuck. He hadn’t thought of that.

“And if he starts getting aggressive with Tessa, you won’t be able to do anything about it,” Theon added.

That son of a bitch.

“I’ve been training Tessa,” Luka said.

“Not long enough to hold her own against a Lord,” Theon countered.

“Point taken,” Luka conceded. “Which brings me to why I’m here.”

He gave Theon a quick run down of being pulled into Tessa’s visions and what had been said in the last one about someone altering them.

Scratching his jaw, Theon said, “Cienna would be the best person to ask about that.”

“You don’t know anything? Never came across something in all that reading you do?” Luka said, a little mockery creeping into his tone.

Theon flipped him his middle finger, and gods, it felt good to be with his friend again.

“Cienna comes to check in on Katya every day, but she was already here today,” Theon said. He pulled Axel’s mirror from his pocket, turning it over in his hand. “I’ve never figured out how to use this thing the way Axel did. Cienna shows up when she wants to.”

“I can try to come back tomorrow,” Luka said, not loving that idea. “I don’t like to leave her alone too long now that Rordan has someone babysitting her.”

“Who’s guarding her?”

“I don’t know that guarding is the word I’d use,” Luka said flatly. “But it’s that Fae from her Estate. Dex.”

“A Fae ? He has a Fae guarding her. What the fuck is he going to do?”

“I said the same thing.”

Theon swiped a hand down his face. “Rordan isn’t a stupid male. He has a purpose with this.”

“Which is why I don’t like leaving her alone with him,” Luka agreed. “This afternoon, however, she was being fitted for her gala dress.”

“So she is going?” Theon asked.

Luka nodded. “But she agreed to your attendance.”

Theon huffed a laugh. “Never, in all my immortal days, did I think I’d be asking permission from my Source to attend a gala.”

“Does she draw from you?” Luka asked, because how the fuck was she filling her power wells?

She didn’t need blood. It wasn’t sleep and sustenance like the Fae. He may have told her he noticed that her power was weaker, but not enough to matter. It never seemed to deplete to a point where she would be in danger of running out. In fact, the only time that ever seemed to be something she’d need to worry about was when she wasn’t in control and her magic had consumed her.

“No,” Theon said. “If anything, she just plays with my power. Showing me she can. Or uses it against me.” He paused for a moment before he said carefully, “You know, there is someone else we could ask about her power and the visions.”

“Gia?” Luka asked.

Theon shook his head. “Razik and Eliza. Razik spends more time in books than I do.”

Luka was fairly certain he stopped breathing for a few seconds.

Theon looked at his watch. “In fact, I’m supposed to be down in the dining room with them now. Razik needed more space to spread books around, so they emerged from their room this morning and took over that space.”

Like a fool, Luka just stared at his friend.

“I understand if you don’t want to, but he knows a lot of history that Devram has forgotten or never knew at all. He also knows things pertaining to Tessa,” Theon went on.

“Such as?” Luka asked tightly.

“He basically confirmed the Revelation Decree is indeed a prophecy. Referred to her as the one who was never meant to exist.”

“He sounds like a dick,” he grumbled.

“He is,” Theon replied.

Finally, Luka asked the question that had been burning in his mind from the moment he’d first laid eyes on the male. “Has he asked anything about our relations?”

“Not to me,” Theon said. “And I understand if you’d rather not see him. I can ask him myself and let you know if he has any insight.”

Did he want to see him? A part of him was desperate to talk to him. For most of his years, he’d thought he was the only Sargon Legacy left. Then to learn there are not only more, but he has a potential blood relation? Not to mention the last vision he was in with Tessa suggested there were more dragon Shifters in the realms than he’d been led to believe, and he did want to know more about that. To know he wasn’t as alone as he’d once thought.

But another part of him didn’t want to talk to the male at all, and Luka knew it was a deep-rooted fear of rejection. It was the same reason he’d always been so determined to prove himself worthy of the blood that ran in his veins. What if this encounter led to him finding out it wasn’t enough? That he wasn’t enough?

Theon was silent, and with anyone else, this might have turned awkward. This had always been them though. Together for as long as he could remember. Inseparable. Sneaking into each other’s rooms at night. When they were younger, it was to finish a board game or watch a movie when they should have been in bed. As they got older, it was to research and plan.

In the end, he wished he could say the choice he made was entirely for Tessa. That he wanted to talk to Razik for Tessa’s sake. Help her figure out the visions because that was what was needed to keep her safe. But godsdammit, he wanted to talk to the male too. He finds out he has a potential blood relative in another realm and he doesn’t even ask about it?

“Let’s go,” was all Luka said, and Theon nodded, leading the way out of the study.

They fell into step beside each other as they had thousands of times before, but it all felt wrong without Axel here.

“I still can’t believe he just left,” Luka said. “He didn’t talk to you at all?”

Theon shook his head. “He was worried about being left alone with her. He told me, but I had a meeting. I would have blown it off, but I’ve been trying to get into the Anala Kingdom. I still need to build relations, and?—”

“You don’t need to explain yourself to me,” Luka cut in.

“When you’re back, everything will be different,” Theon said.

When he was back.

Luka mulled over those words. He hadn’t wanted to go to Tessa in the first place, but now…

Now he wasn’t sure he could leave her either.

What a fucking mess.

They strode into the dining room to find Razik and the female sitting at the long table. Theon hadn’t been kidding. There were books covering every inch of the surface. Some were stacked five or six high. Several were open, and the two of them were seated side by side. Neither of them looked up when they entered.

“We’re hoping you might be able to help us with something,” Theon said, and at least the female looked up at that.

Her grey eyes moved from Theon to Luka, where they lingered. She shifted, and Luka could only assume she’d kicked Razik under the table because he slowly lifted his head to peer at her.

“You know I love your excessively violent tendencies, mai dragocen ,” he said, his voice low and heated. “But we are not alone.”

She rolled her eyes. “I’m aware. Are you?” she asked with a pointed look at Luka.

Razik took the hint and finally deigned to acknowledge them. Sapphire eyes that mirrored his own slid from him to Theon with hardly a glance before he went back to his book.

That was it?

“Raz,” Eliza said, reaching over and closing the book.

They clearly had some sort of conversation down their bond that Theon had explained to him because a moment later, Razik turned in his chair to face them fully.

“How many years are you?” he asked, pinning Luka with a dominant stare.

“Twenty-nine,” Luka replied in his usual bored tone. “How old are you?”

“Twenty-nine?” Eliza repeated, her eyes going wide while Razik continued to stare at him. “That’s it?”

She had reached up, curling her fingers around Razik’s arm where it was resting on the back of her chair.

“Were you born here?” Razik asked tightly.

“I don’t think so, but all my memories are from here,” Luka answered.

“And your parents?” Eliza asked, Razik tensing at the question.

“Died when I was young. I scarcely remember them.”

Eliza tipped her head back to see Razik. “That doesn’t mean?—”

“Your father. What was his name?” Razik cut in.

Luka crossed his arms, holding his stare. “You first.”

“By the gods, this isn’t a pissing match between the two of you,” Eliza grumbled. “Just tell him, Raz.”

“My father’s name is Tybalt Greybane,” Razik said tightly, and something in Luka’s chest fell at that. Until he added, “But the male who sired me is named Xan.”

“You are sure?” Luka asked in disbelief.

“Am I sure of the name of the male who didn’t want me and left me with my uncle in another world, never to be heard from again? Yes, I’m sure,” he said.

Luka didn’t know what to say to that. He had a handful of memories he could latch onto when it came to his parents, but a heartless male who didn’t care was not one of them.

“And your mother?” Luka asked, his mouth dry as he waited for this answer. Half-siblings for certain, but full-blooded?

Razik’s fingers flexed on the back of the chair, his tone tight and forced when he answered, “Aiyana.”

“Maybe we should sit,” Theon suggested.

Luka moved forward mechanically, sinking into a chair down the table from Razik and Eliza. A full-blooded sibling. He had an older brother.

“How old are you?” Luka asked again.

“Much older than you,” Razik retorted.

“Centuries older,” Eliza supplied.

“Centuries?” Theon repeated.

The Fae nodded.

“I am assuming by the way the blood drained from your face that those were the names of your parents as well,” Eliza said.

Luka nodded, and she looked at Razik.

Who was just staring at him.

“Raz, you need to say something,” she hissed under her breath.

“Why?” he countered.

“Because you just learned the answer to a question you’ve been brooding over for weeks.”

Well, it was good to know he hadn’t been the only one.

“Does it matter?” Razik said, and Luka flinched internally.

“Did you just ask if it matters ?” Theon interrupted. “You learn the two of you are related, most likely brothers, and you ask if it matters?”

“We clearly had very different upbringings, and I learned long ago blood relations mean nothing,” Razik answered, sounding completely indifferent to Luka’s very existence.

Luka?

He saw Theon stiffen out of the corner of his eye as her voice echoed down their bond.

Are you all right? Luka asked, ready to Travel if necessary.

Are you? she countered.

Theon was staring at him now, and he shifted under the scrutiny.

I’m fine, Temptress.

She didn’t say anything else, but he could feel her, as if she were sending her presence down the bond to him.

Luka cleared his throat. “He’s right. It doesn’t really matter.”

“But—” Theon started.

“Do you know how someone could tamper with a vision?” Luka interrupted. If it didn’t matter to Razik, it didn’t need to matter to him.

“That’s a question for a Witch,” Razik said flatly.

“I’m aware,” Luka drawled. “But Cienna is unavailable right now, and I’m short on time. I’m being pulled into Tessa’s visions?—”

“How?” Razik interrupted.

“I don’t know,” Luka gritted out, becoming irritated with the male. “But the last time we were in one, we were warned that someone was altering her visions.”

“Warned by who? And where were you?”

He glanced at Theon before he answered, “A female named Lilura.”

“Come again,” Theon said, his surprise evident.

Luka nodded. “She knows Tristyn. They’re involved somehow, but that’s not the point. The point is she told us there was someone altering Tessa’s visions.”

“And where is she?” Razik repeated. “In this vision.”

Luka shrugged. “Does that really matter?”

Razik sat back in his chair, his arm still slung around the back of Eliza’s. “How do you know she’s not the one altering the visions?”

That was a fair point.

“I guess we don’t, but Tessa had clearly seen her before,” Luka answered. He debated whether or not to tell them the next part. This guy had been a dick from the moment they’d stepped into this room, but curiosity got the better of him. “Lilura wasn’t the only one in the vision.”

Razik had pulled a book toward him, flipping pages as he muttered, “Well don’t keep us in suspense.”

This fucker.

“Someone in the vision knew you. Thought I was you,” Luka ground out.

That had Razik slowly lifting his head, and it took all of Luka’s self-control not to send him a satisfied smirk.

“Who?” Razik demanded.

“Never said her name. But she could shift fully into a dragon. Said the last time she saw you, the two of you had barely started walking,” Luka answered. “Purple hair. Nearly crimson eyes.”

Eliza turned to Razik with a questioning look. “Raz?”

The male’s eyes were narrowed, studying Luka who held his stare without backing down. “You were in the sky,” Razik said.

Luka nodded. “It seemed to be a floating island of some sort. There were others in the distance. And another dragon she went to…deal with. Her words.”

“Razik,” Eliza snapped in irritation. “Who is she?”

“Her name is Saylor. She’s a cousin from another line of Sargon if it was truly her,” he answered. “But she’s not someone who could alter a vision.”

“And where were they?” Theon asked.

“Nordrir,” Razik answered. “Only now it’s known as The Requiem.”

“I don’t know what that means,” Theon said, his brow furrowing as he tried to follow all the new information being laid before them.

“Nordrir is Razik’s home world,” Eliza said. “All the dragons’ home world actually. But they were hunted. Many who survived left the realm and went into hiding.”

“Why is Tessa having visions of there?” Razik asked.

Luka stared at him in confusion. “Why would I know that?”

“You were in her vision.”

“That I came to ask you about. I don’t even know how I’m getting into her dreams or visions or whatever the fuck they are,” he retorted.

Razik sat up straighter. “Whatever the fuck they are. What if they’re exactly that?”

“Once again, no one understands your random revelations without an explanation, Raz,” Eliza sighed, and Luka held in his huff of amusement. How many times had he said something similar to Theon?

“She is the granddaughter of Arius, right? Like Scarlett,” Razik said. Eliza nodded. “Because Scarlett is a direct descendant, she is more powerful. She has gifts of Arius, Serafina, and Saylah. What are Tessa’s gifts?”

“She favors her Achaz gifts,” Luka said, rubbing at his jaw.

“And her father is Temural, so we’d need to interchange the gifts from Saylah with the gifts from him,” Theon added, that thread of excitement creeping into his voice. It always did when they are on the verge of uncovering something important.

“Saylah is the goddess of night and shadows. The shadows come from Arius and were passed down to Saylah,” Eliza said.

Theon shook his head. “Arius and Serafina. I’ve never seen her use any of their gifts. Luka’s right. She leans on her Achaz magic. She despises her Arius lineage.”

“But the lightning and weather? That isn’t any of them,” Razik said, hand smoothing along his jaw in thought.

“This is stupid. How are we once again back to trying to figure out her lineage?” Luka asked.

“Do we know her Achaz line?” Eliza asked.

“All we know for sure is there is Witch blood in there somewhere. Texts suggest Achaz had a child with one of Zinta’s daughters. I think we can safely assume Tessa came from that,” Theon answered.

“But you just said her father is Temural,” Eliza mused. “So Tessa is not the product of a child from Achaz and Zinta’s daughter.”

“She’s too young anyway,” Razik said, shaking his head. “Granddaughter, however…”

“Granddaughter of two of the most powerful gods to exist?” Luka said. “You’re fucking with me.”

“It fits,” Theon said, pulling on the back of his neck. “And it’d technically be the granddaughter of three of the most powerful. Serafina is a First Goddess.”

“Let’s say this is true, what is her mother then? A goddess?” Luka asked.

“Cienna did say her mother may as well be one,” Theon supplied.

“Then what the fuck is Tessa?” Luka said

Theon and Luka both turned to Razik in question.

“Another pain in my ass,” the male grumbled, pushing his hand through his hair. He exhaled a harsh breath, a trace of smoke furling. “I don’t know what she’d be. If Achaz had a child with a daughter of Zinta, it would depend on the daughter’s lineage. Who did Zinta have a child with?”

“Has she had visions of other places too?” Eliza asked.

“I only recently started being pulled into them,” Luka answered. “All of them have been in Devram except the last one. But that doesn’t mean she hasn’t had visions in other places. She doesn’t understand them. I think they are driving her a little mad.”

“I think at this point we need to meet her,” Eliza said. “Formally. Not just watching her lose control of her power.”

The males all tensed at that idea.

“She’s under too much scrutiny right now,” Luka finally said. “It’ll take a while to configure that.”

“But we’ll try,” Theon said. “Until then, we try to figure out her gifts and visions. You’ve been training her, Luka. Is there any other type of magic you’ve seen?”

Luka shook his head. “We can’t even figure out how she fills her reserves. It’s like they can’t run out.”

“Everyone can run out of power,” Razik said.

“Hers weakens some, but even then, it’s still powerful,” Luka said. “She doesn’t need blood. She doesn’t appear to need a Source, and she doesn’t have a Guardian to draw from. Every time I’ve seen her use it, it’s like she gets stronger, not weaker.”

“Because she’s not supposed to exist,” Razik said plainly, and those few words made both Theon and Luka snarl in a low warning.

Eliza looked between them, her head tipping to the side as she studied them, but she didn’t say anything.

“Get upset about it, but it doesn’t change the fact,” Razik said. “It upsets the balance having beginnings and endings in one being. I can imagine, because of this, her magic works differently than the rest of us. Likely different from the gods, the Legacy, the Fae. Unique because she is the only one of her kind.” He got to his feet, looking down at Eliza. “You need to eat.”

“I’m not…” she sighed. “Why do you always know I’m hungry before I do?”

“Afterwards, we should see if Katya will lend us that book she found the twin flame information in,” he said, completely ignoring Theon and Luka now. “These books are useless,” he added, gesturing to the ones strewn all over the table. “They’re all from when Devram was created. Nothing of recent history exists in them.”

“There is some place else we can go,” Theon said suddenly. “It’s a vast library system in catacombs. We need special permission from the Falein Lady to go there.”

Razik stared at him flatly. “And you’re just bringing this up now because…?”

“I’ve been busy,” Theon retorted. “And it’s not as if we can simply go there. I’ll need to get documents forged for you two, and Eliza will have to…act accordingly.”

Eliza scowled at them, but Razik bent down to speak low into her ear. Not low enough they didn’t hear him though.

“I know you can follow instructions when it’s worth your while, mai dragocen .”

“And how will this be worth my while?” she hissed.

Razik straightened, taking her hand and tugging her to her feet. “We can discuss that tonight over dinner .”

The look Eliza sent him was all heat and fire, and Luka averted his eyes because this was definitely something intimate between the two.

“Set up the visit to this library,” Razik said then. “I’ll see if I can find anything on visions, but if you think of anything else that might be useful, send a message.”

Then he and Eliza disappeared—Traveled—out of the room.

Theon and Luka sat there in silence until Theon spoke the obvious.

“You have a brother.”

“Yep,” Luka said.

And that brother didn’t seem to give a single fuck.