Rain of Shadows and Endings — Chapter no 21

21

TESSA

T essa spent the entire next day being ignored by Theon, Axel, and Luka unless they wanted something. Thankfully, Theon had let her sleep in and didn’t make her get up to go running, and she’d been perfectly content being left to herself all day. She spent the entirety of it trying to meld the Theon who had taken care of her after the Source bond had been initiated with the Legacy who was her Master now. Really, the same could be said for all three of them.

Theon always had a temper that he worked hard to keep under control, not to mention how possessive he was, but now? Now there was a darkness that seemed to constantly linger around him. Literally. Whatever dark magic he possessed was often coiling around him or trailing his footsteps. Now he was cold more than he was hot. She was rarely allowed out of his sight, and he would randomly summon her to his side, seemingly just to have her near.

Even more confusing were the random times he would corner her and kiss up her neck or trail his fingers along her body. The cord in her chest would flare to life with renewed vigor. Apparently it could sense when he was being aloof with her, and when he gave her attention, it did whatever it could to keep it. The sensations were sharper, and the pleasure was deeper…but then he’d flip that switch again, leaving her practically panting and unable to focus on anything else.

Luka and Axel were just as big of a mystery. Their own demons seemed to peer out from sapphire and emerald eyes. Axel’s carefree mannerisms were few and far between, his darkness making an appearance every once in a while, and Luka seemed to be more brooding and aloof than before. Neither of them spoke to her unless necessary. The days of conversation around the table while eating breakfast or playing cards together were clearly over. Everything had changed since the incident with Pavil and Metias, and Tessa couldn’t figure out why for the life of her. All she knew was her world was a little darker, and she found herself caring less and less every day.

“Hey, beautiful,” came soft words whispered into her ear. “You need to wake up.”

Tessa groaned as she came up out of the deep sleep she’d been in. She grabbed a pillow and pulled it over her head. “I’m not running today, Theon,” she mumbled back, praying to the gods he would let her sleep again this morning.

But her prayers went unanswered as usual when he pulled the pillow from her hands.

“We are not going running, Tessa. We need to be on the road to Rockmoor in an hour. You need to get up and get ready.”

She went rigid at the words. She’d adamantly ignored any thoughts of the aptitude test she was going to be forced into today. No one said anything about it to her, and whenever it tried to cross her thoughts, she immediately put in earbuds and turned up one of the playlists Axel had set up for her. She didn’t think she was going to be able to sleep last night, but when Theon had crawled into the bed and tugged her back to his chest and began making slow circles with his thumb along her stomach, she found herself asleep within minutes.

“Come on, little storm,” he murmured, and she felt the blankets being pulled off of her before hands were on her shoulders and rolling her to her side. “Look at me, Tessa.”

She took a deep, steadying breath and opened her eyes to find him staring back at her with concern. “I do not know…” He trailed off for a moment before clearing his throat. “I

do not know what the best clothing options are for the assessment today.”

“My running clothes will be best,” she answered, pushing herself up before him. He lifted a hand as if he were going to touch her, but he dropped it back to his side instead, nodding once in confirmation. He moved to get off the bed but paused when she said, “I’ll need a change of clothing for afterwards.”

That muscle in his jaw ticked, and darkness appeared in his irises. “Understood. Get up and get ready. Axel and Luka will be here in a half hour. We will eat breakfast on the way.”

Forty minutes later, they were piling into the vehicle, Luka behind the wheel as usual.

As they were pulling out of the gates, Theon handed her a banana and a yogurt with granola.

They’d been driving for nearly twenty minutes when Theon said, “You need to eat, Tessa.”

She looked down at her lap where she still held the breakfast in her hands. He could be right. She could need the sustenance, but he could also be very wrong. Having food in her stomach could be the worst thing to do depending on what the assessment would entail.

Opting for middle ground, she set the yogurt in the cupholder and slowly ate the banana as they drove. Theon didn’t mention finishing her breakfast again, and she found herself grateful he had momentarily paused being a dick for the day.

Then she wondered at what point that had become her standard of something she was grateful for.

The trip to Rockmoor went by quickly, and before she knew it, they were pulling up in front of a towering white building. There was a smaller version of this building in Arobell near the Celeste Estate. A health compound for various procedures, including element assessments.

Try as she might, Tessa couldn’t help the trembling that had started in her limbs as Axel and Luka climbed out of the vehicle. The banana she had forced down was already threatening to make a reappearance, and she swallowed hard against the bile rising in her

throat.

“Tessa.”

She brought her eyes to Theon’s. He said nothing else as he stared back at her. She could swear the cord was vibrating so violently between them, it was going to rise up out of their skin. He reached out a hand to her, and she took it, allowing him to pull her along the seat. He pressed his brow to hers, his hand slipping to the nape underneath the high ponytail she’d put her hair in.

“I will be there. As soon as it is over,” he murmured. “I will be there to take care of you.”

And even though she knew it was because she was his Source and not because he actually cared about her, she nodded her head, forcing back the tears threatening to pool in her eyes. She would need him. She would need the bond. She would need something to anchor her if she could not have her friends, her real family, surrounding her afterwards. A part of her broke at knowing it’d be him that would hold her together after this.

She didn’t beg him not to make her do this. It wouldn’t change anything. She knew that even though his father had ordered this, he wanted it done too. He wanted to know just as much as his father did.

Theon brushed his lips lightly against hers before turning and opening the car door. He led her over to where Luka and Axel were waiting near the entrance.

“Ready?” Luka asked, glancing from her to Theon.

Theon nodded, and Luka pulled the door open. The inside was as white as the outside of the building. Bright lights glared off the white marble floor. A white marble desk rose up in front of them, a Fae sitting behind it. She wore a black business suit, her brown hair twisted into a tight bun at the back of her head. She stood and bowed immediately in the presence of the Legacy, then realizing that the Arius heirs stood before her, she dropped to a knee.

“Forgive me, my Lords,” she murmured to the ground.

“Rise,” Theon answered, his tone severe. “You know why I am here, yes?”

The Fae nodded. “I will call for a Priestess at once.”

“Do so.”

Tessa looked around the lobby. There wasn’t another piece of furniture in the entire space. Theon’s fingers tightened around her hand as the sound of clicking heels sounded from behind them. They turned to find another Fae walking towards them, dressed the same way as the one who had greeted them. She dropped to a knee in front of Theon immediately. When he had bid her to rise, she said, “Heir of Arius, it is an honor. The Head Priestess is preparing the assessment. If you would follow me to an exam room, they will

collect your Source from there.”

“My associates will join me.”

It wasn’t a request.

“Of course, my Lord,” she answered, her eyes staying fixed on the ground.

She led them through a door and down a corridor with more doors on either side of it before she opened one and let them all enter.

“The wait should only be a moment,” she said, before shutting the door behind them.

This room had a small sofa and padded chairs in it. There was an exam table of some sort against one wall. Axel set the duffel bag he was carrying onto a chair, his gaze flickering over Tessa.

There was another door opposite the one they had entered, and when it opened, a muscular Fae male came through. He wore a loose linen tunic and pants. Tessa immediately unzipped her jacket, shrugging out of it and handing it to Theon. She only wore a sports bra

beneath it.

“Tessa, what are you—”

But he stopped speaking when she held out her hand for a heart rate monitor to be placed on her finger. The Fae said nothing as he attached sensors to her chest and side, but she caught a glimpse of the markings on his inner wrist. He’d attended the Falein Estate, was assigned to serve in the Arius Kingdom, and his element was water.

“Left or right?” he asked in a deep tone.

“Right,” she answered, moving back and hopping onto the table before lying back. He nodded, moving to a cabinet on the wall, pulling down supplies to start an IV line.

The Fae met her eyes as he wrapped a band tightly around her arm, and she made a fist. He glanced once at the Legacy in the room, before returning his attention to her arm.

When he was bent over her to insert the catheter, he asked quietly, “Do you want to know?”

“Yes,” she whispered.

“A Level Five room,” he replied, and Tessa closed her eyes, sucking in a breath as the needle went into her arm. She knew deep down that she would be going into the worst rooms. The young Fae who were first starting assessments went into Level One rooms. As they got older, they progressed to Levels Three and Four with the horrors faced more terrifying the higher the level. She had only heard of Level Five rooms, never been in one.

“What does that mean?”

Tessa opened her eyes to find Theon standing on the other side of the table. She hadn’t realized he’d moved so close to her.

“What does a Level Five room mean?” he demanded.

Neither the Fae nor Tessa said anything as the Fae wrapped her IV site.

“You’ll need to remove your socks and shoes,” the Fae said to Tessa before he retreated out the door he’d entered through.

“Tessa, what does that mean?” Theon repeated, knocking her hands out of the way as she sat up and reached for her sneakers. He undid the laces and pulled them from her feet, stuffing her socks inside of them.

“It means you should have a fairly accurate answer to your question of my element when I am done,” she replied in a monotone voice. She didn’t have it in her to fight with him. Not with what she was about to face.

The door opened again, and a Legacy came through. Her copper hair was braided over a shoulder and gold ivy was woven through it. A golden circlet sat low on her brow. She bowed to Theon before coming to stand beside them at the table.

“Heir of Arius,” she said in a melodic voice that all Priestesses seemed to have. “My name is Zefira, and I am honored to be performing your Source’s assessments this morning.”

“Thank you for seeing us on such short notice,” Theon answered, lingering by Tessa’s side.

“While unconventional, the Arius Lord was rather insistent,” she answered, leaning forward to check Tessa’s IV. Seemingly satisfied, she asked, “Do you have any questions before we begin?”

“How long will the assessment take?” Theon asked. He’d shoved his hands deep into the pockets of his suit pants.

“Lord St. Orcas indicated you wanted the advanced assessments done, correct?”

“Yes,” Theon answered tightly.

She nodded. “They will take much of the morning, and she will need an hour of recovery afterwards. You are free to stay in this room during the tests. There is a television in that cabinet and refreshments will be provided.” The Priestess motioned towards a freestanding armoire across from the sofa.

“I cannot be with her?” Theon asked, his tone betraying how unhappy he was with that.

Tessa sat quietly, already knowing the answers to everything he was asking.

Zefira shook her head with a sympathetic smile. “I am afraid not, my Lord. We rarely do such assessments on Sources because the bond makes the Master particularly… protective. We made an exception because of your situation, and I did caution Lord St.

Orcas about this. You may watch from an observation deck if you insist, but I would highly suggest making yourself comfortable here.”

“When can I be with her again?”

“When the tests are concluded, she will be moved to a recovery room to be monitored while her results are compiled. You can be with her there if you would like, or we can bring her back to this room when the recovery period is over,” Zefira explained.

“You will take me to her as soon as she is in the recovery room. Is that understood?”

Theon snarled, darkness appearing to thicken around him. Zefira flinched back, her eyes widening.

Luka was suddenly there, placing a hand on Theon’s shoulder. “She understands, Theon. I think it is best if we stay in here during the assessment.”

“We will go to the observation deck,” Theon ground out, shaking off Luka’s hand.

“I will request your associates join you in that case,” Zefira said, her lips pressing into

a thin line.

“Fine,” he snapped.

“I will have someone escort you momentarily,” she said with a nod. “Any other questions?”

Theon looked at Tessa, that muscle ticking in his jaw again, before he turned back to the Priestess. “No. No other questions.”

“Wonderful.” She moved gracefully back to the door and opened it. “We are ready, Rhett.” The same Fae from before came back into the room, handing Zefira a tablet. “I will need you to sign this, giving us permission to perform the assessment as her Master.”

Theon took the tablet stiffly, scribbling his signature with a finger, before shoving it back at her. She gave it to Rhett and pulled a syringe from the pocket of the gown she wore.

Golden liquid swirled inside of it, and Tessa immediately started trembling again, her breathing turning ragged. Theon’s gaze flashed to her. She saw him start to lift a hand towards her, but the Priestess stepped in front of him. She quickly injected the golden liquid into the IV line.

“What is that?” Theon demanded. “What did you just give her?”

“Nothing to worry about, Heir of Arius,” Zefira said soothingly. “It helps prepare her body for the tests. A variation of the initial Source elixir you injected her with. It simply makes her more compliant until we are ready to begin. She knows how uncomfortable these assessments can be, and this ensures she does not fight when it is time.”

Zefira stepped aside, nodding to Rhett, who came forward and easily lifted Tessa into his arms. A snarl ripped from Theon, and Luka was holding him back.

“He’s taking her to the assessment, Theon,” Luka said.

“If you still wish to observe, I will send someone to escort you,” Zefira said with a disapproving look. “But know that the discomfort you are feeling now will only increase.”

Tessa’s arms and legs felt too heavy to move, and her head dropped forward against Rhett’s chest. The Fae squeezed her gently where he held her, offering silent camaraderie to

a fellow Fae.

“I will watch,” Theon gritted out.

“Very well. I will send an escort,” Zefira conceded.

With that, she turned and walked out, Rhett following obediently behind her. She heard Theon snarl again as the door closed behind them, and Rhett carried her down a hallway. They climbed two sets of stairs before they entered a darkened room, and Tessa

was placed into a chair. Rhett strapped her arms to the armrests and her legs to the bottom before the chair was reclined back.

She stared up at the ceiling, trying to regulate her breathing. No windows. Never any windows.

There were mirrors lining the upper half of one wall, and she guessed that was where Theon would be watching. Zefira’s pretty face appeared in Tessa’s line of vision, her rich brown eyes trying to appear kind, but Tessa knew better.

“Today may be a bit more uncomfortable than you have experienced in the past, Tessalyn,” she said, pulling something from her pocket. “I just need you to let your body naturally respond to everything. Do not fight it.”

The same instructions they were always given.

A mask was fitted over her mouth and nose, and soon a sweet smelling gas filled her senses. The room swam around her before burning, hot pain was searing up her spine. She screamed around the mask, thrashing against the bindings that held her in place as the burning intensified. Tears leaked out of her eyes and ran down the sides of her face, mixing with the sweat already beading there and pooling into her hair.

She couldn’t scream anymore, the burning in her lungs too much to let her elicit any noise. She couldn’t feel the straps biting into her skin as she strained against them. She couldn’t hear the noises of the machines she was hooked up to, or see the various Legacy monitoring her. As if the pain weren’t enough, the cord inside her chest was having a fit of its own at being so far from Theon. Shocks erupted from her nerve-endings. She closed her eyes against the agony, and once again, she begged for death to come for her.

As suddenly as it had started, the pain stopped. Tessa opened her eyes, blinking against the sunlight. She wasn’t bound to the chair anymore but standing in the middle of some woods. Birds fluttered from a tree to her right, and she spun around at the noise.

This isn’t real, she told herself, but the cord inside of her reacted as if it were definitely real. The jolts of pain it elicited through her body at believing it was so far from Theon

almost knocked her to her knees.

“It’s not real,” she reminded herself.

“Of course it is real.”

A tall male with golden hair and eyes stepped from the trees. She immediately recognized him as Dagian Jove, the Achaz Heir.

“What are you doing here?” Tessa gasped, dragging her hands through her hair and tugging.

“I heard Theon’s Source was on the run. I thought I would see if I could track you down first,” Dagian said with a shrug as he casually strolled closer.

“I’m not running from him.”

“No? Then what are you doing out here in the Dreamlock Woods so far from him? It is well known you have tried to run from him before. Quite the embarrassment for the Arius Kingdom, really.”

“I… I don’t know. I’ve never been to the Dreamlock Woods,” Tessa stammered, looking at the trees around her. The Dreamlock Woods ran between the Achaz and Serafina Kingdoms along the Wynfell River.

Dagian tutted under his breath. “You know I am more powerful than he is, right?”

“I did not know that, my Lord,” she answered, trying desperately to get her bearings.

How had she traveled to the Dreamlock Woods?

“What do you mean you did not know?” Dagian spat. “I descend from Achaz, the ruler of the gods. Of course I am more powerful than an Arius descendant.”

Tessa was quiet, trying to figure out the best way to navigate this particular part of the assessment, but the pain from the bond was excruciating and making it too hard to focus.

She pulled at her hair again, trying to stay grounded.

“Look at me when I am speaking to you, Fae,” Dagian snarled. “Tell me, how did the Heir of Arius get a more powerful Source than I did?”

“I’m not… I’m not that powerful,” Tessa said, stumbling over her words as she slowly backed away from him.

“I heard what happened in those gardens. We all did,” he sneered.

She shook her head. “That wasn’t me. I didn’t do that.”

“Maybe. Maybe not. Either way, I cannot take that risk, can I?” Golden light crackled between Dagian’s fingers. “How did you manage to evade the rest of us when we were looking at Source prospects? How did you manage to evade me?”

“I don’t know,” Tessa pleaded, wincing as another shock ravaged her body. “I didn’t do anything.”

“You know, since I couldn’t get a private moment with you, I had to track down your Fae friends from the Celeste Estate,” Dagian said nonchalantly, taking another step towards her.

“What?” Tessa gasped, going utterly still.

“It is a shame, really. That was a nice group of Fae. They would have served their kingdoms well once assigned.” Then he shrugged. “But none of them could answer my questions either.”

This isn’t real, Tessa’s mind was screaming at her, but the pain whipping through her body said otherwise.

A bolt of power straight from Dagian’s palm suddenly knocked her onto her back.

Tessa screamed as pain shuttered through her before she rolled onto her side and vomited.

“I can do this all day, Tessalyn Ausra,” Dagian said, crouching down beside her and brushing a stray piece of hair from her face. His fingertips dragged along her cheek. “I need to know what those things were that you created in those gardens.”

“I didn’t create anything,” she rasped, pushing herself up onto her hands and knees.

She immediately collapsed back to the ground as another bolt of power slammed into her. She screamed when Dagian didn’t let up, hitting her again and again.

One, two, three— “Will you last longer than your friends? What were their names again? You Fae all tend to bleed together after a while.”

“Please stop!” Tessa gasped from the ground, unable to even move her arms to lift herself up.

“Answer my questions, Tessalyn, and this all stops,” Dagian purred. “Serafina’s heir is en route, by the way. Lealla will enjoy helping me pry answers out of you. There is no way in any of the realms we will allow the Arius Kingdom to regain power in this world.”

“I don’t know what that means. I don’t know anything,” Tessa sobbed, her heart breaking for Dex and Lange. For all of them. She’d never gotten to see them again after the

Opening Selection. She’d never gotten the opportunity to say goodbye, to feel one more of Corbin’s comforting hugs. She’d never gotten to hear Dex’s voice one last time.

“You are his Source, Tessalyn. Surely he has shared secrets with you,” Dagian sneered.

“He tells me nothing!”

Another bolt of power had Tessa screaming again, and the bond amplified the sensations. She tasted blood in her mouth, felt it trickling from her nose, her ears.

“Please, stop,” she whimpered. “I don’t know anything.”

“I do not believe you. No one believes you, Tessalyn,” he whispered harshly into her ear. “You are just another Fae. Expendable to us. Perhaps Theon will be glad to be rid of you. He can Select a new Source that can actually please him. One that isn’t too much of a hassle.”

Thunder rumbled overhead, and Dagian glanced at the sky, a look of confusion passing over his features. Tessa had managed to push herself to her knees, her body shaking violently.

“I need to see your power, Tessalyn,” Dagian said, returning his attention to her.

“It hasn’t emerged yet. I can’t access it,” she pleaded, the world spinning around her as she fell forward onto her hands once more.

“You can under the right conditions,” Dagian replied, a cruel grin filling his features.

He raised his hand once more, golden light crackling at his fingertips, and Tessa braced herself for the burst of power.

But it never came. Instead, another crack of thunder sounded, followed by a female voice that somehow sounded both horrific and cunning all at once.

“Do not touch her again.”

Tessa opened her eyes and gasped at what stood before her.

She had midnight hair that flowed around her, and what appeared to be ashes flitting among the black strands. The black pants and tunic were fitted with some type of leather armor strapped atop it, but her feet were bare. Vambraces adorned her arms, and she held a bow at her side. Her eyes were a dark grey, smoke swirling in them. A quiver full of arrows was at her back, but she didn’t reach for one. Instead, she drew one from a flurry of ashes, nocking it loosely to her bow.

Dagian had gone still, his mouth falling open at the being that had placed herself between him and Tessa.

“Not real,” Tessa murmured, wrapping her arms tightly around herself. “This can’t be real.”

The female began circling Tessa, ashy footprints left in her wake, as she smirked at Dagian.

“Your move,” she purred, another burst of ashes leaving a black dagger hovering at her shoulder.

Dagian didn’t move, and then Tessa was gasping as her eyes flew open to find herself staring up at the ceiling of a room, still strapped to a chair.

“What did you do?” Zefira snarled at her, her hands gripping Tessa’s face too tightly.

“Who was that? How did you call her?”

“I didn’t do anything,” Tessa cried, jerking against her restraints, breathing hard. She could still feel Dagian’s magic coursing through her body.

Not real, she told herself over and over. Dex is still alive. They are all fine. None of it was real.

Zefira pushed away from her, pacing back and forth. “You are proving far more difficult than I anticipated,” she said condescendingly, as though this were all Tessa’s fault.

She snapped her fingers at Rhett, and he appeared a moment later with another syringe.

This one was filled with a dark black liquid.

“This will sting,” Zefira said, uncapping the syringe.

In a matter of seconds, Tessa was screaming again as pain tore through her. It felt like daggers were being driven into her stomach, while her skin was simultaneously being peeled from her body. The pressure in her head was unbearable, and she could feel blood trickling from her nose, her ears, the corner of her mouth. There was no counting to endure this.

The last thing she remembered was Zefira asking for another syringe before darkness dragged her under.