Rain of Shadows and Endings — Chapter no 23

23

THEON

A moment later, the door opened, and Rhett came into the room. He paused for a moment when he saw Tessa curled in Theon’s lap, a brief look of surprise passing over his face before it quickly vanished.

“I’m here to take out the IV,” he said, looking up at the empty fluid bag.

Theon nodded once, and the male moved forward. As soon as he began unwrapping the IV site, Tessa stirred awake. He gently pulled the catheter from her arm, his eyes meeting with Tessa’s as she watched him.

“Do you need a restroom before you go?” Rhett asked her.

“That would be great. Thank you,” she replied, her voice hoarse from screaming and disuse. She shifted her gaze to Theon. “Do you have my clothes? So I can change too?”

“I am coming with you,” Theon answered.

Tessa sighed as she pushed off of his chest. “We’ve discussed this before. Boundaries.”

“You cannot even walk right now,” he argued.

She hauled herself to her feet, her face pure determination. Theon quickly got to his own, reaching for her, but she pulled away. She grimaced as she did and stumbled a step.

When he reached to stabilize her, she pulled away again.

He gritted his teeth. “Godsdamnit, Tessa. Just let me help you.”

“I don’t need your help, Th—” She pressed her lips together in frustration as his name stalled on her tongue. “I’ll be fine.”

“Fine isn’t good enough,” he retorted, stalking across the room to grab the duffel bag from the floor.

“The restroom is just across the hall,” Rhett supplied slowly, his gaze flicking from Tessa to Theon and back again. “I can help her walk—”

“If you lay a finger on her without permission, it will be the last thing you do,” Theon said darkly, and inky shadows began creeping towards the Fae.

“Theon,” Axel cautioned from where he stood, and Theon could feel it. He was on the brink of losing complete control.

Rhett cast a worried look in Tessa’s direction, but she simply gestured for him to lead the way. Theon followed them out the door, staying close in case she stumbled again. Rhett led them across the hall, where he opened a door and flipped a switch on in a small bathroom.

“Sorry there isn’t a shower in there,” he said, looking at Tessa.

She smiled softly at him, her eyes seeming to warm a touch, and Theon ground his teeth together. She’d never offered him that look or that smile.

“This is more than enough,” Tessa replied. “Thank you, Rhett.”

“Get out,” Theon ordered, stepping into the bathroom behind them.

Rhett glanced at him before turning back to Tessa. “I did track down a toothbrush and toothpaste for you though. It’s by the sink.”

“Thank the gods,” Tessa replied, instantly moving in that direction. Theon hadn’t even thought to pack such things for her. He’d only packed her the change of clothing she’d requested.

Rhett left the small bathroom, and Theon moved to shut the door behind him.

“You can get out, too,” Tessa said, bracing her hands on the sink, clearly using it to hold herself up.

“I am not leaving you alone in here, Tessa.”

“Are you afraid there are vampyres lurking in the corners of the bathroom, Theon? I will be fine,” she replied, rolling her eyes.

“Why would there be vampyres in here? Is that a common thing after an assessment?” he asked, looking around the small bathroom.

“There are not…” Tessa gave him a perplexed look, as if she were at a loss for words.

“There are not routinely vampyres in the bathrooms after assessments, Theon. I was being a smartass. What kind of childhood did you have to think vampyres are real?”

Theon ignored her question, instead staying, “Either way, you can hardly stand.

Someone needs to help you.”

“You are the reason for that, Theon!” she cried. “You are the reason someone needs to take care of me. Again.”

Something deep inside his chest flinched back at the words, and it wasn’t the cord that connected them. He’d never felt the bond that deeply before. This was something else.

Tessa was glaring at him, her eyes the color of a stormy sky. When he didn’t say anything, she rolled her eyes again, turning to the sink. “Whatever, Theon.”

She unwrapped the new toothbrush and reached for the toothpaste. While she did that, Theon pulled her change of clothes from the duffel bag. He knew she’d be uncomfortable, but also knew they’d be attending a lunch with Felicity. He’d packed her a sundress, which now wouldn’t be appropriate for a dinner. They’d have to stop and pick her up something else after they were done with the forgery expert.

Theon turned back to Tessa to find she hadn’t started brushing her teeth yet. She was

staring down at the sink.

“Tessa, are you all right?”

She jumped as though she’d forgotten he was in here with her. “I’m fine,” she answered quickly, bringing the toothbrush to her mouth.

When she had finished, she brought the items over and put them into a side pouch in the duffel bag, zipping it shut. She peeled off the leggings and sports bra she was wearing, and Theon didn’t bother to look away. She was his, after all. If he wanted to look at her, he

was going to.

No one else though.

Not Luka or Axel.

Or Rhett.

Rage coiled through him at the look that Fae had given her.

He felt the sundress being ripped from his hands, and Tessa glared at him as she slipped the cerulean blue garment over her head. She pushed him aside to pull out fresh undergarments and gold sandals. When she stood back up from buckling the straps on the sandals, she was breathing hard, and perspiration beaded on her brow.

“You should have let me help,” Theon said, stooping down to pick up the discarded

clothing and stuff it into the bag.

“You’ve done plenty today, Theon.”

She winced as she said it. She had mentioned the bond punishing her when she actively pulled away. After everything she’d been through today, why would she choose to incur more pain?

He carved a hand through his dark hair. “I feel as though we need to have a discussion to remind you of what is expected of you.”

“What were my results?” she asked instead, moving to lean against the wall.

“Inconclusive.”

She stared back at him. He could see the emotions warring in her eyes, and for once, he could read every single one of them. Disbelief. Anger. Pain. Frustration.

“Come. We need to be somewhere,” he said, holding his hand out to her.

She took it wordlessly, and he led her back across the hall to the exam room. Luka and Axel were on their feet and ready to go. The Fae female who had escorted them in when they’d arrived was waiting near the door.

“How are you doing, baby doll?” Axel asked, stepping forward to take the duffel bag from Theon.

“I’m fine,” Tessa answered shortly, her fingers flexing in Theon’s hand.

“She is not fine,” Theon drawled. “She is, however, back to her delightful, obstinate self.”

“Is that so?” Luka asked, studying Tessa in that unnerving way of his.

Tessa huffed and tried to pull her hand from Theon’s, but he tightened his grip around her fingers. She wasn’t going anywhere.

They followed their escort back to the main lobby, and when they stepped outside, Theon had to blink against the natural light after being inside the compound all morning.

The sky was cloudy, as if it might continue the trend of raining off and on all day. He helped Tessa into the vehicle, climbing in after her. She had already slid to the other side of the vehicle, her brow pressing to the cool glass of the window.

“Tessa, what do you need?” Theon asked, forcing himself not to reach for her. Axel twisted around in his seat to look at them, and Luka was glancing in the rearview mirror as he pulled into traffic. They’d all been treating her… Well, they’d been treating her differently, and after what she’d just been through, even Theon could agree that it wasn’t working. For any of them.

Tessa brought her finger to the glass, tracing a raindrop that was sliding down the window. “That’s a loaded question,” she finally answered softly.

The guidance system sounded through the vehicle with directions to the forgery expert.

“Do you need healing anywhere?” he asked.

“No.”

He spread his arm along the back of the seat, but before he could try to persuade her to come closer to him, she was already moving. She slid along the seat and nestled into his side, her head dropping to his shoulder and eyes falling closed. He glanced at Axel, whose brows were arched in surprise. The bond was buzzing, aching for more from her and wanting to soothe away everything she was feeling.

“Tessa?”

“I’m tired, Theon,” she said, snuggling in closer. “And the bond helps… It helps me remember that everything I just saw and heard and felt wasn’t real. Well, the physical pain was real, but the rest…”

She trailed off, falling silent again, and Theon shifted, wrapping his arm around her.

“Rest, Tessa,” he murmured as she settled against him. Her hand came to rest gently on his

chest, her fingers curling into his shirt directly over his hammering heart, and he pressed his lips to the crown of her head. Within minutes, she was sound asleep.

When he was sure she was truly in a deep sleep, he told Luka and Axel everything the Priestess had said about Tessa’s lineage.

Axel had pulled the small mirror from his pocket and was fiddling with it as he said, “Who would have had the means to hide her heritage? And why? Hiding her may have protected her for a while, but the moment her element appears in full strength at the Emerging Ceremony, the Pantheon would have turned into a battlefield to be the first to claim her.”

“Yes, but by that time, no one would have been able to claim her as a Source,” Luka countered. “Any heirs would have already chosen.”

“We all know that doesn’t mean anything,” Theon cut in. “Anyone with a Source can suddenly find themselves without one to make room for another.”

There were laws against such a thing, of course, but those didn’t necessarily mean anything either. An investigation was always done in the event of a Source’s death, and while the investigation was going on, if the lord or lady had already Selected another Source, that Fae was held for them until the investigation was completed.

“Then we come back to who has the ability to hide her?” Axel said.

“Whoever it is would have been around her from the beginning,” Luka mused. “They would have constantly been altering reports. Nothing like this was ever mentioned in any of the information we have on her.”

“But the Priestesses performing the assessments would know. None of them ever reported it either? It was never noticed that her reports were being changed? None of it adds up,” Axel murmured, flipping the mirror in his hand again and running his thumb along the smooth glass.

Luka was eyeing Theon in the rearview mirror. Theon knew he could see the tension in his features, the darkness starting to drift around him.

“What are you thinking, Theon?” Luka asked.

“That she has to have known this entire time and has said nothing.”

Axel twisted around again. “You cannot possibly believe that.”

“How could I not? How could she not know?”

“Her magic hasn’t emerged, Theon. It is bound until the Emerging Ceremony in a few weeks. How could she know?”

“She knows she can get past wards without issue,” Theon countered. “She’s proven that time and again.”

“That doesn’t mean she knows why she can do that,” Axel shot back. “Have you even asked her about it?”

Theon scoffed. “Yes. We had a rather heartfelt conversation about it in between all the bickering and power struggles.”

“You’ve made this a power struggle,” Axel retorted. “She gets along with Luka and I just fine when we are not being dicks to her.”

“Because she doesn’t view either of you as the ones to have ruined everything for her.

You know what I ruined? Her ability to stay hidden.”

“You’re a delusional idiot,” Axel muttered, turning back to face the front.

“Am I? It would explain why she is so resistant. She thought she had succeeded until I found her in that alcove.”

“Don’t kid yourself, Theon,” Luka cut in. “You were always going to choose her.”

“There were four other options. I was going to choose Jayson.”

“Right. You were going to select a Fae whose name you can’t even remember,” he replied dryly. “You left Jaxson and the others as options to humor us. We are not dense.”

“And thank the gods I did choose her,” he snapped, his arm around her tightening a fraction. He wasn’t in the mood to argue about this yet again. The other options no longer mattered.

“What are you going to do now, then?” Luka went on, smoke beginning to furl from his mouth as he spoke. He was getting pissed. “Continue to try to force submission?

Because that’s been going so fucking well.”

“No,” Theon gritted out, the darkness thickening around him and reaching for Tessa.

He had to actively hold it back from drifting along her arms. “I will wait her out. Now that we know what she’s hiding, we can wait for her to slip-up. Reveal what else she is hiding.”

“She is not Father,” Axel drawled, lifting a hand as his own power worked to quell Theon’s. “You do not need to develop some elaborate scheme to draw her out.”

“Obviously we do if she has managed to stay hidden this long.”

“Luka?” Axel pressed.

The male was quiet for a long moment before he sighed. “I think we get through this trip. This dinner with Felicity. Give Tessa a day to recover from the assessment, and deal with this when we are back at Arius House.”

“Fuckwits. The both of you,” Axel grumbled, pulling earbuds from his pocket.

“Have you heard from Cienna?” Theon asked.

Axel flipped him off over his shoulder while fitting the earbuds into his ears.

“Axel,” Theon growled.

“He will tell us when he hears from her,” Luka said. “Let him be.”

Not another word was said the rest of the way to the forgery expert’s house.

When Luka pulled up in front of a two-story house, Tessa was still sleeping against him. He didn’t want to wake her and make her come into the house, but he didn’t want to leave her out in the vehicle either. If she woke and he wasn’t here… It seemed as though she was finally starting to put a little trust in him, and even if she was keeping secrets, he didn’t want to jeopardize anything if she was starting to give in.

“I will stay out here with her,” Luka said, turning off the vehicle. “You two go in and get this done.”

Theon nodded. “Contact The Palace. We will spend the night if I have to go to a dinner. When we are done here, we can stop and get Tessa a dinner dress, nightclothes, and whatever else we might need.”

Axel didn’t say anything. Just opened the door and slid out, putting his earbuds away as he made his way up to the house.

Theon gently extracted himself from Tessa, prying her fingers from his shirt, and quickly exited the vehicle.

“I want this done as fast as possible,” he snapped at Axel as they made their way up the front walkway.

“I am aware,” Axel replied shortly. “You can tell him what you need and come back out here.”

A moment later, it swung open and a mortal of average height stood before them. He had thick black-rimmed glasses and dirty-blonde hair tied back at the nape of his neck.

“Hey,” he said, reaching out to grasp Axel’s hand. “Long time no see.”

“Tucker,” Axel replied, shaking the guy’s hand. “Thanks for seeing us on such short notice.”

“For the kind of coin you offered, I’d see you in the middle of the night,” he answered with a chuckle.

“This is my brother, Theon,” Axel said with a nod in Theon’s direction.

The mortals knew who the governing Legacy were of their town and knew the names of the ruling families. Other than that, Theon wasn’t sure they could distinguish Fae from Legacy without seeing the Markings the Fae had on their wrists. They both had the arched ears, slightly elongated canines, and a natural grace about them. As long as the mortals took care of the mundane jobs that kept their societies running, the Legacy left them alone. They were more focused on the Fae.

Theon shook the man’s outstretched hand, curious how, exactly, Axel knew this mortal who did not tremble or bow before them.

“I don’t mean to be a dick, but we are in a hurry,” Theon said.

“Of course,” Tucker said, stepping back to let them inside.

Theon looked back over his shoulder at the vehicle before Tucker shut the front door.

He led them down a hall to what was apparently his office, and Theon quickly explained what he needed. Tucker took the file and set to work, not asking a single question about what the report said or meant. Theon figured the guy forged documents for a living. He’d probably seen things just as strange if not stranger. Axel plopped onto a sofa sitting off to the side, thumbing through his phone, but Theon paced back and forth while Tucker worked. If it bothered the guy, he didn’t let it show.

Twenty minutes later, Tucker was handing documents across the desk to him for approval. Theon read them over, then passed them to Axel to double check. The man had to make one minor change, and then Theon was out the door, leaving Axel to take care of payment.

“The Palace is making sure the penthouse suite is ready for us,” Luka said when Theon opened the back door. “And rather than stop anywhere else, I placed an order for what we need and am having it delivered there.”

“Good thinking,” Theon replied, tossing the folder to the front seat. “Did she wake?”

Luka shook his head. “Whimpered a couple times in her sleep, but never opened her eyes.”

Theon gently lifted her head so it rested in his lap, letting his fingers move up and down her arm. Luka got them on their way to The Palace when Axel returned. It was the most elite hotel in Rockmoor, and Theon’s family owned the penthouse at the top. His father used it most when he stayed in the city for business, but Theon, Luka, and Axel had spent their fair share of time there as well. Tessa woke when they pulled up at the valet parking.

“Where are we?” she murmured, her voice thick with sleep.

“We are spending the night in the city. We are at the hotel. You can rest before we have to go to dinner,” Theon said, opening his door and sliding out. He reached for her to help her out.

As soon as they entered the penthouse, Theon steered Tessa towards the primary bathroom. “Shower, and then you can sleep or eat. Whatever you need to do.”

She said nothing, only started stripping out of the sundress, looking relieved. Theon exited the bathroom to get her clothing, only to realize he didn’t have any for her yet. Luka and Axel were looking over a room service menu in the sitting room.

“Does Tessa want anything?” Axel asked, barely glancing at him.

“Not sure. I will check with her when she gets out of the shower.” Theon crossed to the small refrigerator and grabbed two bottles of water. On his way back, he paused beside his brother. “We can’t be on opposite sides, Axel,” he said quietly, Luka wandering away to the room he usually slept in. “We survive together.”

“I am not against you, Theon,” Axel replied. “But I am always going to call you on your shit. I am telling you, she is being used in all this.”

“You cannot know—”

“I can know,” he interjected. “While you and Luka spend your time pacifying Father, I spend my time in the Underground. I know you and Luka think I am not as experienced because I am a few years younger, but I have gone through the same shit you have. While you are brushing elbows with the elite, I’m sharing drinks with the depraved. I am telling you, she is not that. She does not have some nefarious agenda, but she is going to if you

don’t back the fuck off of her.”

“I am doing the best I can, Axel.”

“Then let us help one godsdamn time, Theon,” he retorted. “I know you have this obsessive need for control, but control does not mean you have to do everything yourself.”

“I am aware.”

“Are you?”

Theon swiped a hand down his face, letting out a long sigh. “I know we need to continue this conversation, but Tessa—”

“Go,” Axel said, flipping the room service menu open again. “We’re good.”

Theon nodded. He knew his brother well enough to know he meant it. They would continue the conversation, but Axel wouldn’t hold it against him until they did.

He went back into the bedroom, and when he could still hear the water running, he set the bottles of water down and crossed to the window overlooking downtown Rockmoor. He didn’t want to go meet this female. Eventually he’d need to take a Match, but that had been so far down his list of priorities, he hadn’t even entertained the idea as of late. He was still trying to adjust to having a Source and getting her under control, let alone focusing on building something with a potential Match.

He grabbed one of the waters, twisting the cap off and taking a drink. He didn’t want to be hauling Tessa out to a dinner, but there wasn’t anything he could do about it. She needed to be with him at all times, and not just because of the results they got today. He couldn’t be seen without his Source, and this female would be at the Acropolis. He didn’t want to give her the wrong impression.

He heard the shower shut off and turned to face the bathroom. A few minutes later, Tessa emerged, a white, fluffy robe tied around her waist.

“I didn’t know what I was supposed to wear,” she said timidly, fiddling with the sash in her hands.

“We are having clothes delivered, but they will not be here until later,” Theon replied, taking a step towards her. “Are you hungry? Do you want to order food?”

“Can we just sleep some more?” she asked, her eyes fixed on a spot on the floor.

“We?” Theon asked, his pulse jumping at that one word.

“I…” She pushed out a defeated breath. “I need you right now, Theon. My head is all wrong, and I saw things…” She pursed her lips, twisting the sash around her hand.

She needed him.

She hadn’t said those words once since he’d Selected her. He’d known there had been times she’d needed him—after the first Marking and after the shit with Pavil and Metias— but she’d never actually said it out loud. What those words did to the bond had him crossing the room in three long strides.

He took her hand and led her to the bed, pulling back the bedding. “We will sleep as long as you want, or until we must get ready to go,” he said, stepping back so she could climb in.

While she was getting comfortable, he sent a quick text to Luka and Axel declining food and letting them know they were going to nap before silencing his phone. He shed his suit jacket and shirt, kicking off his shoes and stripping down to his undergarments before climbing in beside her. She immediately rolled into him, her head resting on his chest and a leg coming over the top of his. Her soft skin against his flesh had him instantly hardening, but there was fuck all he could do about that. She was in a robe, for fuck’s sake.

“Do you want to talk about it?” Theon asked, running his fingers through her damp hair.

“No,” she whispered. “I want to sleep so I can forget everything. Just for a little while.”

“Okay,” he answered, pressing another kiss to the top of her head. “Sleep, little storm.

I’ll be here when you wake.”

Silence fell and Theon moved his hand from her hair to her back, rubbing up and down her spine, feeling her relax into him.

“Why do you do that sometimes?” she asked into the quiet room.

His hand stilled. “Do what?”

“Sometimes you call me ‘little storm.’”

“Because your eyes remind me of a thunderstorm,” he answered, revealing only part of the reason.

“When you say it, you make it sound…intimate.”

“A Source bond is supposed to be intimate,” he countered.

“So it’s because of the bond?”

“Yes and no,” he answered honestly.

She didn’t say anything else, and a little while later, her breathing had shifted enough to tell him she was asleep again. He didn’t sleep though. When he closed his eyes, he saw her strapped to that fucking chair, screaming in agony, with blood dripping from her nose and ears. And this docile creature sleeping on his chest was the result of that. She’d retreated into herself, battling her own nightmares and not letting him help. A part of him

wondered if she would ever let him help her. A part of him wondered if that was where she hid her secrets.

But something else had come from this whole fucked up day too. Tessa was responding to the Source bond. She was using it, seeking him out, and asking him to comfort her. And if she ended up giving in to the bond because of today, he didn’t regret a single thing about it.