Rain of Shadows and Endings — Chapter no 7

7 THEON

T heon pushed out a breath, already restless at being so far from Tessa. Then he straightened his tie and tugged on his shirt cuffs before raising a hand to knock on the solid

onyx doors of his father’s study.

“Enter, Theon.”

He opened one side of the double entrance doors and stepped inside. He knew this study like the back of his hand. This was where he’d been forced to spend countless hours being taught about the kingdom and its history after his private lessons were concluded for the day. This was where he was forced to sit through endless meetings that meant nothing to him at eight years. This was where he’d be lectured on how he wasn’t doing enough, prepared enough, responsible enough to take over this kingdom. How he’d failed yet again.

This was where his father made sure he remembered who was the more powerful of the two of them.

This was where his father assumed he would simply go along with all his plans.

Once they knew Tessa’s element and the strength of her magic, everything would change. He could move forward with his own plans. For now, though, he was forced to fall into line.

The walls of the study were dark brown and lined with bookcases filled with books Theon knew were only found here. The floor was hardwood with blood red rugs adding to the darkness of the room. Red curtains were drawn over the windows. Normally they were wide open to allow sunlight in for the numerous plants throughout the space.

His father sat behind his desk, leaning back in his chair as he watched Theon with narrowed eyes. Eviana was curled up in an overstuffed chair to his left under a window, toying with a small flower that was blooming and closing in her palm. Always nearby and within reach. Her piercing turquoise eyes were following his every movement, ready to intervene if necessary. Theon came to a stop in front of the desk and waited for his father to

invite him to sit.

He never did.

“Tell me, son, how is the bond coming along?”

“You saw her, Father,” Theon replied, forcing himself to still as his magic shifted beneath his skin. “She is weak as her body adjusts, but I am confident everything is going as it should.”

“Her Mark was beautiful,” Valter mused. “A beautiful Mark on an equally stunning girl.”

“Her beauty has been established numerous times,” Theon said sharply.

Valter smirked at him. “So it has. And how are you adjusting to the bond? Clearly the possessiveness has already settled into place.”

Theon bit back a sarcastic remark. “It is more intense than I had anticipated, but I will adjust just fine.”

“The intensity and need lessen some as the bond settles into place. She appeared to be fulfilling the urges. I can only assume the same is happening in your bed as the bond strengthens,” Valter said, leaning forward and shuffling papers around on his desk. “You should be thanking me for the insistence of a female Source at this point.”

Theon pressed his tongue to his cheek, refusing to respond to the comment. Mainly because he didn’t think they would be sharing a bed the way his father was clearly

referencing. They may end up sleeping beside each other, but the way things were going, she wasn’t going to let him touch her in that way anytime soon. She could hardly stand to let him touch her to soothe her aches, let alone bring her pleasure.

But gods, he wanted to. This wasn’t just some need for release either. The Source bond was creating a primal need to claim her and mark her as his in every way possible, not just with visible Marks on her skin. He wanted to taste her on his lips. Feel her tremble under his fingers from his touch rather than her fever. Feel what it felt like to be deep inside her.

Fantasies weren’t going to cut it. If the desire was this strong after one Mark, what would it be like after two? After she’d received all the Marks?

“Have you received word from your brother?” Valter asked, pulling Theon from his

thoughts.

“Should I have?”

His father sent him a bland look as he settled back in his chair once more, his forefinger tapping on the desktop a few times. “Axel would contact you before me simply for the theatrics of it.”

Theon shrugged, sliding his hands into his pockets and rocking back on his heels. “I have not heard from Axel since he left.”

His father grunted in annoyance, his finger tapping again. “You have a few weeks until you, Luka, and Axel go back to the Acropolis. With your Source selection out of the way, you can begin to make progress with some of the other tasks I have for you. I do not want to spend weeks and months there. I will depend on the reports of you three when it comes time to select the Fae to serve this kingdom,” Valter said, his demeanor becoming entirely business-like.

“This is what you needed to speak with me about so urgently?” Theon demanded.

“Why could this not wait? Tessa—”

“Your Source is the reason this could not wait,” Valter cut in, rising to his feet and leaning over his desk to leer at Theon. “I want to make myself perfectly clear. You are expected to do whatever is necessary to make sure our plans are seen through and so is your Source. And if that means you need to lend her out to make sure a deal is secured with the appropriate people, you will do so.”

White hot rage ripped through Theon and before he knew what he was doing, darkness pooled in his hand, but his father was faster and stronger. Not only that, he had a Source that was fully bonded to him. Shadows like his own shot from his father’s hand, wrapping around his throat and arms. The power threw him back against a bookshelf, and several books were knocked free and tumbled to the ground. Eviana had moved to his father’s side faster than Theon could blink, vines reaching from the closest plants to take over for his father’s shadows.

Valter removed his suit coat, handing it to Eviana without so much as looking at her.

He didn’t need to. He could speak directly into her mind. Slowly he strode towards Theon, rolling up his sleeves as he moved.

“While you know I enjoy seeing that wrath, Theon, you know better than to direct it at me,” his father said calmly.

The fist to Theon’s side had him grunting a curse before darkness was forced down his throat, cutting off his airflow. He strained against Eviana’s vines, but they were too thick for him to do anything with his father’s magic reinforcing the restraints.

“She may be your Source, Theon, and you may control the girl, but I control you,”

Valter snarled into his face. He slipped a black ring onto Theon’s finger, spelled to not only nullify his magic but drain it. Without a Source, he wouldn’t be able to refill his reserves as quickly, not without his weekly allocation of Fae blood, and he was already weak from the Marking ritual. But his father controlled the distribution of their supply and would withhold it from him to prove a point.

Valter turned away, ripping the shadows from Theon’s throat and leaving him gasping as his father walked back to his desk. He rolled his sleeves back down and took his jacket from Eviana, shrugging it on while Theon gulped down air.

Grabbing his phone from his desk, Valter slid it into his pocket and made his way to the door. Pausing with his hand on the handle, he said, “Oh, and so we are clear, the next time she fails to kneel when it is expected, she will be kneeling in front of me for a different reason, and you can watch as a reminder for you both.” His eyes went to Eviana. “Keep him bound for the next half hour, then come find me. All this talk of being on knees finds me wanting you on yours.”

“Yes, my Lord,” Eviana replied, bowing her head at the order.

“I need to go to Tessa,” Theon snapped. He’d already been away from her far too long.

His father’s ministrations were nothing compared to the strain of the Source bond right now.

A cruel smile curled up on Valter’s lip. “Oh, I know, son. I know exactly what that bond is demanding of you right now. Consider this a reminder of what is expected of you.

Maybe I will go see how your little Source is settling in myself. Take care of her until you return.”

The resounding click of the door shutting behind his father had Theon bellowing in fury, straining against the vines wrapped around him. Despite knowing Luka was with her and would protect her, he still raged at failing to protect what was his. He could feel his darkness drifting beneath his skin, just out of reach and slowly draining thanks to the dark ring on his finger. Eviana lifted a hand, tightening the hold of her magic before she drifted back over to her chair and curled up in it. Theon knew it was completely futile to beg her for help. She would never disobey her Master. She couldn’t. It was impossible for a Source

to disobey their Master.

Or so he had thought.

The relationship he’d witnessed every day between his father and Eviana had Theon believing that a Source obeyed without question. That the bond required such a thing. The few times he’s seen the other Lords and Ladies with their Sources had only furthered that belief. The Fae were quick to obey, attentive, and wholly submissive. Not only that, but his father had always made it seem as if the bond made Eviana want to blindly obey him. That his desires had truly become her own. If he wanted it, so did she. One would certainly think that was the case at her quick agreement to go to him when she was done holding Theon prisoner.

But Tessa had disobeyed him at every turn. The only time she was obedient was when he forced her to be with entrancing or when she sensed a greater threat than him. It was not what he had been expecting. He had expected an immediate connection, accompanied by an intense desire to please him. Too much of his own plans hinged on having a Source. He

needed her to submit, but he found himself wanting her to want him too. He wanted her to seek him out instead of having to demand she come to his side.

After several minutes, he said casually to Eviana, “How long did it take for you to completely give in to the bond?”

Eviana tilted her head to the side at the question, reddish-brown hair slipping over her shoulder. “Is your Source not pleasing you, Theon?”

“That is not what I said,” Theon answered tightly. “I am simply wanting to be prepared for what comes next.”

A small smile graced her lips that said the female knew exactly what he was asking, and wasn’t that curious? Had she fought the bond in the beginning?

She tightened the vines, thorns forming that dug into his skin, and drops of blood fell to the floor. “You know if the bond were fully in place, she would be fighting her way to your side right now. The bond would require it of her.”

Theon knew this. It was a side of the Source bond the Fae were kept in the dark about.

One of the many things the Fae were kept in the dark about really. The final Mark would allow Theon to draw power from her, but it would also force her to defend him at all costs, even if that cost was her life. Because of the Kingdom Accords, there was rarely fighting amongst the kingdoms. The Sources rarely intervened, but they reacted to any and all threats. It was why Eviana had jumped up when Theon had drawn on his power at the mention of sharing Tessa.

Theon theorized it was an attempt to emulate the Guardian Bond that would sometimes be taken between the guardians of Arius and various gods and deities. He’d been enthralled by Marks, the magic behind them, and how they worked when he was younger.

In the later years of his schooling, he’d spent hours researching and studying them, often to his father’s annoyance. His father felt his time would be better spent learning the ways of the kingdom. Or rather, his ways of the kingdom. Hence the incessant lectures and reminders.

The Marks and how they worked had changed over the thousands of years this world had been in existence. Those of the Zinta bloodline with the strongest gifts could enact the magic used by the gods under the right circumstances. The Source Marks had been changed and perfected to make sure the Legacy remained as powerful as possible. Most of what he’d been able to find on the Marks was theory, but the idea of somehow incorporating this Guardian Bond seemed convincing enough, considering everything. The thing was, Theon didn’t need that aspect of the Source bond, much to his father’s chagrin.

“I am well aware what the bond will require of her,” he finally bit out.

Eviana slowly made her way towards him, that small smile turning coy. “She is feeling the pull of the bond, even if she is trying to resist it. It is yanking her towards you. Calling her to you. It will not rest until she can feel your touch. When you give her the last dose of elixir tonight, the need will become stronger. Each new Mark will make the pull to you more intense. A thirst that only you can quench. The ache becomes unbearable. Worse than any pain she is currently experiencing.” Vines coiled around his throat, and she yanked his head down as she pushed up onto her toes. She was so close to him now, her breath danced across his lips as her brow pressed to his. “She will crave you. Desire you. Want you with her entire being. Even if she fights, she will eventually give in. We all do.”

“Did you resist him, Eviana?” Theon taunted. “Do you like getting on your knees and swallowing down his cock, or does the pleasure from the bond simply make you believe you love him?”

Her smile went wicked. “Careful, little heir. You are not like your father. Not yet anyway. You are so noble, so virtuous,” she crooned mockingly. She ran her finger along his jaw, and Theon tried to jerk his head to the side, but her damn vines were still around his neck. A thumb brushed along his bottom lip as she leaned in once more to whisper, “When you take her, you will want to believe that she loves you too.”

With those words, her vines snapped apart, and she stepped from his reach when his hand shot out to grab her.

Clicking her tongue, she tutted, “Now, Theon, what would your father say if you laid a hand on me?” Striding to the door, she stopped and looked back over her shoulder. “I look forward to getting to know Tessa more. Your father has big plans for us.”

She was gone before Theon could answer, but he didn’t want to waste any more time verbally sparring with her anyway. The tension of the bond was driving him mad. More than that, he couldn’t take this fucking ring off himself. Not only was the Source bond having a fit, but so was his magic at being trapped beneath his skin.

He tried not to think about what Eviana had said as he made his way down the various hallways and up staircases. When he’d come of age to acquire a Source, he’d immediately requested that his quarters be moved to the east wing where a Source suite was located. His father had made him wait until right before the Selection before he’d actually let him move to this wing. He hadn’t even had time to finish moving all his things before he’d had to go to the Acropolis. The staff had finished moving him in. The wing had been a guest wing, but there were only a handful of times another Lord or Lady had stayed here. It wasn’t wanting a suite as much as it was about wanting to be out of the same wing as his father.

The wards around his rooms recognized him as he pushed the door open. He pulled his suit coat off as he moved. “Tessa? Luka?”

Tossing the jacket over a dining chair, he made quick work of his tie. He started unbuttoning his shirt as he quickly scanned the room, finding it empty.

Moving to the bedroom, he found Luka sitting before the unlit hearth, a glass of liquor dangling from his fingers. He was staring out the balcony doors where the cloudy sky was obscuring the stars.

“Where is she?” Theon asked. He knew she was here. The cord inside him certainly knew she was nearby. It was vibrating so much it felt like his skin was buzzing. He needed to shower and put on a fresh set of clothing after the events of the last two days, but he needed to see her first.

“Sleeping,” Luka grunted, not even bothering to look at Theon.

Theon turned to the bed as he unfastened the final button, his shirt falling open.

“Where?”

“In her bed.”

Theon whipped his head to him. “Why the fuck is she sleeping in there?”

Luka dragged his eyes to Theon. “Because she refused to sleep in your bed.”

“That’s ridiculous. This bed is far more comfortable,” Theon said, stalking towards the small attached bedroom. He hadn’t requested anything be done to the room yet as he hadn’t known who his Source would be or what they would want. It was a tiny room, and he

hadn’t really pictured his Source spending much time in there. At least not right away. Even if he’d Selected a male Source, he anticipated needing to sleep beside each other for the first several days due to the nature of the bond.

“I tried to tell her that, but she was adamant,” Luka replied, bringing his glass to his lips.

Theon stopped in the doorway of the small room, the bond reaching out to her. He swore he could almost physically see the cord that connected them. Tessa was curled into a ball facing the wall, huddled under a blanket. He made his way to her, running his fingers along her cheek when he reached her side. The bond sent a bolt of pleasure through him, and he sighed as it settled. Stroking her hair a few times, he fought the urge to scoop her up, bring her to his bed, and climb in beside her.

“How is she?” he asked Luka when he finally forced himself to go back out to the bedroom.

“Well, she cried herself to sleep,” Luka said grimly, motioning Theon to come closer.

Theon extended his hand, and Luka slipped the ring from his finger. A small shudder worked through him as the darkness sprang forth at the sudden freedom, and he let it remain for a moment, dark mist flowing along his skin.

“It is a lot to process, and she was not prepared for this. I think I would be more concerned if she wasn’t emotional,” Theon said, settling into the other armchair. He saw the bottle of liquor sitting on the table between the chairs and took a pull directly from it, resting his head back.

“She was not the one for this,” Luka said.

“And what do you want me to do about that now?” Theon retorted, his shadows beginning to drift. “There is no second chance with your Source. You know that. Once this was set into motion, there was no going back. Not unless you want to kill her?”

Luka sent him an unimpressed glare, but didn’t deign to reply to that. “We need to change how we’re approaching this. We need to adjust our strategies. Gods, why couldn’t you have just chosen someone else?”

“We are not changing the plans simply because you are having a sudden change of heart. Then everything we are putting her through is for nothing.”

“No. We can still get the outcome we want. We just need to rethink our strategy,” Luka protested.

“We can’t simply change the plans,” Theon scoffed, eyeing the darkness that seemed to reach towards the small room.

“That female just changed every godsdamn thing, Theon,” Luka said, rage seeping into his voice. The blue of his eyes began to glow, his pupils shifting to vertical slits. “If you can’t see that, then we are already fucked. She should not be able to resist the bond once Marked. You know this. Axel is out there busting his ass right now, and you’re here fucking us over.”

“You act as if I chose her at random,” Theon spat. “She was one of the five remaining options.”

“Only because you refused to remove her,” Luka countered. “Both Axel and I told you repeatedly that she wasn’t the one for this, and yet here we sit. All because you can’t control —”

“Enough, Luka,” Theon snarled, the shadows thickening around them and creeping towards the male now.

Luka only glanced at the darkness before taking another drink of his liquor. “You need to stop with your power unless you plan on taking something else from her tonight.”

Luka may have been right about that, but he was wrong about the bond. It would settle into place. Tessa would come to terms with her new life. Their plans weren’t ruined. They just got off track for a moment. She would rest, have some time to process, and then everything would be fine.

And if not, he had ways to push her along.

Luka dropped his now empty glass down on the side table and rose from his seat, going out to the other room. He returned a few moments later with a small leather case.

“We should get this over with.”

Theon nodded. “Let me shower and change first.”

“I’ll get things ready.”

Theon made quick work of cleaning up and slipping into lounge pants and a black shirt. Before he left the dressing room, he did a quick check of the items he’d ordered for Tessa. From formal to everyday wear, there was something for every occasion. Shirts, dresses, skirts, sweaters, and everything in between were neatly hung and arranged with pants, jeans, leggings, and undergarments taking up drawers. Several dozen pairs of proper footwear were now displayed along one wall on a shoe rack. A jewelry stand had also been brought in. He opened the top to several watches, rings, and cufflinks, and he tossed the black ring in the back of it. Everything else in the stand would be for Tessa.

He retrieved the three rings he usually wore and slipped them onto his fingers. He’d only taken them off to blend in more at the Acropolis, which was something he wouldn’t need to worry about anymore. Two of the rings wouldn’t have been a big deal. One gleaming black and shaped like a wing that wrapped around his finger and the other a thick solid-silver band, he slipped them onto his pointer and ring finger of his right hand. The other, however, would have been noticed. A square black gem was set into a ring of onyx. It was large and chunky, and the stone was only found in a small section of the northeast part of the Ozul Mountains. Slipping it onto his left middle finger, he left the closet and went into Tessa’s small room. She hadn’t moved, save for slipping a hand under her cheek. He sighed, dreading what he was going to have to do to her next despite the necessity of it.

Luka was waiting for him in the same spot when he exited the small room. “Ready?”

he asked, picking up a dagger.

“Don’t really have a choice not to be.”

“I suppose not.”

Theon held his hand out, palm up, and Luka cut a line down the center. Theon tipped his hand so the blood ran down his palm, and Luka held up a small vial to collect it.

When the vial was full, the cut was already healing as Theon said, “Do you think I should wake her and tell her before we do it, or just…do it?”

Luka glanced up at him from what he was doing before refocusing on his task. He had pulled another vial from the case, and it was filled with a white liquid. Dumping the vial of Theon’s blood into the other, he replaced the cork and gently began mixing the two. “I think she has had enough surprises,” he finally answered, the mixture becoming a darker shade of red.

Theon pursed his lips and nodded, watching silently while Luka took a syringe from the case. He uncapped the needle before drawing the mixture into it. “You probably want to bring her out here though. That room is too small for both of us to be in there with her.”

“Yeah, all right,” Theon agreed.

Pushing out a heavy breath, he returned to where Tessa was sleeping. Pulling her hair back over her shoulder, he bent down and said softly into her ear, “Hey, beautiful. I need you to wake up for a bit.”

When she didn’t stir, he gently pulled the blankets back some and sat beside her on the small bed. Trailing his fingers up her arm, he tried again. “Tessa. Wake up. Just for a bit.”

After several seconds, her eyes fluttered, and she rolled over gingerly, her brow

pinching in confusion. “Theon?”

“Yeah, I need—”

But he didn’t get to finish.

Tessa pushed herself up, and her lips landed on his. Theon froze, too shocked to do anything, but that only lasted for a second. The bond was humming away in excitement, and Theon slipped his hand into her hair and angled her head back just the way he liked it.

Her hand came up and gripped the back of his neck, tugging him closer. Her lips tasted better than he had imagined, and he ran his tongue along the seam of them. She immediately parted, and she tasted like rain and pure light with a hint of something…darker he couldn’t place. The cord in his chest was pushing him to take more and more, to claim her and make her his in every way, and he groaned low in his throat.

Tessa suddenly wrenched herself away, sliding up to the head of the bed and cringing against it. She pulled the blanket up to her chin, her eyes wide with horror. “I’m sorry. I don’t know what I was doing…” She trailed off, her fingertips coming up to touch her lips.

If they were tingling with pleasure the way his were, he understood why.

“It’s all right, Tessa. It’s the bond,” he said, reaching for her, but she shrank back from him even more. He dropped his hand. “I was away from you much longer than I should have been. The bond demands our closeness right now. This is how it should be.”

She stared back at him like that was not a justifiable explanation for what had just happened. Meanwhile, he was trying to stay focused on the task at hand instead of thinking about how he could get her to kiss him like that again.

He cleared his throat. “There is one more thing we need to do to complete the first Mark. Afterwards, you can rest and recover without interruption.”

Horror filled her grey eyes for a completely different reason now. “What else could you possibly do to me?”

Something in his gut twisted at the words, any desire coursing through him quickly snuffed out. “Come out to the bedroom, and I will explain.” When she didn’t move, he reached out a hand to her again. “I can carry you if you are in too much pain to walk right now,” he offered.

“I can walk fine,” she retorted, but the bite of her tone, or rather lack thereof, betrayed how weak she was feeling.

Theon stood to give her room, and she slid carefully from the small bed.

A bed she would not be sleeping in again. Not when there was a bed ten times more comfortable in the other room with plenty of space for both of them. The bed was designed to comfortably hold a Lord or Lady, their Match, and their Source.

He followed her a step behind in case she stumbled. Luka was standing by the fireplace, sipping on another glass of liquor. He glanced discreetly at the mantle where Theon spotted the syringe. Theon nodded in acknowledgement while Tessa took a seat in the chair. Neither he nor Luka moved, and she looked between them, exhaustion heavy in her features.

“Can you just do whatever it is you’re going to do to me so I can go back to my room and sleep?”

Theon let the comment about her room go for now as he came to stand before her.

Crouching down, he peered up into her face. “To make sure your body fully accepts the start of the bond and the Mark, we need to give you an additional dose of tonic.”

“Of tonic,” she repeated. Luka had moved behind her and had drawn her hair back over one shoulder, exposing the column of her throat. She glanced back at him before returning her eyes to Theon. “The same tonic I drank before you cut me with a dagger?”

“It is a mixture of the tonic you were given by the Priestess and my magic.”

Her eyes went wide again. She tried to lurch to her feet, but Luka’s hands were on her shoulders, keeping her in place.

“What? No! Please don’t! Theon, don’t! My body is adjusting to everything fine. I feel the bond. The Mark is there. I will stay closer to you. I will do better with this!”

“This is the last thing. I swear, Tessa,” Theon said, turning and grabbing the syringe off the mantle. When he turned back, tears were streaming down Tessa’s face. He’d lost count of how many times he’d seen her cry in the last day.

She was pleading with him not to do this, and Luka’s face was strained with effort not only to keep her seated, but to not hurt her while doing so. “We either need to move her to the bed so I can hold her down without hurting her further, or you need to entrance her, Theon,” he gritted out.

Theon reached out and took her chin between his fingers, and she cried out in despair.

“Please! Don’t, Theon! It hurts so much,” she sobbed.

“Do it, Theon,” Luka demanded. “Get it over with.”

Theon tilted her chin up. Her grey eyes were bleak and desolate. “Tessalyn, be still.”

She immediately ceased her thrashing, and Luka loosened his grip but kept his hands on her shoulders. Theon pushed her hair back again. She was trembling despite his command, and he knew it was uncontrollable.

“This is it. I promise, Tessa,” he said, bringing the needle to her neck.

“Until the next Mark,” she whispered back.

Theon paused, glancing down at her. He didn’t want to think about the next time he had to do all this to her. The tonic wouldn’t be needed with her magic freed, but the bestowing of the Marks would be the same. Clenching his jaw, he inserted the needle. He tried to be gentle about it, but there was really no way to gently insert a needle into someone’s neck. As soon as he put pressure on the plunger, she screamed. Luka’s hold tightened, but Theon couldn’t simply inject it quickly. It had to be done slowly.

“It’s almost over, little one,” Luka said, trying to soothe her as he held her still, her cries of agony drowning out his words.

When the syringe was finally empty, Theon removed it, sliding a palm in place to heal the wound. It wouldn’t take the pain away, but it would heal the bruising. Tessa had been

right. Arius Legacy didn’t have gifts to heal others, but a Source bond allowed them to heal each other with their connection.

Luka released her, and she collapsed to the floor. Curling into a ball on her knees, her hands dug into her hair as she cried out in pain, her face to the floor.

Theon tossed the empty syringe onto the small table and dropped down beside her, placing a hand on her back. “Tessa, breathe. Take a breath.”

“It…hurts…” she managed between gasps, fingers clawing at her scalp.

“I know,” he said, trying to pull her to him. He could at least placate the bond that was surely warring inside her now that he had given her a fresh surge of his own blood and magic. She stayed huddled in the ball against his chest, her hands clasped to her head.

“She is either going to pass out or vomit from the pain,” Luka observed from where he still stood behind the chair.

“I am going to go with the latter if last night was any indication,” Theon replied over Tessa’s cries of agony.

“Agreed,” Luka said. “Let’s get her to the bathroom. Then I’ll grab some blankets and pillows so she is not lying on the bare floor.”

He picked her up from Theon’s arms and carried her to the bathroom, murmuring low into her ear. Theon followed a step behind. He was exhausted. He hadn’t slept in over a day, and it didn’t appear he’d be getting sleep anytime soon. Legacy and Fae didn’t require a large amount of sleep if they weren’t using their gifts, but having to pour so much of his magic into Tessa last night and more now, not to mention the ring his father had shoved onto his finger, was taking its toll.

He took her back from Luka and lowered to the ground while Luka went to grab the blankets. He spread them out in the semi-private toilet area and then stepped back, leaning against the wall while they waited. Tessa’s cries had become quieter, but that was most likely because her throat was raw from the screaming. It was about to get worse when she started vomiting again.

He ran his hand up and down her back, his other arm wrapped tightly around her waist.

“I’ve got you, Tessa. We will get through this, and then you can sleep as long as you need to.”

She didn’t acknowledge him, and he got the distinct feeling he was attempting to soothe himself rather than her.

Minutes later, the first wave of vomiting hit. Theon helped her up, holding her hair back, while she heaved over and over into the toilet. Just like before, his dark shadows poured from her mouth. Some of the silver wisps were there too, but not as many as before.

That was part of the bond. He’d seen it when their souls’ essences had intertwined and flared silver before settling back into them when he’d given her the first Mark.

When the vomiting finally ceased, she collapsed onto him. He eased her down onto the blankets, pulling a pillow into his lap for her to rest her head on. Her eyes were closed, her breathing ragged. Luka passed him a damp cloth, and Theon wiped sweat from her brow

and neck.

“Tessa?” Theon ventured softly.

She didn’t answer, and he didn’t push it.

The silence was deafening in the bathroom while they waited for the next round of nausea to consume her. Theon wasn’t sure if she had fallen asleep or not, but her eyes never

reopened while she lay there, whimpering in pain every once in a while and trembling from the heaving.

He glanced at Luka, who was watching her, pity and remorse in his eyes.

“You regret our decision,” Theon said tightly, dabbing the cloth along her forehead again.

“Don’t you?” Luka challenged sharply. “We have to do this to her again three more times.”

“We knew that my Source would have to endure this,” Theon answered after a

moment. “We knew what to expect.”

“But she didn’t.”

“She is a Fae. Designed for this very purpose,” Theon said, annoyance edging into his tone. “And I’d be willing to bet the other heirs are not on the floor caring for a Fae.”

“She was not made for this, and you know it,” Luka retorted. “We could see that from the information in her file. Why do you think we told you to choose someone else?”

“You think she is not strong enough to endure this?”

“The exact opposite,” Luka disagreed. “She has already shown she is more than strong enough to endure this. Her kind of strength is not the strength you need to succeed with your current plan. Her kind of strength will alter everything. We need to alter the plans to accommodate her, Theon. Not the other way around.”

“We have already discussed this,” Theon snapped, his voice rising. “The plan is not going to be changed now. It is too late.”

Luka pressed his tongue to his cheek, his gaze flicking back to the female in Theon’s lap. He finally pushed off the wall and said, “I’m going to get her some water,” before leaving the room.

For the next few hours, Tessa vomited off and on, just like the night before. She didn’t speak a word to him or Luka. She just reverted to closing her eyes and waiting in resignation while she lay on the floor. Luka had pulled the seat out from in front of the make-up vanity, lost in his own thoughts. Theon had maneuvered against the wall so he could sit against it, his head tipped back and his eyes closed. He was absent-mindedly stroking her hair, wondering how much longer this was going to go on, when she spoke.

“Theon?”

His head snapped up at her hoarse voice. Luka looked up too, both of them zeroing in on her. “Yeah, beautiful?”

“What did your father mean when he said you could loan me out?”

Her eyes were still closed, her hands clenched tightly around a blanket they had draped over her. But that was what she was contemplating in between bouts of hurling her guts up?

“That is something you never need to worry about, Tessa, because it will never happen,” Theon finally answered, glancing at Luka. His lips had thinned because he knew the lengths his father would go to in order to get results just as well as Theon did.

“But what did he mean? He said I would have ended up one anyway if you hadn’t chosen me as a Source,” she pushed.

“We can’t know which kingdom you would have been assigned to, Tessa. They assess that as you proceed through the Selection tasks. He was simply speculating. I do not want you to worry or think about it, all right?”

She was quiet for a long time. So long that Theon thought she had retreated back into herself, but then her voice came again, barely a whisper. “I just keep thinking that it couldn’t have been worse than this. That I would have chosen just about anything over this.”

Theon met Luka’s gaze, finding it already pinned on him. He shook his head, silent communication passing between them. Now wasn’t the time to tell her that being sent to serve in the Achaz Kingdom under the Sirana bloodline would have been much worse than what she was enduring right now.

“I want to go to my bed,” she whispered a few minutes later.

“Okay. Let’s just wait a little longer in case you get sick again.”

She didn’t reply, so Theon took it as acceptance, leaning his head back against the wall

once more and closing his eyes.

This was worth it.

Putting her through this was necessary and would be worth it in the end.