Chapter 24 Theon
THEON
Darkness clouded his vision, and all he could see was Tessa on her knees.
Her face was flushed as she sucked in breath after breath.
That fucking cupboard door was open, but he hadn’t needed to see that to know what was happening here.
He’d felt every bit of her panic. Every bit of her helplessness. Every bit of her fury.
“Cordelia,” he said coldly, stepping into the room and shutting the door firmly behind him. “What an unexpected yet opportunistic surprise.”
“Theon—” Felicity started, but she snapped her mouth shut when he held up a single finger.
“Now, correct me if I’m wrong, but did we or did we not have a discussion about your involvement with Tessa?”
The Estate Mother clicked her tongue. “That was well before everything was revealed, young heir. You no longer have the power here.”
Theon only smiled. It was all he needed to do to make her falter. He didn’t need to have his darkness thicken around him. Didn’t need to have it drift along the floor like a dense fog that devoured. Didn’t need to, but he did.
“Rordan,” Cordelia said tightly. “Ask him. Make a trade for the information.”
“What an excellent idea,” the Achaz Lord said calmly from where he’d drifted to the desk, leaning against it. “Give me the location of your mother, and I will leave you to…handle matters here.”
“What?” Cordelia said in outrage, spinning to face the lord. “You can’t leave me here with them!”
Theon crossed the room, holding a hand out to Tessa because he couldn’t think properly with her on her knees when everyone in this room should be on their knees before her.
Her fingers shook as he wrapped his hand around them, pulling her to her feet.
He wanted to do more than that. Wanted to pull her into his chest. Shield her from Cordelia and Rordan and everything they would face in the coming days.
Even knowing she didn’t need to be shielded from anything, it was still instinct.
Keep what he loved safe. It was what he’d done his entire life.
“I don’t know where my mother is,” Theon said, facing Rordan once more while his power wound around Tessa. He felt her anxiety ease, and she lifted a hand, letting the dark drift around her fingers.
“Lies,” Rordan hissed.
Without missing a beat, Theon drew a dagger from his magic and sliced his palm. Tossing the blade aside, he let his blood drip to the floor. “I swear on my blood and the god I descend from, I do not know where my mother is. Feel free to challenge my integrity.”
Rordan studied him for a long moment, everyone in the room seeming to hold their breath before he pushed off the desk. He drew a dagger of his own, slicing it across his palm before clasping Theon’s hand.
“Speak it again, and let your blood reveal a lie,” Rordan said, low and vicious.
“I swear on my blood and the god I descend from, I do not know where my mother is,” Theon repeated.
Rordan gripped his hand, and Theon knew he was waiting for the blood between their palms to spark with lies, but all he would find was truth.
After several seconds, Rordan dropped his hand with a sneer. “This isn’t over.” Then his gaze slid to Tessa. “You deny everything you were meant to be. Achaz will see to it you pay for that betrayal.”
Bright light flared, and he stepped through a light portal.
“Rordan!” Cordelia cried, trying to follow, but Theon’s magic snapped out, wrapping around her throat and yanking her back.
She cried out—or tried to—but that darkness tightened. Cordelia sank to her knees, fingers clawing at the power.
“I know her death is yours to claim, little storm,” Theon said darkly. “But I am going to ask your permission to claim it on your behalf.”
Tessa looked up at him, and he could feel…something he didn’t know what to do with down the bond. It was twisted and wicked, but also warm and light.
“Will you make it torturous?” she asked, that eerie ring back in her tone as she tilted her head, watching her former Estate Mother struggle to breathe.
“I will make it as torturous as she made your childhood,” he answered, and Cordelia’s eyes widened. She abandoned her attempt at trying to claw at his magic, instead scrambling away from him.
The room shook as wind blew violently around them, trying to do the same thing he was and steal their air, but he’d been prepared for this. A shield of dark power was wrapped around him and Tessa. She was a fool to waste her reserves on this, but he’d let her do just that.
“Theon,” Tessa breathed, something sinfully nefarious on her face as she watched Cordelia panic and scramble on the floor, only able to suck in short, minuscule breaths.
“No one is allowed to touch you without permission, Tessa,” Theon said, removing his suit jacket and proceeding to roll his sleeves up to his elbows.
“Your permission?” she asked with a defiant sneer.
He paused, slowly turning to her. Then he reached out and took her throat, tugging her closer so his words fanned over her lips when he said, “No, Tessa. Yours.” Her eyes flared before that power winked out.
He’d take care of Cordelia and then that godsdamn cuff.
“Now be a good girl and get me that dagger.”
She gave him a sardonic smile before pulling out of his grasp, his power keeping her protected from Cordelia’s desperate and sloppy attacks.
He strolled forward, coming to a stop beside the female, staring down at her.
Her mouth opened and closed like a fish out of water, and Theon loosened his grip on her enough to let her gulp some air.
She coughed and spluttered, gasping dramatically.
“You can’t do this,” the Estate Mother panted, her waning power feebly attempting to do something and failing.
“Of course I can,” Theon said, Tessa returning to his side, dagger in hand. “You are beneath me. That’s how this works, right? You tortured Tessa when you thought she was beneath you?”
“She is uncontrollable,” Cordelia said, malice-filled eyes swinging to Tessa. “She needed to learn control.”
“I would say the same for you,” Theon said coldly. “Because every time she is in your presence, you can’t seem to control yourself. So by your logic, that requires some discipline, no?”
“This is my estate!” she cried, her voice becoming too high-pitched as dark, thin tendrils began creeping up her torso, her chest. “You can’t— I’m an Estate Mother! I was promised protection!”
“And I am giving you that,” Theon said calmly, his power crawling up her neck. “I am currently protecting you from her. Aren’t you grateful for my mercy?”
Those inky strands rose up, hovering over her mouth, and Cordelia’s eyes were wide and frantic.
Her terror was palpable, and Theon glanced down at Tessa.
She was impassive as she watched her Estate Mother on the ground, but he could feel her.
Could feel the wicked delight at the retribution.
Could feel the feral need for vengeance.
Could feel the tentative awe at someone caring enough to give her this, let her watch this, because it was all for her.
“I asked you a question,” Theon demanded, and Cordelia jumped at the harsh tone. “Aren’t you grateful?”
“Her power is locked down. She is nothing without it,” Cordelia sneered, and then he felt Tessa flinch inwardly. It wasn’t something anyone would see because she was a master at keeping her emotions out of sight, but he felt it. And any leash he’d been keeping on his self-control snapped.
Those tendrils struck, going up Cordelia’s nose, and when she opened her mouth to scream, they went down her throat.
He moved slowly, letting that darkness burn hotter than any dragon fire as it slowly seeped into her bloodstream.
Death ravaged, slowly tainting her blood and letting it flow through her body.
Her veins became stark, first an ashy grey, then slowly becoming black webs across her body.
And on the outside, he was making sure she couldn’t scream, couldn’t breathe, couldn’t see, couldn’t move. His power moved as an extension of him, forcing her limbs to twist and contract, not caring as bones snapped to force them into the positions he wanted. Small. Confined.
Able to fit in a fucking cupboard.
But he wasn’t nearly done. He crouched beside her, the female’s tears trailing down her face as she arched in agony. Theon grabbed her jaw, wrenching her face to the side.
“Look at her,” he demanded, nodding at Tessa. “Look her in the eyes now.”
The words were feral and wild and untamed because this female had taken and taken from Tessa long before she was his.
Theon shifted so he could peer up at Tessa as well. Everything about her was cold and uncaring as she stared down at Cordelia. “Anything you want to say to her, tempest?” Theon asked, because this would be her last chance.
“She’s too much of a hassle,” Tessa said flatly, his darkness drifting around her and winding through her hair, around her arms, doing what her light couldn’t do right now.
Those words were all he needed, and he turned back to Cordelia, pale and writhing. “Keep your eyes on her,” he said. “I want to make sure she’s the last thing you ever see.”
Cordelia’s eyes somehow went even wider, but his hand covered them.
That onyx mist sharpened, becoming palpable and pointed, stabbing deep into her eye sockets to ensure she was trapped in the dark, just as she’d trapped Tessa in dark spaces for years.
He loosened the grip on her throat just to let Tessa hear her screams, and when he quickly glanced at her to make sure she was all right, he found her smiling.
Wrapped in his dark power, she looked every bit like the Chaos she was.
“Is this sufficient, tempest?” he asked, death pumping more fiercely through Cordelia’s body with her racing heart.
“Nothing will ever be enough, but I don’t want to waste another second on her,” she said, holding out the dagger.