Chapter 24 Theon #2
His smile was as dark as hers, and he took the blade. Gripping the hilt tight, he leaned closer so he could speak directly into Cordelia’s ear.
“Arius is her grandfather. We’ll make sure he knows of you to ensure you receive a special place in the Pits of Torment,” he said.
Something gurgled came from her throat, but it was cut off when he sank that dagger into her chest, directly into her heart. His power followed, delivering death to an already black heart.
Then it was still and quiet.
Theon slowly pushed to his feet, leaving the blade lodged in Cordelia’s chest. The adrenaline of everything was coursing through him as he turned to face Tessa fully.
She stared up at him, violet-grey eyes full of things he’d never seen directed at him before.
He opened his mouth to speak, lifting a hand to reach for her, but then he was blinking in confusion as another was blocking her from view.
“By Arius, Theon, are you all right?” Felicity cried, pushing Tessa aside to throw her arms around his neck. He stiffened at her touch, too high off the vengeance he’d just wrought to fully comprehend what was happening. He’d forgotten the other female was even in this room.
She pulled back, sliding her palms down his chest and looking him over as if searching for injuries, and then she froze when Tessa’s voice filled the space.
Cold.
Maniacal.
Deadly.
“You really need to learn to stop touching things that aren’t yours.”
Felicity looked over her shoulder, and Theon could hear the sneer in her voice when she said, “This doesn’t involve you. I will touch my husband whenever I want.”
“Is that so?” Tessa asked, her head tilting to the side, and Theon had to use all his self-control not to hide his smirk.
Violet eyes flicked to him, and he only gave her one small nod before sliding his hands into his pockets and taking a step back.
“Yes,” Felicity retorted, missing all the things he could see.
Tessa’s fingers flexing at her sides. The way she started moving, circling, forcing Felicity to spin to keep her in her line of sight.
Gone was the victim of the Estate Mother and in her place was a predator.
In her place was someone freed of a burden that had held her down.
In her place was a huntress about to claim what was hers, and fuck.
It did something to him to know that he was the prize, even if she’d given him everything last night.
“And tell me, Ms. Davers, has he touched you?” Tessa asked, her voice lethal, and Felicity somehow missed that too.
“Of course he has. You’ve seen us together at functions.”
Tessa’s lips tilted, and she hummed. “Yes, a hand on your back for appearances is certainly the same as having him pin you against a wall while muffling your cries of pleasure.”
“Some of us have class,” Felicity retorted. “I can’t be found fucking in a dark corner. I’m a Lord’s wife. There are expectations of a Match, Tessalyn, which I understand might be hard for you to comprehend.”
Tessa’s laugh was dark. “But you’re not a Match. You’re not a wife. And you’re not a St. Orcas.”
Felicity tsked, still turning as Tessa continued to circle. “Once again, Tessalyn, you saying something doesn’t make it true.”
“While I am an excellent liar, this time I speak truth. Ask him,” Tessa said, her smile growing.
Felicity spun to him. “Theon, I know she is your Source, but something needs to be done here.”
“Something is being done,” he answered, pulling his hands from his pockets, a small vial in one of them. He moved past Felicity and went to Tessa, taking her arm and pushing back the sleeve. Removing the stopper, he poured a few drops of blood onto the cuff, the contraption snapping open.
“How?” Tessa breathed, her eyes fluttering closed as her magic appeared, light flooding the space around her before flaring out again.
“Brecken,” he answered in a low voice, replacing the stopper and sliding it and the cuff into his pocket. The male had warned him not to leave the cuff lying around, and until they could figure out how to destroy it, he’d have to keep it with him.
Tessa lifted her palms, her brows pinching together as she studied them. “Something is wrong.”
“What do you mean?”
“It’s not… Something is wrong,” she said again.
“Of course there is something wrong,” Felicity snapped, coming up beside them. She placed a hand on Theon’s forearm. “That’s what I’ve been saying. You’re—”
But then she cried out as Tessa’s fist snapped out, connecting with her face.
“Stop touching things that aren’t yours,” she seethed, and while something might be wrong, there were still faint traces of light wrapped around her fist. And that power had left its mark on Felicity’s cheek, crackling and sending jolts of energy with each pulse.
“You can’t treat me like this!” Felicity cried, clutching her face. “I am a Legacy—”
“As if I have ever cared about that,” Tessa seethed, and Theon lightly gripped her upper arm when she took a step toward her.
“You care about power, like every other Legacy in this realm. That’s the only reason you signed that contract.
Tell me, what did you and Cressida scheme to do these last months? ”
“That is none of your concern,” Felicity flung back, and Theon could feel her power trying to wind around Tessa.
And he could tell when Tessa let her chaos bite back because Felicity flinched, a small cry sounding as her power retreated.
“Theon!” Felicity cried. “I know what you said before, but you still need me. You need a wife to become the Arius Lord.”
“And I have one,” Theon answered. “But I am curious. What did you and Cressida discuss?”
Her eyes widened, and she took a small step back. “She was guiding me. She’s been a Lord’s wife for decades. I’ve only ever wanted to be what you need, Theon.”
“How did she guide you?”
“She gave me advice on my role. Devram politics. How best to serve you and fulfill my duties,” she said, and now she was shuffling forward.
She lifted her arms as if to reach for him, but she glanced at Tessa, and her features hardened again.
Her hands dropped back to her sides, clenching into fists.
“Fine. You want to know what your mother and I discussed? You are difficult, Theon. I was trying and offering myself to you, and all you wanted was her. But she can’t produce your heir.
We’ve talked about this. So, yes, she gave me ideas on how to procure that. ”
A harsh bark of laughter came from Tessa. “Are you saying you went to Cressida for advice on how to seduce her son?”
“He’s my husband!” she shrieked, her irritation peaking. “If I do not conceive an heir, I become nothing.”
“Then it is about the power,” Tessa said.
“It’s always about power,” Felicity sneered. “I was raised for this, yes, but I also want it. I want the status and the notoriety that comes with the position. I’m willing to do anything for it.”
“So you cozied up to Cressida?” Tessa asked. “Do you even realize Theon does not care for her?”
“I do not care,” she spat back, and Theon suddenly realized what Tessa was doing. Felicity was so riled up, she was speaking without thinking. Revealing secrets. Something he’d done to Tessa more than once. Clever, clever tempest.
“Theon wouldn’t give me the time of day, so I went to his mother,” Felicity was ranting.
“We tried everything, but he never took the drinks I offered him. I made you think we were fucking until I could make it happen. Did whatever Valter and Cressida asked of me to make that happen. He never gave in, even when I presented myself bare and willing. I told him days ago he could have you and only use me to carry a child. I only needed him to give in once to bind him to me.”
Her brown eyes went wide as she realized what she’d said. A trembling hand came up, covering her mouth.
“Repeat that,” Theon said coldly.
“Didn’t you hear her?” Tessa asked, that unnatural delight creeping into her voice. “She was trying to trick you into a binding. I’m dying to know what that would have entailed.”
“I just meant that I thought once he could see how good we were together, he would see that I am an asset, not a hindrance,” Felicity said, her voice trembling.
Tessa shook her head, pulling her arm from Theon’s grasp. “The thing about liars is we easily recognize our own,” Tessa purred, stalking closer. Her power skittered, far weaker than what it should be, but it was enough to make Felicity lurch back.
“I am a Lord’s wife,” Felicity said. “You can’t touch me.”
“No, I am a Lord’s wife,” Tessa retorted. “I warned you. Months ago we sat at a table where I told you he was mine. Then when you came here, I told you to figure out your place. Moments ago I told you that you were not his Match, and yet you still continue to touch what is not yours.”
“You’re delusional.”
“Ask him,” Tessa purred again.
And it seemed to finally sink in as Felicity slowly slid her eyes to him. “Theon?”
“I told you the other night you’d do well to remember what this is. What I came here for,” Theon answered. “But I am curious to know how convincing me to fuck you would have bound me to you. A child? After one fucking? The odds are astronomical.”
Felicity was shaking her head, tears pooling in her eyes as she held up her hand. “I don’t understand. You’re my husband. It’s a Union Mark.”
“He’s my husband,” Tessa hissed, whatever power had lingered from her earlier hit flaring again on Felicity’s cheek, making her cry out. “But there is the issue of you being bound to him and the bargain with Valter.”
“Tell me about this binding, Felicity,” Theon ordered, and she flinched when his power appeared, drifting towards her.
“Valter said… He had a way to ensure an heir would be born. That he’d done it before. As long as we slept together once, I didn’t need to conceive that night. We just needed to make you believe I was with child. Then he would take care of the rest,” she confessed, tears sliding down her face.