Chapter 35 Tessa #2
They didn’t go back to the Underground that afternoon like she’d expected.
No, instead, Luka had taken them directly to his cave.
They were still worried about spies nearby, but Traveling directly inside shouldn’t have alerted anyone.
It had been several weeks now anyway. They just couldn’t leave using any of the entrances.
She felt lighter than she ever had, and she hadn’t stopped smiling since that morning.
Theon and Luka had gone to shower. She’d done the same, surprised to find them still occupied when she emerged from the room she’d stayed in last time.
They’d all showered separately, and she was okay with that, wanting to savor and explore this newfound lightness.
Wandering down a hall, she trailed her fingers along the wall, studying the large empty frames. Some were gold, some silver. Some were wood and others were inlaid with jewels. Such a bizarre thing to collect.
Continuing to the kitchen, she poured herself a glass of water before rummaging through the cupboards for something to eat. The sound of Luka’s bedroom door opening had her turning and stilling as the two of them emerged. They were both in lightweight pants, and they were both shirtless.
And there was a tension rolling off them that instantly had her on alert.
She straightened, setting her glass aside as her eyes roamed over bare skin and muscles that disappeared below waistbands riding low on their hips.
“We need to discuss a few weeks ago,” Theon said, his tone all cold fury.
Her gaze snapped to his. “What?”
“Falein Kingdom,” he continued. “What were you doing there, Tessa?”
Even knowing they wouldn’t hurt her, she took a step back from them as they prowled closer. “Looking for a mirror gate. You know this.”
“Why?”
“To destroy it.”
“Because?” he pressed.
She gasped as black flames suddenly licked at her skin. They didn’t burn, but they made her burn.
“Tessa,” Theon barked.
“If I destroy the mirror gates, they can’t come here,” she said, distracted by the way Luka’s fire was teasing her.
“The Fates?”
“The Fates. Achaz. Any of them,” she replied, lifting a hand to watch tendrils of black flames dance along her palm.
“Achaz can’t come here,” Theon said.
“What?” she murmured, that magic toying with the bands of light around her wrists.
“Achaz can’t come here,” Theon said again. “Unless you know something we don’t?”
That had her eyes dragging back to his at the realization of what they were doing. That fascination turned to anger.
“Just ask me,” she snapped. “You don’t have to distract me.”
“Apparently we do,” Luka said, and she gritted her teeth when his magic suddenly tightened its hold, pulling her hands behind her back. “We tried asking you, temptress. Multiple times we asked you about that vision that trapped you.”
“It had nothing to do with that vision,” she retorted, yanking on the bindings at her wrists.
Theon clicked his tongue. “I know you’re an excellent liar, beautiful.”
She tugged at the magical hold again, but Luka’s power only tightened.
Then Theon added his too.
And she was somewhat weakened. They’d spent hours this morning in that training arena, and she’d let her power free to do what it pleased. She hadn’t had time to rest, let alone time to replenish her reserves. She was still powerful, but so were they. Together more so, but still—
“This was a set up,” she accused. “It had nothing to do with letting me siphon power.”
“Of course it did, Tessa,” Theon said, moving to stand in front of her and taking her chin between his thumb and forefinger.
“We always know what you need. You needed to breathe. Needed to experience joy, and gods, were you a vision. Your laugh competes for one of my favorite sounds in all the realms.”
“What’s the other? The sound of your own voice,” she snapped in irritation.
He smirked. “The sound of my name on your lips when you come.”
Her stomach dipped at those words, and she internally scolded herself. This was not the time for that. She was too angry.
“You made me expend my magic so the two of you could overpower me to get information from me,” she bit back.
“That’s the thing, baby girl,” Luka said, and she gasped again because when had he moved behind her?
But there he was. A bare chest pressed against her back, her bound hands far too close to something she’d been wanting for weeks.
His breath coasted over her ear as he said, “We shouldn’t have to coerce information out of you. Not anymore.”
“Unless you aren’t ours as much as we are yours?” Theon said, drawing her attention back to him.
“You know that’s not true,” she argued, her knees starting to go weak at having them both so close and so…
utterly dominant. She hated it, and she loved it.
The idea of submitting made her want to rage, but the idea of not having to think made her want to fall at their feet just for a little while.
After weeks of being forced to face emotions that had too much control over her—that made her hurt and grieve and rage—she wanted to feel good. Like earlier today.
“Then why did you go without us? Why not tell us? Why go to godsdamn Blackheart?” Theon demanded.
“I…”
“Speak, Tessa,” Theon snapped, and she glared up at him because it would still always be a battle.
But before she could snap back, Luka was at her ear again. “Don’t pretend to be upset right now,” he growled. “Don’t pretend you don’t want to give him control in this moment. He’s the one you need right now. Answer him, temptress.”
She swallowed thickly, his low voice and Theon’s penetrating gaze doing things to her. Things they’d refused her for weeks. Not to punish her, but to force her to learn to feel.
And now…
She stared up at Theon. “I was protecting you both. Because you are mine, and I am yours. You taught me that’s what you do for those you love.”
“We do protect those we love, but how are we supposed to protect you if you won’t let us in? Secrets tear us apart. You taught me that,” he countered darkly.
“I thought you’d try to stop me,” she whispered, emotion clogging her throat. “And I… Achaz can’t come here. That was the vision I had. There’s something here he wants. Getting rid of the mirror gates would keep him out. The Fates too.”
“Baby girl,” Luka purred into her ear, “there’s a balance here. You have to trust me to let you fly as much as you need to trust him to take control. We balance each other as much as we balance you. That’s why it works.”
“But not if you cut us out,” Theon snapped, and she could feel all the fury he’d been repressing since he found her in Falein Kingdom.
She nodded, then she gasped again when Theon’s fingers left her chin, instead wrapping around her throat and pulling her forward. His mouth hovered over hers, and she tasted the words when he said, “Say it.”
“I’m yours. Both of yours. Every piece of me,” she rasped.
His eyes fell closed at the words, some of the tension melting away.
He still hovered over her mouth as if he was breathing her into his soul.
It was with a start she realized she’d made them doubt her.
She hadn’t meant to, had only been trying to protect them, along with the realm, but she’d made them doubt her loyalty.
Again.
Shame and guilt slithered up her spine, and she tried to pull away. But Luka was still at her back, holding her in place.
“Do you trust us?” Luka asked, pressing into her more as one of his hands snaked around her torso, cupping a breast.
“Yes,” she breathed.
“Do you? Because if you did, you wouldn’t have left us behind, Tessa,” he retorted, the soft caressing of her breast morphing into a harsh pinch of her nipple.
But the cry of surprise that fell from her lips instantly became a moan of pleasure as dark power skittered along her bare legs.
Her power rose to meet it, greedy and wanting.
A reflection of her own emotions, and she finally understood what they’d been trying to tell her all along.
Why even when she’d learned to wield her power, she still couldn’t always control it.
Some of that was because it was pure Chaos, but a greater part was because she allowed herself to be the same.
Luka’s other hand trailed up to her shoulder, gathering her hair and pulling it over her shoulder. His cheek nestled against her temple, his stubble chafing her skin.
“She says she trusts us, Theon,” Luka said, a slight mocking in his tone that made her tense in irritation.
“She says she’s ours,” Theon replied darkly, head tilting as the furious emerald depths held hers. For the first time in a long time, she felt like the prey.
“Can we believe her?” Luka continued to mock, and her annoyance crept nearer to anger.
“I don’t know,” Theon said. “She’s an excellent liar.”
“That she is,” Luka agreed, callused fingers dragging slowly between the valley of her breasts, down her stomach, lower and lower.
She was battling herself now. Her anger with her need, her hips tilting forward, trying to catch his fingers. But she was so crushed between them, the movement made her grind into Theon’s thigh, and oh.
Luka chuckled darkly, and she realized that sound had escaped her mouth.
Dammit.
“So needy,” he mocked again.
“Says the two insecure males seeking validation,” she snarked back.
They both went too still, and she tensed, both satisfied with herself for pushing them the way they were pushing her, and also wondering what they were going to do about it.
“We’re not the ones with something to prove here, little storm,” Theon finally said, straightening and once more towering over her.
His hand slipped from her throat, and she swallowed the whimper that tried to escape at the distance it put between them. The dark curl of his lips told her he knew though. They both knew everything that was going on in her soul.
“You trust us. We’re yours?” Theon asked curtly.
She nodded.
“Words, Tessa,” he snapped.