Chapter 36 Luka
LUKA
The soft sound of her throat clearing drew his attention. His eyes connected with hers in the mirror he was facing while going through his morning training routine.
He’d known she was there. Even without that aspect of the bond, he could sense her.
Apparently it had something to do with the inevitable bond they now shared, cemented into place when he’d nearly died for her.
The only thing that seemed to differ from the bond she shared with Theon was that she could draw from him because of the true Source Mark incorporated with the fourth Source Mark of Devram.
But he wasn’t even entirely sure if that was true.
He’d seen Razik and Eliza combine their gifts when they’d freed Xan.
They said it was part of the twin flame bond, but a part of him wondered if it was more than that.
Something he’d need to ask his father, he supposed.
He finished the pull-ups he was doing in the training room of his cave, dropping to the floor. She was still near the door, as if unsure if she should enter.
“Those aren’t training clothes,” he noted, eyeing the full-length silk robe she had cinched at her waist.
She rolled her eyes, crossing her arms. “Obviously.”
“Where’s Theon?”
“Making phone calls. Preparing for tomorrow,” she said with a shrug, looking around the room.
“What’s wrong?”
“Nothing.”
“Then why won’t you look at me?” That had her eyes snapping back to his before she looked away again. “Tessa,” he said, the name a warning. “We just had a discussion yesterday about secrets.”
She huffed a soft laugh. “Is that what we’re calling it? A discussion?”
He smirked. “Sure. I think we should have another one today. I’ll coordinate with Theon and let you know when and where.”
She laughed again, a little louder, and his chest tightened at the sound. It was one they were hearing a little more with each passing day.
Taking a long drink from his water bottle, he made his way across the room, stopping in front of her.
The lightheartedness had faded. She was clearly nervous about something.
And despite everything that had been repaired these last weeks, he couldn’t help the suspicion that coursed through him.
Couldn’t help but wonder if whatever she was worried about would be as devastating as the secret of his father.
“What’s wrong, Tessa?” he said again, trying to keep that distrust out of his voice.
She shifted on her feet, tucking her hair behind her ear before crossing her arms once more. Toeing at something invisible on the floor, she said, “I need to ask you something.”
“Go on.”
“Are you…upset about the Mark? The one on your chest, I mean.”
He looked down at the Mark in the very center of his chest. His eyes going back to her, she glanced up when he didn’t say anything.
“Luka?” she asked, his name hesitant on her lips.
“Sorry, baby girl,” he finally said. “I’m just trying to figure out why I would be upset about you saving my life.”
“Because the choice was taken from you.”
“If I was dead, it wouldn’t matter, but I assure you, I would have chosen to live,” he replied flatly.
“That’s not what I mean,” she said in frustration, a hand reaching for her hair. But when his eyes narrowed at the movement, she stilled, dropping it back to her side. “I mean you didn’t get to choose the Mark. The fact that you have to— You can’t— We have to be careful now.”
Finally understanding where this was going, he set his water bottle aside before holding out his hand to her. Tentatively, she slipped her fingers into his palm, and he tugged her to him.
She tipped her head back to look up at him, something akin to guilt lingering in her eyes. “You didn’t get to choose this,” she whispered. “I know what it is to be forced into a bond you didn’t want. Didn’t get to choose.”
He said nothing, only leaned down to kiss her. She melted into him, letting him take control of her mouth as he slid his fingers into her hair. Parting to let his tongue in, she sighed softly when he tugged on her hair and tilted her head for a better angle.
When he pulled back, he pressed his brow to hers.
“I understand why this is hard for you, but I’m not upset, Tessa.
You saved my life. Kept me here with you and Theon.
If you’re worried I’m upset that we have to be careful how much distance there is between us, I think we established yesterday that you shouldn’t be going anywhere without us,” he said.
“If it means I must remain within a certain radius of you, I don’t consider it a hardship. ”
“It’s still a choice that was taken from you,” she insisted. “Another thing that I stole from you.”
“We’re not doing that, Tessa,” he said firmly. “We’ve dealt with what happened, and now we’re moving on.”
“You can’t tell me this is a forgive-and-forget situation,” she argued, her power sparking as her emotions heightened.
“You’re right. It’s not,” he agreed. “But I think all three of us have learned from our past mistakes with each other at this point.”
“I guess,” she murmured.
“Not I guess. Last night we all agreed no more lies and no more secrets. If that isn’t learning from our past mistakes, I don’t know what is. It’s that whole balance thing between us.”
She gave him a weak smile that told him she still didn’t quite believe him.
“Even though I didn’t make this choice myself, I wouldn’t change this. I would have chosen you. I do choose you. I was coming to tell you that day. To see if you still wanted me,” he said. “This Mark on my chest makes no difference to me. We may as well call it our Union Mark for all I care.”
“Okay,” she whispered.
“That’s not very convincing,” he replied dryly.
“You realize that if something happens to me, if I die, you die too, right?”
“Considering that would put a great deal of distance between us, I understand that just fine. You are immortal, baby girl, and if there comes a day when you do go to the After, I’ll follow you there,” he said.
“But we’re immortal too, and Theon will fight death to keep you at his side, so I think we’re pretty safe. ”
“Theon is death,” she muttered, worrying her bottom lip. “Do you know he looks exactly like Arius? They could be twins.”
“Don’t say that,” Luka said with a curl of his lip. “That would make the two of you far too related.”
She huffed another laugh. “We’ve established multiple times that he is so far removed from Arius that is very clearly not the case. It’s just…weird.”
Luka hummed a response as his hand fell to the small of her back, and he guided her from the training room.
“You aren’t going to finish your workout?” she asked in confusion.
He shrugged. “Cutting out early one day won’t hurt.”
“You never let me cut out early,” she grumbled under her breath.
He pinched her side, and she smacked his hand away with a small smirk.
The truth was he could still feel her uncertainty.
He might call her needy when they were fucking, but she was annoyingly self-sufficient.
And as of late, she didn’t crave anyone’s approval.
The fact that she was seeking his appealed to his nature of needing to care for her.
If she needed reassurance, he was fine with that. He’d take the time to make it happen.
“There you are,” Theon said when they appeared in the living room. “I was just coming to look for you. Are you all right, beautiful?”
“Yeah,” she said with a sigh, making her way to the coffeepot. She pulled her hair up, piling it atop her head as she moved, then paused when she realized she didn’t have a hair tie.
Luka was already moving, swiping up one from a tin on a nearby end table to hand it to her. His gaze connected with Theon’s, and he gave him a questioning look that Luka just subtly shook his to in response.
They were all getting used to having one another in their thoughts again, and if they spoke down the shared bond, Tessa would hear it.
She gave him another small smile in thanks for the hair tie, pressing her lips to his jaw, before turning to pour a mug of coffee. Crossing the kitchen, she paused next to Theon, pushing onto her toes to do the same, but he turned his head, capturing her mouth instead.
“I’m going to get ready for the day,” she said with another soft smile before making her way to the bedroom.
As soon as they heard the bathroom door click closed, Theon turned to Luka.
“What’s wrong? Is this about yesterday and what happened with the three of us?”
“No,” Luka said, going to get a fresh bottle of cold water. “It’s nothing like that. It’s a her and I thing, but it is something I need to address.”
“Okay,” Theon said, waiting for him to go on.
“I know we weren’t planning on taking her back there for a while, but we need to go to the Underground. We need to talk to Cienna.”
“Now?” Theon asked. “Can’t it wait until after we meet with the Ladies and Jove tomorrow?”
“No,” he said simply. “You won’t be the only one who shows up at that meeting with a wife.”
Theon’s lips tipped up in a genuine smile. “It’s about fucking time.”
“It’s dark down here,” Tessa grumbled. “And musty. And dark. Too dark.”
“We’re not staying,” Theon assured her. “It’s just for a few hours. It’s important, Tessa.”
“Right,” she sighed again, and Luka glanced over his shoulder to find her trailing along, her hand dragging on the wall. “We don’t like it.”
The passages were too narrow for the three of them to walk side by side, and Theon had slowed his steps to stay beside her as much as possible.
She looked up at him, eyes wide. “I like the dark, but I can’t always stay there.”
Theon reached over, smoothing a hand down her hair before dropping a kiss to the top of her head. “I know. It’s only for a few hours, and we’ll go back to Luka’s cave. We can sit on his balcony the rest of the day.”
“And after the meeting tomorrow?”
He hesitated, all of them having stopped now. Luka crossed his arms as they worked to convince her on this.