2. Tessa
2
TESSA
T essa dragged her fingers along the railing. She was in the loft overlooking the Tribunal Hearing room. The last time she’d been here, she’d been down there. The Achaz Lord had told Theon that she was no longer his. She had been given her freedom. Taken away from the Arius Heir who had forced her to her knees and taken and taken and taken from her.
And yet here she was, staring at the Arius seat below, wondering if he was going to be the one to take it when the Lords and Ladies of Devram entered.
The other Heirs and Sources were milling about below. None of them had noticed her. Or rather, none of them were acknowledging her. Except Gatlan. The Fae was the Source of the Anala Heir. He glanced up at her and winked with a nod of his head.
“You didn’t have to attend this today, Tessie.”
She went rigid at Dex’s voice, having forgotten he’d come up here with her.
“Why would I stay behind?” she asked, gaze still fixed on the others below.
“There is no need for you to be here. It is politics and pointless arguing.”
“You think I will not understand?”
After a pause, his tone was carefully neutral when he said, “That is not what I meant.”
She only hummed a response.
“I only mean I cannot stay up here with you,” he added.
“Then don’t,” she answered, finally turning to face him. “I am perfectly capable of being alone.”
Dex’s lips thinned, clearly unhappy with how the conversation was going. His dark eyes swept over her as he debated what to say.
Finally, he said, “Just stay up here, all right?” She felt the corner of her lips tilt up, and that obviously only made him more worried as his mouth turned down in a frown. “Are you…”
“All right?” Tessa supplied. “Does it matter?”
She didn’t wait for an answer, turning back to look down at the Tribunal room. She heard Dex leave, his footfalls slowly fading as he descended the stairs. Her fingers curled around the railing once more, and her gaze fell to the bands of light around her wrists. It never wavered. She never felt like her power was running out, and Rordan never once mentioned putting the bands on that would suppress her magic. It was the opposite actually. He constantly encouraged her to use it, siphon it off, learn about it. He’d arranged for her to train daily with her magic, and she did so with the same instructor from her week in Faven when she’d been separated from Theon. The problem was, she was more powerful than the instructor, and it was becoming increasingly difficult not to harm her while training. More than once, a Healer had needed to be summoned.
The sound of a door opening below drew her attention, and she watched as the Falein and Anala Ladies emerged first. Lady Aithne’s golden eyes flicked up to her, a brow arching before she returned her attention to the Falein Lady, nodding at whatever she was saying. Next to emerge were the Celeste and Serafina Ladies. Lady Isleen didn’t bother to acknowledge her, but Lady Candra, the Celeste Lady, immediately looked up at her. Tessa had wondered if her presence would be made known beforehand, and clearly Rordan had informed them all.
Lady Candra’s eyes narrowed, her lip curling into a sneer, and Tessa held her stare the entire time as she leaned on the railing, resting her chin in her hand. The light around her wrists flared brighter, and she knew there was lightning flickering in her eyes. The sneer fell from Lady Candra’s lip, something akin to nervousness replacing it.
And Tessa smiled.
She liked that.
She liked that they feared her. Liked that they didn’t know what to expect from her.
Liked that they knew they couldn’t control her.
She was in control now, and everyone below her knew it.
Lady Candra broke the stare first, her eyes dropping, and Tessa slid her attention to the door where Lord Jove was entering the room. His Source, Dysani, was a step behind him. The female’s hands were clasped in front of her, gaze fixed on her Master.
Rordan glanced up at Tessa, a warm smile filling his face as he dipped his chin in greeting before settling into his chair on the raised dais. Six chairs looked out over the rest of the room; all of them were now occupied but one.
Tessa straightened as the bond stirred. It shouldn’t be doing that. But more than that, this wasn’t the stirring of him being near. She’d been learning to differentiate between the two during her last days with them. The bond with Theon was insistent and demanding, but this was different. This was coaxing and left her wanting. This was?—
“My apologies for my late arrival,” came a male voice that had her stumbling back a step.
What was he doing here? He wasn’t supposed to be here. This was not how today was supposed to go.
“Luka Mors,” Rordan said from his seat. “To what do we owe the pleasure?”
Tessa watched as Luka paused for only a moment to bow to the Lords and Ladies before he stepped onto the dais without invitation. He lowered into the Arius seat as if he had every right to be there. His legs were sprawled, and he leaned back in the chair as though he would rather be anywhere else. No one said a word, and Tessa couldn’t take her eyes off him.
His brown hair was pulled back, tied in a knot on top of his head, and he was in a three-piece suit, all of it black. It fit him like it’d been custom tailored to fit his muscular frame, and it likely had been. And she knew he hated wearing the thing. She’d only seen him in a suit a handful of other times. He usually opted for suit pants and button-down shirts, just formal enough to keep Valter off his back. But Valter wasn’t an issue anymore, and yet here he was, looking like a Lord himself.
A Sargon Lord, she realized, if such a thing were allowed to exist.
It wasn’t until Rordan spoke again that Tessa realized she was clutching the railing so tightly her knuckles were white, and her magic was flaring once more. But Luka never looked at her. For all he appeared to care, she may as well not exist in this room at all.
“I would suggest you explain your actions, Mors,” Rordan said, sitting straighter in his chair. A faint flare of power flickered at his fingertips.
“Theon was unable to attend on such short notice,” Luka said. “As I am sure you are aware, Valter is currently unavailable.”
“Everyone is aware that Lord St. Orcas is handling some pressing matters in the Underground,” Rordan answered.
“Which is why we expected an Arius Heir to be here,” the Serafina Lady cut in with a questioning look to Luka.
She knew Rordan had fed the ruling Ladies some lie about Valter. That was not what surprised her about this whole exchange, and she now had the same question as Lady Isleen. She had been prepared to see Axel. All morning she had been preparing herself to see him. Theon couldn’t come here. Not with the bargain they’d made. If he intentionally entered the same space she was in, it would break that deal, and he would incur a curse of some kind. Axel was supposed to be here, not Luka.
“Unless Axel St. Orcas is no longer the next in line?” Lady Isleen continued.
“What are you implying?” Luka asked, his eyes narrowing on the Serafina Lady.
“Theon does have a Match contract,” the Falein Lady mused as if this made perfect sense. “It would stand to reason he could have an heir of his own at this point.”
The entire room went still as thunder rumbled, and Tessa felt the floor beneath her shudder with the sound.
That was when Luka finally deigned to look at her.
Sapphire eyes connected with hers, and her heart was beating too wildly. She shouldn’t care. She’d walked away from him. She’d finally won. Finally taken her freedom, leaving nothing but blood and desolation in her wake.
Because that was what monsters did.
It was the only way to survive in a realm full of villains.
Luka’s attention had already returned to the room as he said, “There is not another heir that I am aware of. Axel is also unavailable. Therefore, as Theon’s advisor and second, for all intents and purposes, I was sent to report back whatever is discussed.”
“This is absurd,” the Celeste Lady scoffed. “You are not of the Arius bloodline. You cannot sit in that seat.”
“Then who do you propose should be in this seat?” Luka countered.
“The next most powerful Arius Legacy,” she retorted.
“Are you saying the most powerful Legacy of a bloodline should have a kingdom seat?”
“That is how things have always been done,” Lady Candra snapped. “You know this.”
“Then why is she up there?”
Everyone turned to look up at her now. Heirs shifted uncomfortably in their seats. The Sources tensed, elements stirring around them as they prepared to protect their bonded.
“ She should not even be here,” the Serafina Lady finally said, breaking the silence that had descended.
“You believe she should be in my seat?” Lord Jove asked, his power slithering out from him.
While Tessa’s power wound around her like a lover, the Lord’s power seeped out like Theon’s darkness did. It slowly made its way in Luka’s direction, and Tessa tensed. Her own power pressed at her, and she couldn’t tell if it was seeking out its own likeness or if it was seeking to protect.
Luka, however, didn’t seem fazed. He never did, and it drove her mad. The gods themselves could come back to Devram, and Luka Mors would act as if he didn’t have two fucks to give.
“Is she not more powerful than you?” Luka asked.
“No,” Lord Jove answered immediately.
Luka only shrugged.
A godsdamn shrug to the Achaz Lord, the unofficial ruler of the realm.
“I assure you she is not,” Rordan added, his power still growing.
“You are certain?” the Anala Lady asked, her red-gold hair glimmering in the light of Rordan’s power.
“Of course,” he answered.
“Then you have ascertained her entire lineage?” Lady Aithne pressed.
“She is clearly an Achaz Legacy,” the Celeste Lady snapped.
“Is she?” the Falein Lady asked. “The powers we have witnessed suggest she is more than that, and we have been told repeatedly that Rordan does not know her full lineage. Has that changed?”
“I have told you I am making progress on that front,” the Lord retorted, his power pausing in its path to Luka and now veering towards Lady Farhan.
“And yet you have not shared any new information since convincing us she should be separated from the Arius Heir,” the Anala Lady cut in. “Is that not why we are here, Rordan? The Arius Heir was making more progress than you are.”
“No one has given me a chance to speak. We have only just taken our seats,” Lord Jove bit out.
“Then speak,” Lady Aithne said, her voice too calm with the flames that flickered in her golden eyes.
They seemed to have forgotten Luka and why he was here instead of Axel, but Tessa hadn’t. Now she was more annoyed than ever that he was here because he had put the focus directly on her. It likely would have found its way to her eventually. The purpose of this meeting, from what she understood, was to discuss her remaining in the Achaz Kingdom. But Luka had wasted no time in reminding everyone she was not what she was supposed to be.
Too wild.
Too impulsive.
Too much of a hassle.
Uncontrollable.
Tessa pushed off the railing, Mother Cordelia’s words finding her even here. She’d heard no word of the Estate Mother since the female had tried to turn her over to the Augury. She was never mentioned in the conversations she was a part of or overheard. It was as if she had just…disappeared.
“How can you be sure it is her mother’s line that is Achaz blood? Do you know the identity of her mother?”
The Falein Lady’s voice carried up to her, and Tessa stilled, only just now realizing she was pacing. Her bare feet were quiet on the marble floor, her shoes discarded on a nearby chair. The gown she wore was a gold velvet, the winter months having finally come in full force, leaving snow on the ground that stuck. But the fitted bodice and long sleeves of the dress were making her hot up here on the balcony. She hadn’t even wanted to wear this thing today. It was impractical. Leggings and a sweater sounded divine, but Oralia had claimed this would be the wiser option if she insisted on attending this hearing. The female had made it as clear as Dex had what her opinions were on Tessa being here today. For some reason known only to the gods that hated this realm, Oralia had been appointed to serve her.
A Fae was serving her .
The mere idea made her want to vomit, but Oralia insisted it was the best assignment she could have been given.
Tessa begged to differ.
She should be paying attention to what was being said, absorbing every word. It was all she’d been doing for months. That was how she’d been able to turn the tables on Theon. She already knew everything that was being said anyway.
Lord Jove had been the one to tell her of her mother’s bloodline. That her mother was a descendant of Achaz, but he didn’t know how far down the line. Closer than he was, that much was certain. He claimed he was still more powerful than her. She didn’t think that was the case, but she hadn’t trained enough with her own power to know.
Yet.
The Lord may be full of confidence and poise in front of the other realm rulers, but she knew he was observing her more than anyone else.
He couldn’t summon the Hunters.
He didn’t have wolves that answered to him and him alone.
He wasn’t both beginnings and endings, light and dark.
And he didn’t know that her grandfather was Arius, the god of death and endings himself.
She wasn’t stupid. She’d kept that card close, and apparently so had Theon. Outside of those who had been in the room when Scarlett had shared that truth, she was sure no one else knew her paternal lineage.
Secrets were currency after all.
It was the reason Lord Jove shared just enough truth to show he was working with the others. The other rulers had to know he was withholding information. They had secrets of their own, and Tessa had collected so much currency as of late, she might very well be the wealthiest being in Devram.
Tired of the velvet rubbing against her skin with every step, she dropped into a chair. She could still hear everything being said. Arguments about where she should be housed, as if Lord Jove would let them remove her from the Achaz Kingdom where she belonged. But he entertained their arguments, and she tipped her head back, her eyes falling closed. She hadn’t had a good night’s rest in weeks. Not since the last night she’d slept between Theon and Luka.
And when she did sleep, her dreams were…not dreams at all.
That thought alone had her lurching to her feet. She could not fall asleep here. If she had a vision, she never knew what her mental state would be when she woke. She felt more chaotic away from them, and that was saying something considering she’d been told she was chaos her entire existence.
Slipping her socks back on, she picked up the heeled, black ankle boots she’d worn so they wouldn’t click against the stairs as she made her way down. The entry of the Tribunal building was bustling with all the Lords and Ladies here, and she cursed under her breath when she spotted Dex and Oralia standing off to one side. Of course Dex was positioned to see her only exit. It was as if he suspected she would make an attempt to leave.
Scowling, she debated what to do for only a few seconds before climbing halfway back up the stairs and conjuring a portal. The gateway flared brightly, making her squint as she stepped through directly into an alleyway beside the building.
“Neat trick,” came a male voice that Tessa knew all too well, and she turned to find Brecken leaning against the wall.
The male was dressed like Dex was in black pants and a white button-down shirt. As he lifted a cigarette to his lips, the sleeve pulled up, revealing his markings— Celeste Estate, air element, and in service to the Achaz Kingdom.
“What are you doing out here?” she demanded, dropping her boots to the pavement and sliding her now damp feet into them. Great. As if socks weren’t bad enough, now they were wet socks.
“Smoking,” Brecken answered, taking a drag off the thing. “Your turn.”
“Sneaking away from Dex,” she retorted.
Brecken grinned. “Usually we’re sneaking with you, Tessie.”
She was about to say something in response when the scent of his smoke hit her. “Are you… Is that lull-leaf?”
He lifted a dark brow before he took another drag and extended the roll to her. “Is that you asking for a hit?”
Tessa glanced at it, worrying her bottom lip. It did sound nice. She knew it would ease her nerves, but…
She’d only smoked lull-leaf with Tristyn Blackheart.
And he’d only been using her.
And Auryon had betrayed her.
And Dex and Oralia were lying to her. She just hadn’t figured out what they were lying about yet. If she couldn’t trust them, she certainly couldn’t trust Brecken.
Seeming to take her non-answer as a rejection of his offer, Brecken shrugged, bringing the roll back to his lips. “Where are you off to then?”
“Need to report back to Dexter?” she sneered.
Brecken huffed a laugh, tipping his head back against the wall and closing his eyes. “Your whereabouts have always been his concern, not mine.”
“Obviously. You are rarely around,” she muttered, growing restless. She couldn’t simply stand around in a back alley.
“Katya, however…” Brecken went on, ignoring her comment.
“Kat is fine. She is safe and protected,” Tessa answered.
“With an Arius Legacy?” Brecken mused. He huffed another derisive laugh. “Doubtful.”
“Axel is—” But she cut herself off. She couldn’t defend an Arius Legacy. Not with her destiny laid out before her. Clearing her throat, she said, “Katya will be fine. I’ll see to it.”
Brecken only hummed, dropping the last of the lull-leaf that was left to the ground and squishing it beneath his shoe. “What am I to tell Dex then?”
“Tell him whatever you want,” she retorted, turning away. “Rordan does not limit my movements, so Dex is in no position to be doing so either.”
“So much freedom ,” he crooned, pushing off the wall.
“Fuck off, Brecken,” she snapped, feeling her power coiling as sparks of energy skittered along the ground at her feet.
He slipped his hands into his pockets, sauntering past her, but he stilled for a breath when he was beside her. “Be who you were meant to be, Tessalyn,” he said, his voice low. “ My freedom depends on it.”
Before she could ask what that meant, he was turning a corner, leaving her alone all over again.