Dawn of Chaos and Fury by Melissa K. Roehrich - 14

11

T he doors hadn’t even finished closing behind Axel and Kat before Giselle said, “Our bargain still stands, Theon. Bold of you to come here for something more when you haven’t even fulfilled your other obligation.”

“As already discussed, it turns out I didn’t need your bargain anyway,” he replied. If there was any other piece of furniture in this room, he would have sat down, but they kept it sparse on purpose, forcing their visitors to stand before them while they lounged in their wanna-be thrones.

“Yet a bargain Mark remains,” she said, relaxing in her seat and crossing a leg over the other.

“It does,” he agreed, sliding his hands back into his pockets. “And I will honor it. I will continue to look for this missing Shifter and report any of my findings, even though I no longer require the information bargained for to find my brother.”

“I know there is nothing benevolent about a Legacy,” Giselle drawled, tilting her head as she watched him. “So what shall be the cost?”

She wasn’t wrong, and he had come here with a purpose.

“I still require the location of my father’s holdings in your District,” he answered.

Kylian scoffed. “Then the bargain stands.”

“It does not,” he answered. “The bargain was worded specifically that information would be provided to find my brother. The fact that I need the same information does not affect the terms of the bargain in the least.”

“We have the leverage here, Theon. Not you,” the Alpha said with a cold sneer. “You are not in a position to be setting terms.”

“That’s where you’re wrong,” Theon said, finally letting his power out. He’d been holding that darkness in, keeping it locked down while his brother did his own bargaining. “I did not come here on my brother’s behalf. Your dealings with him are separate from your dealings with me. Although his wife spoke truth, I will be the Lord you will eventually deal with. But you were also correct,” he continued, moving a few steps closer. “The timing of that inevitability is unclear. It could be tomorrow. It could be several decades. Unfortunately, the Seers of the realm seem to be in disagreement about that.”

“I am failing to see how any of that is leverage,” Kylian said, the temple of the shaved side of his head resting on his fist.

“That is not my leverage.”

Kylian’s brow arched in a silent command to continue.

Theon only smiled back— cold, dark, and wicked. “My leverage is being the most powerful in this room.”

Before either of them could move, let alone shift, his power had them wrapped up tight and secured to the chairs they both loved so much. Giselle gasped when his power squeezed tighter, winding up her throat and pressing on her windpipe. They may be stuck in their human forms, but his shadow wings were flared wide behind him. Kylian’s eyes had shifted to feline pupils, and Theon held his stare knowing his own eyes were wholly black.

He ignored Giselle’s outraged whimpers, but they all knew what was happening here. Theon knew how the Shifters worked. Anyone could challenge the Alpha and Beta for their positions. The beings were wild and untamed after all, and they followed many of the ways of their animal kin. The strongest one held the title. Theon was just making sure they remembered who that person truly was in a way they would understand.

Kylian lowered his eyes, then his chin in submission, but Theon still didn’t release him or his mate. Not until he had what he came for.

“Tell me where the house is, Kylian,” Theon said, the calm order promising pain if denied.

“I can’t,” the Alpha answered tightly. “But release Giselle, and I will tell you what I can.”

Theon laughed. “You think I will release her only to find a snake at my throat? I think not. Tell me what you can, or she will find the little bit of air I am allowing her suddenly unavailable.”

“We don’t know where the holdings are,” Kylian spat. “We have an idea, but⁠—”

“If you don’t know where it is, how were you planning on fulfilling your end of the bargain?” Theon interrupted.

“As you just reminded us, our side of that bargain involved us giving you information to find your brother. It did not specify the exact location be disclosed.”

“You fuckers,” he snarled.

“You were so distracted with Blackheart and your absent Source, you let yourself be taken advantage of. That is no fault of ours,” Kylian growled back. “It is the way of Devram, Arius Heir. Even those of us in the Underground know that.”

Theon yanked on his power, pulling Kylian from his seat and forcing him to stand where Axel had just stood. Then he casually walked around him and climbed the steps to the makeshift dais, sitting in his chair and staring down at the Alpha. “New plan, Kylian,” he said, resting his temple on his fist and mirroring the male’s earlier pose. “Tell me some information worthy of saving the Beta’s life, and make it fast. I don’t have time to waste on games and tricks.”

“Your Source is still here,” the Alpha said tightly, and that was the very last thing he’d expected the male to say. Kylian must have mistaken his shocked silence as misunderstanding though, because he added, “One of my guards reported hearing you and Axel discuss the female leaving the realm on your way here. You believe she is gone; she is not.”

“I told you not to lie to me,” Theon said, Giselle’s high-pitched whimper the only indication of his growing irritation.

“I’m not lying to you,” Kylian insisted, trying to lurch forward, but Theon’s power held him tight in its grasp. “There have been inquiries from the kingdoms. You know they all have their own spies here. She was seen at the destruction of the Pantheon by the rulers themselves. A handsome bounty is being offered for her whereabouts.”

Theon sat quietly, letting that information simmer and trying to decide if he believed it or not. The gods help him if it was true, and Luka hadn’t taken her from this realm.

But also, the gods help them if Tessa had truly brought the Pantheon to ruin.

“And my father’s holdings?” Theon asked, deciding to debate the merits of the prior information when he wasn’t in the middle of negotiations.

“I cannot tell you where they are,” the Alpha said again. “We are paid coin, but it’s never directly from him. And we have our suspicions about the area, but nothing we’ve ever been able to substantiate. We suspect wards.”

“And the suspected area?”

“The northwest part of the District. Near the border.”

Of course it would be near the border of the Charter District. His father would never stray too far from his own safe territories.

Pushing to his feet, Theon released both the Alpha and the Beta. Kylian lunged for Giselle as she leapt for Theon, rage emanating off the female in a palpable wave. But Kylian pulled her back into his chest, murmuring low in her ear while Theon paid them no mind, only buttoning his suit jacket before straightening his shirt cuffs.

“This did nothing to help your brother,” Giselle spat.

“Our dealings have nothing to do with my brother,” Theon said. “He has asked me to stay out of his…confrontations in the Underground.”

“Then why are you here with him?”

“I thought he made that clear. I had my own purposes for meeting with you,” Theon answered, striding for the door. But he stopped beside them, looking them each in the eye as he added, “But should he summon me for aid, I will answer. Consider whose side you wish to be on should that happen when you deliver your decision of allegiance to him.”

His footfalls echoed in the room as he continued making his way to the exit.

“We will remember this encounter, St. Orcas,” Kylian called after him.

“Please do,” he answered, not even bothering to turn back to them. “It will serve you well in the future.”

“Tell me again how attacking the godsdamn Shifter leaders isn’t going to affect their decision,” Axel said, descending the stairs back into the living room.

Theon was waiting for him, holding out the glass of whiskey he’d poured while taking a sip of his own.

“We already discussed this extensively over dinner,” he answered, Axel snatching the glass from his hand and downing half of it in one gulp. “Where’s Kat?”

“Asleep,” Axel answered, dropping unceremoniously onto a sofa. “She’ll never admit it, but this was a lot for her today.”

He’d changed while he’d been upstairs, now in sweatpants and a Chaosphere tee, while Theon was still in his suit pants and shirt. Granted, he’d lost the tie, and his shirt was unbuttoned.

Theon took a seat on the other end of the sofa, crossing an ankle over his knee and resting his drink on the sofa arm. “How has she been feeling?”

His brother swiped a hand down his face. “She’s…strong. Her moods can be unpredictable, but she’s fucking strong, Theon. She did the first half of this alone, and I don’t have experience, but even I know that Fae and Legacy pregnancies are brutal.”

“It’ll get worse,” Theon added. “As the babe and his power grow. She needs to rest.”

“Yeah, well, tell her that,” Axel grumbled, glancing over at him. “What?”

He’d caught Theon with a small smile on his lips, watching him. “It’s odd to think about, isn’t it? You, the younger heir, married with a child on the way. More than that, you’re married to someone you love and truly care for. Not a Match forced upon you for the sake of continuing our bloodline and maximizing power. But something pure and… I’m happy for you, Axel.”

“This isn’t exactly what I pictured though, you know?” Axel said, his gaze fixed on his drink as he toyed with the glass. “No powers. A vampyre. Hiding in the Underground, trying to keep my wife and unborn son from a power-hungry centuries old Night Child.”

“Same game, different location and different players,” Theon said grimly.

“Yeah, I suppose you’d know all about it with Tessa. Minus the child part.”

They both fell silent, several seconds ticking by before Theon said, “Kylian said there are rumors she’s still here. In Devram. That she never left.”

“Wouldn’t you be able to feel her down your bond?” Axel asked, bringing his drink to his lips once more.

“It’s too broken,” Theon answered, knocking back the rest of his own liquor. “The three of us… We’re too damaged by what this world has turned us into. Products of a realm run by the same power-hungry villains. Pawns in the centuries’ old games of the gods.”

“Would you have been able to handle it in the end?” Axel asked. “Sharing the bond with Luka? Inevitably sharing her with Luka?”

“I handed a world over for destruction for her,” Theon said, watching the ice slowly melt in his glass. “In the end, it has nothing to do with what I want, but what she needs. But even that… I think in the end, it wouldn’t be the same without Luka. The three of us…”

“Balance each other out,” Axel finished for him. “Take one away, and the whole thing implodes.”

“Yeah,” Theon murmured, thinking over those words.

Take one away, and the whole thing implodes.

“At least the co-dependency between you and Luka serves a purpose now,” Axel added.

Theon’s head snapped up, finding a smirk on his brother’s face.

“Dick,” Theon muttered, flicking his glass in Axel’s direction and letting the ice cubes fly towards him.

Axel batted them away with a laugh, and it was strange to hear it. It’d been far too long since they’d just sat and talked. If Luka were here, it’d be just like old times, plotting and scheming into the late hours of the night.

Several minutes had passed, a comfortable silence settling over them, when Axel broke it, saying, “So about this property you felt the need to torture our potential allies over…”

Theon sighed, knowing this conversation needed to happen. He wanted to wait until after they’d met with the Shifters so Axel could be wholly focused on his task while they were there.

Getting to his feet, Theon set his glass on the side table and retrieved the liquor bottle. He didn’t bother refilling their empty tumblers, instead opting to take a pull straight from the bottle before passing it to Axel.

“This doesn’t bode well,” his brother muttered before taking a drink of his own.

“Cressida showed up at Arius House before I came here,” Theon said, reclaiming his seat.

“Ah,” Axel said, tipping the bottle up again before handing it back to Theon. “And you’re going to tell me you killed her for her treason and her part in trying to kill Tessa.”

“I wish that was what I was telling you,” he replied grimly, taking another drink before resting the bottle on his knee. “She made a compelling argument as to why I couldn’t kill her.”

Axel slowly turned to look at him. “Which was?”

“That killing her would kill my mother,” he said bluntly, not knowing any other way to say it. “My true mother.”

Axel blinked once. Twice. His mouth opened and shut a few times before he finally said, “And you believed her?”

“Again, she made a very convincing argument,” Theon replied before proceeding to fill him in on the conversation, what Cressida claimed, and where he suspected the female was if it was true.

“You’re telling me I was being held somewhere with your mother when I was lost to blood lust?” Axel said, both hands going through his hair. “You’re telling me we’re not actually brothers?”

“No,” Theon said firmly. “We are brothers. Even if we only share a father, we are brothers. The same way Luka is our brother.”

“Yeah, but…” Axel pushed to his feet, starting to pace and stretching his neck from side to side.

Without a word, Theon got up and went to the kitchen, returning with a small glass of blood. The relief on Axel’s face was tangible as he took it, and Theon had to give him credit for not drinking the whole thing at once.

Theon gripped his shoulder, squeezing it tight and keeping him in place. “You are my brother, Axel. This changes nothing, but I do need you to know that when I am able, I will kill Cressida.”

Holding his stare, Axel swallowed thickly and nodded. “I understand, Theon. She’s a threat and a liability. To everything and everyone.”

“You won’t hate me for it?”

“We all know she wasn’t motherly,” he answered, some of the tension leaving him as he absorbed the initial shock of the information. “Sure, she favored me, and now we know why, but she wasn’t… I’ll feel something . I don’t know what it is yet, to be honest, but I won’t hate you for it.”

Theon nodded, squeezing his shoulder once more before returning to the sofa and picking up the bottle of whiskey.

“So did they tell you then? Where this house is?” Axel asked, nursing his glass of blood.

“Kylian said they don’t know. There are wards or some shit,” he answered with a sigh. “They have suspicions I can look into, but there might be something more pressing.”

Axel arched a brow in question, and Theon was almost more anxious to circle back to the topic of Tessa than he’d been to discuss Cressida, considering how he’d reacted to news of Tessa when he first got here.

“I need to look into this claim of Tessa still being here. That she never left Devram,” he said.

“Rumors are rampant in the Underground, Theon. Doesn’t make them true. You know that.”

“I do, but again, when there is a compelling argument⁠—”

“You overthink and don’t sleep and become unnecessarily obsessed? Especially when it involves Tessa?”

“Fuck off, Axel.”

He shrugged, gesturing to the liquor bottle. “Maybe instead of thinking tonight, you should drink the rest of that, and just…not think. For once in your godsdamn life.”

If only it worked like that.

“But I know you’re not going to do that,” Axel sighed. “So what’s the plan here, Theon?”

“I need to leave the Underground for a bit. Find out if it’s true. I’ll get you more rations while I’m gone too,” he added.

Axel nodded but remained silent.

Theon hesitated before saying, “I know you’re going to, but know that you don’t have to stay here, Axel. We can find someplace for you and Kat to stay that isn’t…here.”

Axel huffed a derisive sound. “As it stands, if I leave here, I’ll be in hiding. Me, as a Night Child. Kat, as soon as it’s realized whose child she’s carrying. At least here, we don’t have to hide. And I know you don’t know the people of the Underground well, but the vast majority of them don’t deserve to be shunned away from the rest of the world simply because they exist. Yes, there are the truly wicked who deserve to be locked up, but you know where most of those people are? In the kingdoms. Sitting on advisory boards and on the seats of power themselves.”

Theon tapped his fingers on the sofa arm, staring up at his brother, into emerald eyes that mirrored his own. Silent seconds ticked by, turning into minutes.

Axel was just finishing the last of his blood when Theon said, “So we topple the whole godsdamn thing.”

His brother choked on the blood, coughing for several seconds before he could get out, “I’m sorry, but it sounded like you just said you wanted to upend the entirety of Devram.”

“You just said the people who deserve to be locked up are running everything. For the most part, the people of the Underground are innocent. Many of them were born here. Generations of families who have known nothing else. And out there? It’s the same.”

“Says the male who just put on a power display to get what he wants from the Shifters,” Axel said flatly.

“To get necessary information.”

“For personal gain.”

“Fair point,” Theon muttered. “But if what Cressida said is true, we do need to find her, Axel. Why was Valter hiding it? He does nothing without purpose. There is an entire half of my lineage I know nothing about.”

“If you find Tessa, you can ask her how that feels.”

“Gods, you’re snarkier since becoming a vampyre,” Theon muttered.

Axel flipped him off, setting the drained blood glass next to the empty whiskey tumbler. “I’ll follow you on this, Theon,” he said. “But I have conditions.”

It was Theon’s turn to arch a brow. Axel had never been so…dominant. He could command a room, sure, but always in answer to an order he’d been given. This was different. This was a male who had found something worth fighting for. This was a male who found himself with something to lose. This was a male who was going to command a room not because of his last name or the power that had once run in his veins, but because he was going to be worthy of the loyalty of the people who followed him.

“Name them,” Theon said.

“You keep us in the fucking loop. None of this waiting to fill us in until you have every minute detail figured out. You tell us information as you learn it,” Axel said, crossing his arms and staring down at him.

“I can agree to that.”

“You can’t upend an entire system on your own. You have to include us, and you can’t be an arrogant asshole about it.”

“Anything else?” Theon gritted out.

“When hard decisions need to be made, we make them together and for the betterment of all the people we’re fighting for, not just one. Not just me or Luka or Tessa. We don’t sacrifice entire populations for one person, Theon,” Axel said pointedly.

“You wouldn’t do the same for Kat and your unborn child?”

A muscle feathered in Axel’s jaw. “You’re right. I would,” he finally conceded. “But that doesn’t make it right. We can’t deem entire people as less valuable simply because we don’t know them as intimately. We protect those we believe to be our responsibility, and if we do this, Theon? They are all our responsibility.”

Silence fell again, and after a few minutes ticked by, Axel rapped his knuckles once on the end table before heading to the stairs, presumably to join his wife in bed.

“Think on it, Theon. Tell me before you leave in the morning,” Axel said.

“Who said I’m leaving in the morning?”

“It’s Tessa,” he answered. “I’m surprised you’re not already gone.”

He waited until his brother was halfway up the stairs before he called out, “Axel?”

He paused, looking back. “Yeah?”

“Purpose looks good on you.”

The smallest of smiles tipped on the corner of his mouth. “Get some sleep, Theon. Apparently, we’re going to start a godsdamn revolution.”