Dawn of Chaos and Fury by Melissa K. Roehrich - 4

1

T he chair was empty.

It was always empty when she woke. But she knew he sat in it while she slept. His scent lingered in the room, so strong and fresh he must have just left. She wondered if he could still feel her stirring down the bond despite how broken and fractured it was now. He would hate that. Hate that he was bound to her in any way. He valued loyalty above all else, and she’d betrayed that. Betrayed him.

But for the first time since Theon had left them in that chamber, she wished Luka was sitting in that chair when she blinked her eyes open. For the first time, she wished he was there, just to calm the turmoil in her soul.

Truth be told, she wasn’t sure how long they’d been here. Days for sure. Weeks? Possibly. They tried to talk to her, but she couldn’t hear them. Sounds were muffled. She was too lost to herself, her thoughts, her fury. Trying to make sense of something, anything. But she couldn’t get her thoughts in order, and even if she did, she had choices to make.

So many choices.

It was what she’d always wanted, and now there were so many, it felt crippling.

Sliding from the bed, Tessa made her way to the floor-to-ceiling windows, pressing her palms to the cool glass. Every room of this three-story penthouse had them. On the top floors of the towering building, she could see over the vast expanse of the Acropolis below. The Pantheon in the center, grand and regal on the hill it occupied in the center of the city. The Tribunal building a few blocks away. The shopping centers to the south, while the building she was in sat in the heart of the corporate district to the west.

And while she could see everything outside, she knew there were more spells and wards on the glass than there were floors in this building. No one could see in. She would expect nothing less from a male who changed his identity on a regular basis. Tristyn Blackheart had been here for centuries, and only in the last few months had he dropped all his glamours.

Had he felt guilt, living in this luxury while his sister had been banished and hiding in the Underground, being hunted by the Arius Lord? Had any part of him felt an ounce of regret? She doubted it. He had his own purposes and motives, and he didn’t seem to care who he used to obtain them. His sister could suffer. Injustice could reign. And her? He could keep any secrets and plans from her until it benefitted him the most. She’d thought he was different from the rest of this godsforsaken realm.

I can have motives and still care. It does not have to be one or the other.

Power flared at her fingertips. Bright light refracted back into the room, but there was more. Sparks of energy. Embers of black and white. Faint flecks of silver and gold.

She inhaled deeply, trying to calm her soul. Not that it worked. It never worked.

Tristyn’s words rattled around in her head.

It does not have to be one or the other.

But she had a purpose too. A purpose that could be fulfilled if she simply left this world. Let the Fates come and do what they do best.

Fuck over everyone and everything.

But that would mean⁠—

“We agreed you weren’t going to do that anymore,” came a growl that had her pausing.

She hadn’t realized she’d stepped back from the windows. Had started pacing. Had her hands in her hair, tugging at the strands.

Slowly, she turned, lifting her gaze to his as Luka tossed something onto a nearby table before striding across the room. Hands still in her hair, she backed up with every step until her back pressed to the window. She said nothing, unsure of what he was referring to. She didn’t recall agreeing to anything.

Reaching for her hands, he methodically untangled her hair from her fingers. There was no tenderness in his touch. No soft glance or reassuring look. Just…duty.

That was what she’d become to him. A duty given to him by his Ward.

Not that she could blame him.

And maybe it was better this way. It was easier to do what needed to be done when you were alone.

“So we’re going to continue with the silence, then?” Luka asked as he finished, taking a step back from her, his stare hard.

She slowly lowered her hands to her sides, fingers curling into the fabric of the shirt she wore. It wasn’t his. She actually had no idea where the clothing had come from or when she’d changed into it. She didn’t even remember coming here.

Folding his arms across his chest, he added, “You should shower and get dressed. Everyone is meeting in an hour to discuss our next moves.”

She watched his irritation grow when she only stared back, gritting her teeth as everything in her soul strained for him. Her power wanted his, and again she wondered if he could feel her struggle.

With each day that passed though, she was sure he couldn’t. Neither could Theon because she couldn’t feel them either. The silence down the bond was deafening, telling her just how broken it was. The quiet was so loud, it made her want to scream and rage. Leave and stay. Save and destroy.

At some point he had moved. She didn’t know when, but he’d stepped closer. She felt the barest of touches as his fingertips trailed down her arm, as if this was the last thing he wanted to be doing, but again, she was his duty. But that touch… Gods, that touch calmed everything just enough to give her some reprieve from the madness, and her eyes fluttered closed.

There was an audible sigh before he murmured, “What am I going to do with you, Tessa?”

Her eyes snapped open, and she lurched away from his touch.

What was he going to do with her?

The wild, untamed, chaotic thing that could never do as she was told or be what she was supposed to be.

What was he going to do with her?

The one who could never clean up her own messes and who always needed saving.

What was he going to do with her?

The Source that couldn’t submit, and the one expected to understand everything, yet be told nothing.

A dark bark of laughter fell from her lips, a sound tinged with the madness that had laid claim to her soul.

He should be asking what she was going to do with all of them ?

“Fuck,” Luka muttered. “That’s not⁠—”

But she was already walking away from him, striding for the bathroom. The cold tile of the bathroom floor helped her feel grounded as she spun and looked back into the bedroom. Luka hadn’t moved, but his eyes narrowed as she held his gaze.

Then she slammed the door shut.

Moving to the vanity, she found her reflection. Her violet eyes were glowing, and she didn’t know how to make them stop. She didn’t know if she wanted to anymore. For so long, she’d been told she needed to learn to control it. For so long, she’d feared it. For so long, she’d thought herself weak for failing to conquer it. But maybe…

She lifted a hand, light pooling as gold and silver flecks appeared and swirled among it all. Flickers of lightning. A storm in her palm.

Maybe in the end they’d all been wrong.

Her eyes still on her reflection, she smiled. For the first time in all her years, she let herself embrace what she was at her core. She would not change herself to suit others. Would not shove down her light or deny her longing for the dark. Would not cower and let others save her.

Pulling her shirt over her head, she slipped off the loose pants she was wearing, discarding it all in a pile on the floor. Then she stepped into the shower, turning the water on and letting the hot water wash over her.

What am I going to do with you?

Dex had said it.

Theon had said it.

Luka had said it.

They would do nothing with her. Not a godsdamn thing.

But her?

She was ready to fulfill her purpose her way.

“Nice to see you up and about, wild fury,” Tristyn said, his tone light and playful when she entered the large sitting room.

Tessa met his gaze, but she didn’t say anything. There was no tilt of her lips or arched brow, and she watched his small smile falter.

Luka had been waiting for her when she’d emerged from the bathroom, hair still dripping and skin bare. Neither of them had spoken. He’d only pointed to the bundle he’d tossed on the table, which turned out to be a pair of leggings, a sweater, and undergarments. No socks or shoes; not that she’d have worn them anyway. Then she’d followed him down a flight of stairs to where everyone else had gathered—Razik and Eliza, Cienna and Gia, Tristyn and Xan.

The eldest male’s soulful sapphire eyes watched her carefully, just as they’d always done from behind a pane of enchanted glass. He still had the white stone collar around his neck. Apparently no one had figured out how to remove it yet.

At the extended silence, Tristyn looked at Luka. “Has she said anything at all?”

“Not a word,” Luka clipped, brushing past her.

Tristyn visibly hesitated for a moment before he hedged, “And down the bond?”

“Nothing from either of them,” he answered. Broody and stoic. Identical to two of the other males in this room.

“There’s food, Tessa,” Tristyn said, returning his attention to her. The teasing note to his voice was gone, replaced with something softer. Kinder.

Cautious.

“But if there’s something else you’d like, I can make that happen,” he added.

She drifted over to the spread of food that had been laid out along a wall. Fruit and breads. Doughnuts and crackers. Various jams and cold meats and cheeses.

Tristyn appeared at her side, holding out a steaming cup of coffee, and she glanced up at him again. His voice was low and only for her when he said, “Come on, wild fury. It’s a peace offering.”

As if a cup of coffee could fix her. Fix this. Fix anything.

But she took it anyway, the hot cup warming her hand as she reached for a cracker and took a bite.

“Let her be,” Luka said from across the room, where he’d commandeered an armchair. An ankle propped on his knee, he steepled a finger along his temple. “She doesn’t need to be coddled. If she wants to act like a child and give everyone the cold shoulder, let her.”

He was probably expecting her to bristle. React in some shape or form. But she didn’t even bother glancing at him, instead setting her cup down and filling a small plate with a bit of food. If he wanted to go back to how they were before, she could do that. Him a broody prick, and her… Well, she wasn’t going back to how she was before, but if he wanted to pretend they’d never been anything, she could do that.

Swiping up the cup of coffee, she moved to stand near the windows, setting her dishes on a side table as she stared out, biting into a doughnut she’d picked up. The grey sky swirled with snow, a storm of flurries and ice that drifted to the ground. The snow should be lessening as they moved towards the spring equinox, but the weather had been cold and dreary.

She didn’t notice the weighted silence that had settled over the room until Tris lightly cleared his throat. “It’s been two weeks since we…”

“Stole her from the Pantheon cells?” Cienna supplied.

“I guess we can call it that,” Tristyn muttered.

“I don’t know what else you’d call it.”

“Freeing her?”

“Tempting fate?” Cienna countered.

“We’re tempting fate every day we stay here,” he retorted.

Cienna hummed in agreement. “And now it is time to step away and let them dictate their own steps, Tristyn. We’ve interfered enough here.”

Interfered?

It was an interesting choice of word since neither of them offered any guidance until their hands were forced, and even then their guidance was vague.

“That’s simple enough,” Luka interjected. “We need to leave. That decision has already been made.”

“And go where exactly?” Tristyn said. “Isn’t that what’s been holding us back? Well, besides…”

He trailed off, and Tessa watched in the glass reflection as he gestured in her direction.

“If she doesn’t want to speak and contribute to anything, then she can’t complain about not having a say and not having choices,” Luka said.

Still she said nothing, only taking another bite of her doughnut. As if she’d let anyone take her choices from her again.

“You are sure Scarlett won’t let us go to Halaya? Just until we figure everything out?” Luka finally said.

“We’ve discussed this several times already. My answer isn’t going to change,” Razik said, his tone sounding as irritated as his brother’s.

“And if we simply show up?” Luka asked. “An ‘ask forgiveness later’ type of thing?”

Tessa huffed a laugh to herself at his response, picking up her coffee and taking a sip. It tried to warm her bones where a permanent chill had seemed to settle. She didn’t know if it’d ever thaw again.

“That’s a terrible idea. You should always have a plan,” Razik replied.

“That is the plan,” Luka shot back.

“And if she denies forgiveness?”

“Stop it. Both of you,” Eliza cut in. “Perhaps the best course of action is to summon her in the mirror and ask her. Even if she says no, she’ll likely have an idea of where we could go.”

“Or,” Razik drawled. “The male who clearly prefers to travel the realms and doesn’t want to be tied down could give us some ideas.”

That was the comment that had Tessa peeking over her shoulder to see how Xan would react to his elder son’s clear vitriol. Luka looked like he was holding back a retort, and Razik was glaring at his father, refusing to be the first to break the stare. And Xan?

He sighed, crossing his arms. “I’ve tried multiple times to explain myself. You refuse to listen.”

“Because I don’t care. All I care about is getting back to my actual father. The one who raised me as his own. If that is the plan here, to leave, then let’s get the fuck on with it,” Razik retorted.

Tessa watched Xan debate what to say, and she found herself wondering if she’d let her own parents explain their actions. Or would she simply not care like Razik didn’t care? It wouldn’t change anything, and she didn’t owe them her forgiveness for choosing to abandon her in a realm where she’d been forgotten. She didn’t think that was how love worked.

And yet that was what everyone who claimed to love her seemed to do.

Leave her.

Abandon her.

All in the name of trying to protect her and keep her safe.

If she loved someone, she’d fight for them. Do whatever it took to stay with them, even if it meant every day was spent in danger. If she loved someone, they’d fucking know it because she’d destroy a world for them to keep them safe. Not fucking abandon them. Not walk away from them. Not leave them behind.

“Tessa.”

Her name was a sharp command that broke through her thoughts, her gaze sliding to Luka, who still sat in that godsdamn chair as if he didn’t have a care in the world.

His eyes dipped down her body as he said, “Control it.”

She looked down, her palms glowing with embers crackling at her fingertips. But instead of reining it in, she let it grow. Let it loosely wind around her legs, her waist. Let it call to the rest of the power in the room, and she watched as every single person who stood before her stiffened. Knew they were keeping their own straining magic from reaching for her. Knew her power was calling to theirs.

Knew it was affecting Luka the most.

And even when she felt a calmness brush against her, Tristyn or Cienna trying to use their Pax gifts to pacify her, she remained impassive. Turning back to the window, she picked up her coffee and stared at the Pantheon. The Tribunal building. The Acropolis. The center of a poisoned realm. Only then did she let her power wane except for the bands of light at her wrists.

“Has she expended any of that power since she was brought here?” Xan asked, everyone collectively releasing a breath of relief.

“Not that I’m aware of,” Luka answered.

“And you think that is a good idea?”

“I think she’s stubborn and is trying to prove a point, and per usual, it’s going to bite her in the ass,” Luka answered.

Tessa ignored him, setting her coffee aside and picking up an orange, starting to peel it.

“Can we get back to the topic at hand?” Razik cut it. “Because my answer remains the same. Scarlett will not allow that kind of power into Halaya, where we are still recovering from a war we nearly lost. Not when Tessa will continue to be hunted throughout the realms.”

“So then we are left with summoning Scarlett to the mirror?” Tristyn cut in. “Unless you do have other ideas, Xan?”

“I have ideas on where we could go, but we will still need the World Walker High Queen to allow passage,” he answered.

“Then it’s settled. We go to the Pantheon, summon Scarlett to the mirror, and go from there,” Tristyn said.

“When do we go?” Eliza asked.

“Honestly, we’re lucky Tessa hasn’t been tracked here yet. The enchantment that prevents her from Traveling is still active. She’s been too… We haven’t had time to work on removing it,” Tristyn finished.

“We’ve been sitting around doing nothing for days,” Razik cut in.

“We should go sooner rather than later. We’re all prepared anyway. We have been in case we needed to escape,” Tristyn said.

“Then we go tonight. Under the cover of darkness. It’s our best chance,” Luka said, and from the reflection in the window, Tessa watched him rise from the chair.

“Agreed,” Razik said.

“Cienna?” Tristyn asked, and Tessa tilted her head to the side.

She could see her in the window reflection too, her gaze catching Tessa’s and holding. Tessa popped an orange slice into her mouth, waiting for the witch’s reply.

“I think we cannot interfere here anymore,” she finally said.

And Tessa smiled.

Wise choice.

She turned on her heel, crossing the room without ever uttering a sound. She didn’t acknowledge any of them as she left and found her way back to the stairs. Taking another bite of her orange, she climbed to the room she’d been staying in.

They had made plans, but she had her own.

And now she could finalize them to fulfill her purpose.