Dawn of Chaos and Fury by Melissa K. Roehrich - 50

47

I t hadn’t been enough.

That was all he could think as they sat in the Penthouse in the Underground once again.

They were all covered in blood and grime, and he was slowly peeling back his darkness from Tessa’s scrapes and wounds, letting Cienna do her thing before her blood hit the ground. The last thing they needed was to deal with a fucking Hunter right now.

They’d lost. At least that battle. Even with Anala Kingdom sending aid, it hadn’t been enough. They’d needed more people on the ground. Tessa had been godsdamn amazing, her power lashing out and taking as she held that dome in place. But splitting her focus drained her faster. Eventually Luka’d had to abandon the sky because Theon was drawing too much from him, and in the end, they’d done exactly what he hadn’t wanted to do. They’d had to abandon Castle Pines and the people who hadn’t managed to get out.

He’d failed.

Again.

Everyone was quiet and somber, the defeat weighing on them all. Gia was here, making her rounds while Cienna tended to Tessa. Eliza was curled into Razik where he sat on the floor. Xan was nearby, talking low with one of the Anala warriors who’d returned with them. They’d taken over the entire building, giving quarters to all those they had been able to bring back with them.

They’d only needed one additional floor in the end.

Kat and Axel were here as well, having moved back to the Penthouse after imprisoning Bree. Kat was upstairs with Maddox while Axel sat in a chair opposite him. His elbows were braced on his knees, head hanging. He hadn’t been there, but he still felt the defeat in his soul.

Having finished with Tessa, Cienna moved on to Theon, despite his protest to go to Luka when the lift doors dinged. They all looked up, and a moment later, Dagian was stepping into the room. His face was as dirty and bloodied as the rest of them, only there were tear stains streaked through the grime. They’d fought beside each other today. Arius and Achaz. Theon had never thought he’d see the day.

Tessa sat up straighter, as though she was going to go to him, but Luka planted a hand on her thigh from her other side, keeping her in place. They were both too on edge right now to be anything other than overbearing.

“I’m sorry,” Tessa said softly. “I knew Sasha. She was… I’m sorry.”

Dagian gave a stiff nod, rolling his lips.

“Can I get you something?” Axel asked, pushing to his feet. “Something to eat? Drink? Blood now that you can’t…” He trailed off, shoving a hand through his hair.

“No,” Dagian said tightly. He turned to Theon, his eyes somehow hard and hollow at the same time. “I’m only here to find out when you’re taking my power, St. Orcas.”

Theon stared at him, somewhat at a loss. He flicked his gaze to Xan before coming back to Dagian. “We have all three rings now,” he said. “But we still need to find someone to do the transfer. Unless your mother is now an option?”

“She is not,” Dagian snapped. “I will not lose another person I love to his madness.”

“Won’t he kill her anyway?” Luka asked.

Dagian’s lip curled. “Not even he’s powerful enough to do that. But he will hurt her. Torture her. She’s endured enough. We all have.” Light sparked at his fingertips, making everyone tense, but he got it under control in the next breath. His gaze raked over them on the sofa, Tessa between the two of them. “It wasn’t like that with us,” he said, hollowness ringing in his tone. “My father tried, but… Sasha was like a younger sister to me. Nothing more. He forced us together from the day she was born, and I… She was my sister. I was her protector. I never touched her otherwise.”

They all stared at him, and shock rippled through Theon because how? That bond was demanding and relentless.

“But…she was so nervous on Selection day?” Tessa said tentatively.

“We both were. We’d known about the bond and what it did. Neither of us wanted each other like that,” Dagian answered.

“And it didn’t…try?” Theon asked, trying not to sound like a complete ass with his question.

Dagian shook his head. “There were a few times. Right after the Marks were given. But we had arrangements made. Others willing to satisfy those demands.”

“You let someone else touch her?” Theon asked, still trying to comprehend this.

“Someone she chose,” Dagian said. “It was always her choice, but enough of this. Figure it out, and take this power from me, St. Orcas. I’ve held up my end of the deal and paid the price. Hold up yours.”

Then he turned his back on them, pressing the lift button. The doors opened immediately, and he left, leaving them to stew in their loss once more.

“There are three showers available,” Axel said after a beat. “Feel free to use them. I’ll get some food fixed up.”

Everyone dispersed, and Theon sent Tessa up with Luka, wanting to talk to Axel for a moment. He followed his brother into the kitchen, but as he went to sit down, Axel snapped, “Don’t touch anything. You’re covered in blood.”

“We were just sitting on furniture,” Theon replied.

“Which we now have to clean, but I wasn’t going to say anything then,” he replied.

“Axel?” Kat’s voice rang out from the other room.

“And don’t touch my kid either,” Axel called from the pantry where he was digging for something or other. “Not until you’ve showered.”

Kat appeared a moment later, Maddox in her arms. He was awake and taking in the world, and Theon smiled weakly at them.

“I’m sorry things did not go well today,” Kat said, coming farther into the room.

Theon nodded, leaning in closer to see Maddox. “We need to get that power transferred,” he said. “Which is why I need to talk to Axel.”

His brother reappeared, narrowing his eyes at how close Theon was to the babe. Theon held up his hands. “I’m not touching him. Relax.”

“I’m going to tell you that when you have a child,” Axel grumbled, dumping bags of rice and cans of beans onto the counter. “I’m going to have to go get some pork.”

“Husband, father, and chef,” Theon smirked. “What next?”

“Fuck off, or you’re not eating,” Axel retorted, pointing a finger at him.

Theon huffed a laugh, but it was quickly gone. “I’m going to the secret holdings as soon as my powers are restored enough.”

Axel stilled, blinking at him. “Then I’m coming with you.”

“You don’t have to, Axel. You have a son. A wife,” Theon tried.

“Whom he has threatened on multiple occasions,” Axel retorted. “Not to mention our whole fucking childhood. If you’re going to confront our father, I’m coming with to end him. I’m a godsdamn Night Child because of him.”

Theon glanced at Katya, who was swaying with Maddox. She did that a lot, and it had to be some innate mother thing.

“We need to take as few people as possible,” Theon tried again. “Tessa, obviously for her power. Luka because he’s my Guardian.”

“Corbin and Lange,” Kat added. “They’ll insist on going. They’ve been restless while waiting.”

Theon shook his head. “It’s too many people.”

“Tell them that,” Kat tossed back. “They’ve become close with Eviana, and we all know if someone has to be left behind, it will be her. Mark my words, Theon, if you don’t take them with you, they’ll go themselves. Explain that one to Tessa.”

That would go over well.

Theon sighed. “We go in. We find my mother and Eviana. We send everyone else away, and we take care of Father.”

“Tessa and Luka are not just going to leave us there, you idiot,” Axel groused from where he was now rummaging through the fridge.

“I’ll talk to them.”

“Great. Do that. While you fucking shower. You’re too disgusting right now to be standing so close to my wife and child,” Axel called over his shoulder.

Theon rolled his eyes, glancing once more at Kat to find a small smile playing on her lips. “You won’t win this one,” she said softly.

He sighed again, knowing she was right. “I’m not enjoying you two constantly ganging up on me,” he said, turning to leave the kitchen.

“Tessa would side with us,” Axel called, and Theon flipped him off over his shoulder because he knew that too.

“Are we sure there’s something here?” Axel asked, looking around where they stood just inside the Leisure District.

Kylian had shown them the area a few days ago while their powers were still recovering. Theon and Luka had again drank rations, and they really needed to figure something else out. Tessa had offered to fill their reserves, but then she would be left without full strength because she could only refill her magic by taking life. Checks and balances even when she was an imbalance herself.

“Can’t you feel the wards?” Tessa asked.

“They’re meant to deter you,” Theon answered. “I feel something trying to get me to turn around. Go in the other direction. Like an instinct of some sort.”

She shrugged. “We’re here. We may as well try it, right?”

“I guess,” Axel said, scratching the back of his head.

There wasn’t much else they could do. If it wasn’t here, then they were at a loss, and Theon refused to entertain that idea at the moment.

“We have to all be connected,” Lange said, reaching for Tessa.

Theon knocked him away, taking her hand while Luka took the other.

“Stop being a dick,” she muttered.

Theon ignored her. This had nothing to do with her friend touching her and had more to do with him being on edge. He was going in there to meet his mother and kill his father.

With everyone touching, they moved forward, step after step, until he felt the wards ghost over his skin and a two-story stone house loomed over them. Built into the side of the cavern wall, it had a few windows on the front and a stone wall surrounding it.

“There’s no gate or way in,” Axel said in a hushed tone after they’d all darted to the side.

“Then we go over the top,” Tessa said simply.

“And get caught?” Axel tossed back.

She turned her head to him with a smirk. “Don’t let anyone see you.”

“How are we supposed to scale that?” he asked, gesturing to the wall.

She turned in the other direction. “Lange?”

He winked. “Sure thing, Tess.”

A minute later, Lange was using his air magic to lift them over the wall. When the last of them were on the other side, they turned and faced the house.

“Now what?” Axel asked.

“We go in,” Theon replied. His magic was tense, as on edge as he was, and he could feel it writhing in anticipation.

“The Mark,” Luka said, handing him a dagger.

Right. It was the only way they could come up with to track down his mother. A Blood Mark that would lead him to a blooded relative.

The others studied the house for a way in while he drew the Mark he’d practiced for days on his forearm. When he finished, they made their way to the side of the house. The front door was obviously out, but there had to be other entrances. Except they couldn’t find a single one. In fact, there wasn’t even a front door.

“He must shadow-walk here,” Theon said.

“So we Travel in?” Tessa asked.

“But you can’t Travel to somewhere you haven’t been.”

“I can’t Travel somewhere I don’t know,” she corrected. “If I look in the windows…”

He didn’t like the idea one bit, but they were wasting time. The longer they fucked around out here, the more likely they were to be caught.

Tessa and Luka crept to the lowest window they could find and peered in. Then they both ducked down in a rush, crawling to another window before making their way back.

“The first window was to your father’s study,” Luka reported. “He’s in there.” His eyes flicked to the Fae. “So are Eviana and the child.”

“My mother first, then them,” Theon said pointedly to the males.

They clearly didn’t like that, but the plan was set. They weren’t changing anything now.

Tessa took Lange and Corbin while Luka grabbed his elbow and Axel’s shoulder, Traveling them inside. They all froze for nearly a minute, releasing a collective breath of relief when no one appeared in the room they’d entered.

“You’re up,” Luka said, looking at Theon, and he concentrated on the Mark.

In the end, it ended up working similarly to the Tracking Mark they had on Tessa. A pull in his soul had them creeping out of the room and up a set of stairs. They ran into no one, not even a servant. He wasn’t entirely surprised by that. His father had too many secrets here to keep a full staff. There was likely only two or three trusted servants here, and they would all be busy with their daily tasks.

Continuing down a long hall, they came to a dead end, only the stone wall to greet them.

“A closet?” Axel asked when he turned to a small door.

But Theon didn’t answer, following the pull of the Mark. Sure enough, they opened the door and found a narrow stairwell, making their way up.

“This can’t be right,” Theon muttered.

They were all crammed onto a small landing. In fact, Corbin and Lange weren’t even able to fit on the landing, still standing on the stairs.

“It’s just a wall,” Axel said.

“I can see that,” he snapped.

But the Mark was still pulling him closer, insistent and warming his soul. As if what he was seeking was just out of reach on the other side.

“It isn’t just a wall,” Tessa breathed, placing both her palms on the stone. “Can’t you feel that?”

Theon and Luka glanced at each other. “No?” Theon said.

“There’s power here,” she whispered, chaos seeping from her palms. “Lots of power.”

“Tessa, you’re going to trigger something,” Luka growled, reaching to grab her.

“Wait,” Theon said, holding up a hand to stop him. “Look.”

There were tiny fissures crackling along the stone. As thin as strands of hair, they raced out from beneath her palms.

“There’s power on the other side,” Tessa hummed, slipping into that eeriness as her power took over. “We want it.”

“Be ready to stop her,” Theon warned.

“What do you think I was doing?” Luka retorted.

He ignored the sarcasm, letting his darkness swarm and billow, creating a shield to protect Axel and the Fae in case the wall exploded. Which would not be great and would probably alert his father, so he was really hoping that wouldn’t be the case.

Little by little, pieces of the wall fell to the ground. Tiny pebbles and pieces of shale. It sounded like raindrops as they fell faster and faster until they all crumbled into a pile, leaving them staring into a room. A small sofa for two. A table and chairs for the same. A small bed. And on her feet, wide emerald eyes staring back at them was⁠—

“Caris?” Axel rasped, and Theon was glad he said it, because he sure as fuck couldn’t.

He was just…staring at her.

A phantom of his past. A female he’d watched be tortured to death in front of his own eyes when he was scarcely ten years. A nursemaid who’d been more of a mother to him than Cressida had ever been.

Her eyes were bouncing between him and Axel and Luka, and she appeared as frozen as they were. No one daring to breathe or move. As if they were looking through a pane of glass.

“She is powerful,” Tessa hummed, stepping over the line of crumbled rock and into the room. “But she is trapped.”

“Tessa, stop,” Luka ground out, going after her and winding an arm around her waist. He pulled her back into his chest, his dragonfire brushing along her arms and stomach.

But now the female’s gaze was holding Theon’s, and all he could think to say was, “How?”

She smiled sadly as she took him in. “You’re tall.” Her gaze skipped between the three of them again. “You all are.”

“How?” Theon repeated. “You’re not… You can’t be…”

“You have to speak it otherwise I cannot say it,” she said, still as unmoving as he was.

A vow or oath of some sort then.

“You’re my mother?” Theon asked, the words quiet as they passed his lips.

And she nodded, something shifting in her features. A wariness, perhaps? Suspicion?

“We saw you die,” Axel said suddenly. “We watched it. What he did…”

“You watched the torture,” she said, her fingers curling at her sides. “You thought you saw my death.”

“We scattered your ashes in Sinvons Lake,” Luka said, and Theon could feel his own suspicion down the bond.

“But did you see my body burn?”

“None of this makes any sense,” Theon said. He took a step back, pebbles crunching under his shoes. “This is a trap.”

“How can it be? The Mark led you here,” Tessa said, seemingly back from the depths of her power.

“I hear you have become quite the academic,” the female said tentatively, clasping her hands in front of her.

“From who? Him?” Theon sneered.

She arched a brow. “Valter only visits me to gloat or try to force me to aid him. He never speaks of you. Of any of you. It was a torture in and of itself.”

“I think you need to explain…everything,” Luka said, still holding Tessa to him, and she was looking at the female with keen interest.

“She’s trapped,” Tessa said again.

Ignoring her, Theon said, “Start from the beginning.”

She studied him for a long moment, and he felt too godsdamn exposed. Why was he wondering what she thought of him? If he measured up? He’d watched Caris die, and even then, Caris couldn’t have been his mother . She was a Fae with water magic in love with Pen.

“My family line is the original line to rule Arius Kingdom,” she finally said.

“Bullshit,” Axel spat, and her head whipped to him, eyes narrowing.

“Language, Axel St. Orcas,” she snapped.

His eyes went wide, and he stumbled back a step. “Sorry,” he mumbled.

“The St. Orcas family challenged my brother for the seat. He was far older than me. Over a century. I was young, around the age you all are now,” she went on.

“Wait, I do know some of this,” Theon said, taking a tentative step towards her. “Valter’s father challenged for the seat nearly four centuries ago.”

She nodded, a bitter smile tilting on her lips. “And he won. My brother was killed, and he took the seat. I was allowed to remain a noble…until your father claimed his seat.”

“But…you’re a Fae. Not an Arius Legacy,” Theon said. “You have water magic.”

“Just like Penelope, right?” Caris asked.

“You’re saying it was never you?”

She nodded, raising her arms slightly. Two metal cuffs were at her biceps. He’d never seen her without them. In his formative years, they were just accessories. A part of her, but now that he was older and understood…

“She’s trapped,” Tessa repeated.

“He had them custom made,” the female said. “I was presented with them the evening of his lordship. He demanded I become his Match.”

“That’s forbidden. It upsets the balance of power in the realms,” Theon replied.

“Because the Lords and Ladies of Devram are so pious,” she deadpanned. “I declined, and he accepted that for a time.” She shifted on her feet, eyes suddenly darting around the room, looking anywhere but at them. “He and Rordan became close, forming the Augury. Every few months, Valter would approach me with his request, and every time I would deny him. I had found Pen by that time. She’d been assigned to Arius Kingdom, and…” She shrugged. “Things happen as things do. I loved her with my whole soul. Valter learned of the relationship and saw it as a betrayal in his twisted mind.

“Valter and Rordan had their falling out, and the Arius Kingdom was shunned more than ever,” she went on. “Of course, Valter wanted vengeance against everyone and everything. Kingdom alliances were being threatened, and the rulers held a conclave, agreeing to all attempt to have children the same age. Priestesses were brought in to help…better the odds.”

“Obviously it worked,” Axel muttered.

“It did,” she agreed. “But your father wouldn’t risk it. By that time, he’d taken a Match.”

“Cressida,” Theon said.

She nodded again. “But it wasn’t what he wanted. He wanted a child that would be more powerful than the others. A full Arius Legacy, through and through.”

“Are you saying… Theon is two Arius bloodlines?” Tessa asked.

“The next time he approached me, my rejection was not an option. I was brought here, and… Well, you were created,” she said, gesturing in Theon’s direction. “Cressida fell pregnant at the same time. Of course, her child was not fully Arius, and her child was a female.”

“Axel’s sister,” Theon said. Luka had told them all of this, filling them in on what Xan had told them. How his mother had taken the female and fled. How they’d been in hiding all this time in the Anala Kingdom.

“Yes,” she said, moving to the table. She rested her palm on the surface, taking a deep breath before she lifted her gaze to them once more. “You were born and passed off as her child. The Arius Heir. Of course, Cressida wanted nothing to do with you, and she was still pregnant at your birth. Her child wasn’t born for another six weeks. I was forced into an oath to never reveal the circumstances, but in exchange, I was allowed to be your caretaker and stay with Pen. No longer a noble Legacy, but a Fae in service to the kingdom.”

She smiled softly. “It was worth the sacrifice to get to be there. In a way, you were mine and Pen’s, even if you were his heir. I got to care for you, see your first steps, hear your first words. I got to…” She cleared her throat, eyes darting away once more. “And then Luka came shortly before Axel was born. Soon, there were three mischievous boys running amuck. You became my world, and I became your weakness. Although that day was my fault, not yours.”

Theon’s brow furrowed. “What do you mean? He was punishing us that day.”

She smiled sadly. “I’m sure he wanted you to think that, and I am told he used the moment to his advantage. But that day was about breaking me. He wanted more from me because even then, he was starting to fear you were going to turn on him. He is paranoid, and I can’t really blame him in this world. Everyone is always out for everyone. I refused to go through that again. I snuck out one night. I may have been passed off as a Fae, but I still remembered the secrets of the kingdom. Stealing coin, I found passage to the Underground where I paid off a Witch for these.” She gestured to the Marks across her collarbone.

“What do they do?” Theon asked.

“Take away my ability to have children.”

“Like a Curse Mark?” Tessa asked, and Theon glanced at her in confusion.

“It’s not a curse,” she replied. “I cannot even conceive a child. The day I returned and he saw them was the day I was tortured in front of you.”

Theon blinked, the memory surfacing. She had been gone for days. They were more than a handful at that age, and Pen hadn’t been able to wrangle all three of them, much less for days on end. That was what they had assumed they were being punished for, but…

“You’re my mother?” Theon asked, restating what was now an obvious question. The emerald eyes. The midnight hair. Even some of the facial features were the same.

“It’s why you look like Arius,” Tessa murmured. “Two distant bloodlines with a twist of fate.”

“I’m told you are not like him,” Caris said. “That none of you are. That you’ve found love and that somehow, you are not like him.”

“Who told you that?” Theon asked, taking another step closer.

“Eviana has been visiting.”

Right. Eviana.

He turned to tell the Fae males that they would go find her in a moment, but the landing was empty. So were the stairs.

They’d gone off without them.