Dawn of Chaos and Fury by Melissa K. Roehrich - 9

6

B alancing precariously on a step stool, he reached for a leather case on the top shelf. It was a canister, and when he finally grabbed hold of the thing, he twisted off the cap as he leapt down to the floor. Inside was a map of the Underground. He could have looked at one in various books, but this map was large and would span the entire work table across the room from the desk.

Axel carefully unrolled it, placing weights in the shapes of skulls on the corners, and then he stood over it, studying the thing. This was Theon’s place, not his. Theon could stare at a map for hours, days even, and when he finally came out of his scholarly stupor, he’d have a fully formed plan. Axel knew that would never be the case for him. He could study this thing all he wanted, maybe even come up with some half-formed plan, but in the end, he operated more on instinct. It had served him well as he’d navigated the Underground for his father. He wasn’t entirely sure why he was contemplating changing tactics now.

Probably because he’d implied the Underground was his kingdom and had all but started a war for it.

Fucking reckless, but there was no going back. He refused to pledge fealty to Bree, and he’d seen the way she’d looked at Kat. Or, more precisely, at Kat’s belly.

While trying to formulate a plan had certainly been part of the reason he’d come to this study today, it wasn’t the only one. His rations were low. Too low. Pretty much depleted. He’d never thought it necessary to keep a large stock. He could have gotten blood anywhere in the Underground until Bree had struck the first blow before he’d even realized it. She’d come to his home that day already having cleaned out the blood suppliers.

This was different from when he’d needed the blood to fill his power reserves. Blood was needed to survive now. He wasn’t entirely sure what happened when a vampyre went too long without, but he wasn’t too keen on finding out. He’d already experienced the craze of bloodlust. If it was even close to that, he couldn’t risk it. If it was worse than that, he couldn’t fathom it.

But his mouth was already starting to feel too dry. He’d been limiting himself, and he was feeling the effects of it. His senses were heightened even more than a Legacy’s, particularly when it came to smell. He could scent Kat’s blood from the floor above, and it made him grip the table so tightly his knuckles were white. He’d finish off his rations in the next day or two, and then what the fuck was he going to do?

Stretching his neck from side to side, he tried to ward off the need to feed. How did Night Children learn to control this anyway? The only time he’d ever felt fully satisfied was when he’d taken far too much from Kat. Then again, maybe he’d simply been too lost to the bloodlust and the curse. Too much had been happening in that moment.

Focus.

He needed to focus on what he was going to do.

Picking up a mug of coffee, he studied the map, trying to ignore how the hot liquid was very much not blood. How it wasn’t quenching any thirst or hunger or need. How it was⁠—

Focus.

He set the mug down, swiping up a glass of water instead as he forced himself to study the map.

They were at one end of the Underground. Bree and the Night Children occupied the Dispensary District on the opposite side. That left a lot of territory in between and a lot of potential allies that could be swayed either way. People who had been stuck here for decades. Centuries even. Many of them hadn’t seen the sun or the sky in just as long. It was one of the things he was missing most. Fresh air. The air down here was musty and dry. Not that he could go in the sun anyway. Not anymore.

Focus.

Who did he go to first? He had relations with all the Districts, but that was as an Arius Heir. Now he was one of them. They might turn on him out of pure spite, and he couldn’t really blame them. The other three Night Child Houses wouldn’t turn on Bree. They still hadn’t replaced Henry. Rayell was too entertained by dramatics. Cade would listen and hear him out, but he would ultimately decline to side with him in the end because the male would see him as a threat to his own position of power.

Which led him back to the remaining territories. He was on good terms with many Fae in the Apparel District, but they were still Fae who had a grudge against the Legacy. Again, for good reason. The Shifters in the Leisure District would be ideal. They were fickle beings who refused to be on the losing side, putting the victory above all else. Which was good if they were on your side.

It was devastating if they weren’t.

And they always chose carefully to ensure they were on the winning side. Which meant he needed to have other allies already on board before he went to the Alpha and Beta.

Which left the Apothecary District and the Witches.

He would probably have good luck there. His relationship with Cienna had put him on good terms with many of the Witches. Miara was the leader of the District, and she would be the most logical one to approach. He couldn’t just keep hiding out in the Charter District, especially with his blood stores nearly depleted. More than that, he refused to cower before Bree.

“I woke to a cold bed. Again.”

His hand clenched around the water glass as her scent hit him a moment before her voice filled the room. Carefully, his hand shaking a fraction with the movement, he set the glass back on the table. He glanced to the doorway, finding Kat standing there. Her hand resting on her stomach, the babe was growing more every day. Her coils of black hair were piled on top of her head, and her warm dark skin seemed to glow in the low lighting. She wore one of his shirts and her own pair of lounge pants with her feet clad in slippers they’d purchased in the Apparel District last week.

Looking back at the map, he gripped the edge of the table. “I slept⁠—”

“I know where you slept, Axel,” she interrupted sharply.

“I would have heard you if you’d needed anything,” he replied, staring at the map but not really seeing it. The territories were all blurring together before him.

“I need a husband who sleeps in my bed with me,” she retorted. “Or was that just a ‘heat of the moment’ thing?”

His head snapped up. “You know that’s not the case, Katya.”

“I clearly do not know that, or I wouldn’t have suggested it,” she said, folding her arms across her chest. The Union Mark on the back of her hand was visible now, and he glanced at his own, along with the onyx band on his finger.

“I’ve given you no reason to doubt my intentions,” he argued, picking up the water glass again. Then he hissed, the glass slipping from his grasp as it became too hot to hold. It hit the floor and shattered, shards of glass flying everywhere and scalding water splattering.

He slowly lifted his gaze back to her. She was glaring at him, not an ounce of remorse on her face. In fact, he could see the faint flames flickering in her eyes from here, and those were wisps of shadows floating around her, courtesy of the child in her belly. If he wasn’t riding an edge of his own right now, he’d be gathering her up in his arms. He loved it when she got like this. Would purposely irritate her because she came out of her shell so much more like this. But now wasn’t the time.

“I’m protecting you, Kat,” he replied. “I’m on the last dregs of rations, and you’re right here. ”

She rolled her eyes, and Axel straightened at the action. Did she truly not grasp the severity of this situation?

“You are just like Theon,” she chided. “Thinking you have to do everything yourself. I’m right here , Axel. Instead of talking to me and coming up with a plan together, you⁠—”

He snapped to attention, moving fast and suddenly in front of her.

“Stop doing that,” she gritted out, shoving at his chest. Not that it mattered. He didn’t even stumble.

But he gently took her shoulders, pressing a kiss to the top of her head. “Someone crossed the wards. They’re on their way up. Stay here. Please.”

“Axel—”

“Please stay here,” he repeated.

Her mouth pressed to a thin line as she held his stare for another few seconds before she looked away from him, dipping her chin in the barest of nods.

“We’ll talk more,” he promised.

But he heard her mutter, “Somehow I doubt that,” as he left her standing in the study doorway.

This wasn’t how this was supposed to go. It wasn’t how anything in his life was supposed to go. Then again, that seemed to be the way of fate for an Arius Heir.

He bounded down the stairs to the main floor, moving to stand several feet from the lift doors. Security hadn’t called up to ask about allowing someone passage. So either they forced their way through, or this was someone with unfettered access to the penthouse. If it was his father, he was fucked. He had no desire to see his mother, but he’d placate her. If it was Tessa… They weren’t exactly on the best of terms right now, and Theon and Luka had their hands full with her. In the end, he had no idea who to expect when those lift doors opened, but it certainly wasn’t Theon laden down with arms full of shit.

His brother strode into the room, immediately looking him up and down. Always worried about those he viewed himself responsible for before himself.

Looking beyond him as the lift doors closed, Axel’s brow furrowed. He was alone.

“What are you doing here?” he asked, following Theon with his eyes as his brother moved to hang his computer bag on the hooks nearby. The habit had been ingrained in him since he could walk. Leave nothing lying around just in case their father showed up. Their father had to have known all the times Theon covered for Axel. Theon was too meticulous and controlled to make such frivolous mistakes, and yet he took the blame for them time and time again. Axel hadn’t realized just how often until he was well into his second decade of life.

He set the box down on a side table, placing his large duffel bag and smaller bags beside it. One of them clinked as he set it down, and Axel zeroed in on it.

“Did you feel the quake a few hours ago?” Theon asked, removing his suit jacket and hanging it beside his computer bag.

Still focused on the bag, Axel replied, “What quake?”

“The one that was apparently felt across the realm,” Theon said. “Although, I guess not in the Underground. The Pantheon fell.”

That had his gaze whipping to Theon. “What does that mean?”

Theon had unbuttoned his shirt cuffs and was rolling his sleeves back as he said, “Exactly what it sounds like. The Pantheon was reduced to nothing but rubble. The Tribunal building as well.”

“How the fuck did that happen?”

“That’s part of the reason I’m here,” his brother answered, his hands slipping into his pockets now.

Axel waved his hand impatiently. “Well, spit it out.”

“I don’t…” Theon started, trailing off. A hand came up, pushing through his hair before he dragged it down his face. He cleared his throat. “I figured out the Revelation Decree or prophecy or whatever you want to call it.” Axel only blinked, waiting for him to get the fuck on with this. “The decree was never meant to be instructions on how Devram should be ruled. It was a prophecy. About Tessa and the downfall of Devram.”

“And?” Axel asked.

“She’s an imbalance,” he went on. “Achaz and Arius. Light and dark. Beginnings and endings.”

“Achaz and Arius,” Axel said. “We knew all this.”

“Yes, but we didn’t realize how much. She’s the granddaughter of Achaz, Arius, and Serafina. Her mother is still a mystery, but her father is a god and she’s more but⁠—”

“Theon, get to the fucking point,” Axel interjected. He truly didn’t care how he had figured out whatever this was. He just wanted to know what new fuckery had just been dumped on them.

“The Fates will come here looking for her,” Theon said, straightening at Axel’s tone. “To end her and fix the balance.”

Axel shrugged. “Sounds like that would fix a lot of our problems considering she’s looking to end our bloodline.”

Darkness churned around Theon at the words, and Axel couldn’t bring himself to care. He had bigger things to worry about than the Fates coming for Tessa. She was Theon’s to worry about, not his, and she certainly didn’t care about him. She’d made that perfectly clear when she could have found him and didn’t. If she would have, maybe everything would be different.

Maybe he wouldn’t be terrified of sharing a godsdamn bed with his wife.

“You’re serious,” Theon gritted out when Axel didn’t add any sort of caveat to his statement.

Axel only shrugged again, crossing his arms. “Look what she did to you, Theon. Even if you might have deserved some of it for being an absolute dick most days. And yeah, it’d be great if she could rid us of father, but all Arius Legacy? There are innocent people in our kingdom who have nothing to do with her or any of this.”

“I know,” Theon said, and something shifted in him. Axel couldn’t quite pinpoint it, but it was almost an air of regret or resignation that filled the space.

When he didn’t continue, Axel said, “So, what? You think this quake that happened is another omen?”

“I think it was the Fates coming here,” he said.

“For Tessa,” Axel clarified.

Theon nodded slowly.

“What aren’t you saying, Theon?”

He shoved his hand through his hair again, tugging at the roots. “Tessa’s not here.”

“I’m sure she’s in Faven,” Axel deadpanned.

But Theon shook his head. “She’s not here, Axel. I figured all this out, and I sent her away with Razik and Eliza. Luka went with her. She’s not in this realm. And when the Fates cannot find her, Chaos will reign. They will destroy this realm in search of her to correct the balance.”

Axel could only stare at him because he couldn’t wrap his mind around what Theon had just said. He couldn’t possibly have heard him right.

An entire minute passed before Theon said, “Can you say something?”

“Can I…” Axel trailed off, huffing a humorless laugh. “What do you want me to say?”

“Something. Anything.”

“Let me get this straight,” Axel started, taking a step forward. “You knew the Fates would come here looking for her, so you sent her away? Condemning an entire realm to death for her? The female who had no qualms about sentencing an entire group of people to destruction simply because of the blood that ran in their veins? A kingdom of people you are responsible for? A realm of people who have nothing to do with any of this?” His voice rose with every word as he advanced on his brother. “What the fuck were you thinking, Theon?”

“I was thinking she doesn’t deserve any of this,” Theon retorted, that darkness drifting across his irises and thickening around him. “She didn’t ask for this.”

“Neither did we!” Axel yelled.

“This realm made her what she is,” Theon shot back. “Just like it made us what we are. We’re not innocent here, Axel.”

“We might not be, but there are innocent people here, Theon. Forget the Legacy. There are Fae here. Mortals. There is an entire Underground of people who have nothing to do with the politics of Devram. None of them deserve to pay penance for her!” Axel snarled, shoving at Theon’s chest. “I cannot believe you. You’re as reckless as she is.”

“You think I did this without thought? That I was impulsive?”

“Of course not,” Axel scoffed. “That makes it all the worse, Theon. You did think about it. Knowing you, you spent countless hours weighing options, and you still came to the conclusion that this was what needed to be done. Sacrificing an entire realm for her.”

“I would sacrifice every realm for her! She is mine to protect!” Theon bellowed.

“Then you’ll understand that I will slay any Fate or god that comes here to protect what is mine,” Axel spat back. “Even if that means going to war against you .”

“He’ll go to war for us. Fight the Fates and the gods, but he can’t be bothered to speak to me or even be in the same room as me.”

They both turned at the sound of Kat’s voice, finding her descending the stairs. His gaze collided with her amber eyes, her anger still glaring back at him, before she moved on to Theon. Her chin lifted as she stared down at them, and gods, she was a vision, despite being in sleep attire. He couldn’t even be upset with her for not staying upstairs like he’d asked. Why would she? She knew Theon wasn’t a threat to her, but Theon didn’t know about…

He turned back to his brother, finding him staring at her. Or more accurately, at her stomach. But even that wasn’t true. His gaze was bouncing from her stomach to her hand to his, as though he had just now noticed the Union Mark and ring on Axel’s hand.

“Kat…” Theon started, but he trailed off, swallowing thickly.

“Hello, Theon,” she said, the edge gone from her voice and a softness to it that had Axel raising a brow. She’d told him she had spent hours researching beside Theon these past months, but apparently they’d also become…friends.

Theon shifted on his feet, and that had Axel even more surprised. He’d never seen his brother be anything but the in-control, emotionless, and calculating Arius Heir. Except when it came to Tessa, but that was an entirely different matter.

“You’re… The two of you are⁠—”

Theon had taken a step towards Kat, but he stilled, going silent when Axel moved in front of her. Emerald eyes met his, and there was something there that Axel had never once seen in all his years.

“Don’t look at me like you’re hurt,” he spat at Theon. “You just told me you willingly sacrificed this realm. You think I will let you near my wife and unborn child?”

Theon said nothing. He only stared back at him for a long moment before taking a step back, creating more distance between them.

Tension filled the space, thick and heavy, until Katya was the one to break it.

“Theon isn’t going to hurt us, Axel,” she said softly, her hand brushing down his arm.

Her mere touch was everything. Gods, he missed her, but he was as big a danger to her as Theon was.

He stiffened at the thought and heard her sigh as her hand fell away.

“Since you’re here,” she said, stepping to the side so she could peer around him and see Theon. “We were discussing a problem⁠—”

“Enough, Kat,” Axel interjected.

“No,” she snapped. “You need help, and this is what a relationship is, Axel. Helping each other.”

“What’s wrong?” Theon asked, new concern filling his features.

“Nothing that will matter when the world ends,” Axel retorted.

Kat swatted his arm. “Stop being petulant,” she chided.

She stepped closer to his side, and a low growl rumbled from his chest as he glared at his brother.

Theon arched a brow at the warning. “I was under the impression that the twin flame bond would no longer exist once…”

“Once I turned into a vampyre?” Axel finished for him.

“Well, yeah,” he admitted, pulling on the back of his neck as he studied him with new interest.

“It doesn’t,” Axel said harshly. “We lost that, but we chose each other anyway.”

“I see,” Theon said, waiting for one of them to go on.

“He has turned completely,” Katya offered. “But that isn’t the problem. The problem is Bree.”

Theon didn’t seem surprised by this in the slightest. He only nodded for her to continue, but Axel was the one to speak with a sigh.

“You know she was the one keeping me for a time. She let me go under the assumption the bloodlust would cause me to kill Kat, and I would have if you hadn’t been there,” he admitted. “Bree thought I would kill her, then return and pledge loyalty to her House. She wants to rule the Underground.”

“And now?” Theon pressed.

“She showed up here when she’d heard I’d returned. She saw Kat, and there were words exchanged. But she already knew. Before she came up here, she had the covens clear out all the blood stores in the Underground. The only place to get blood is the Dispensary District.” He paused for a moment, wincing as he added, “I may have also insinuated I was going to be the one to take the Underground, which may have started a feud.”

Theon snorted a laugh, scratching his brow with a finger as he absorbed all the information. “How much blood do you have left?”

“I’m almost out. That’s why it’s not safe for Kat to be around me,” he answered, looking down at his wife.

She scoffed, rolling her eyes and crossing her arms. “I still do not believe you will do anything to me. Besides, I have fire and shadows at the moment. If you would use your head and think logically, you’d realize I can defend myself.”

“Shadows?” Theon asked, his brows shooting up. “From the babe?”

Kat nodded as Axel said, “It happened before I sent her with Tristyn.”

“You didn’t say anything,” Theon said, looking at Kat.

“I couldn’t,” she replied, a hand dropping to her stomach and rubbing along the side. “Eliza helped me hide it. I didn’t know who to trust. A Fae carrying a Legacy’s child? And an heir at that? I had to protect him.”

“Him? It’s a male?”

Kat nodded, a small, soft smile filling her face.

Theon turned away then, striding to the bags he’d hauled in with him. Picking one up, it clinked lightly. He didn’t come any closer than he’d been previously, keeping a healthy distance and respecting the boundary Axel had drawn. He placed the bag on the ground, then stepped back from it as he said, “It’s rations. Several bottles. Take them.”

Axel’s eyes went wide, going from the bag to Theon and back. Then he lunged forward, unzipping the bag to find more than two dozen bottles. He snatched one out, drinking the entire thing in seconds, and he nearly sank to the ground in relief. Warmth filled his veins, and for the first time in nearly two weeks, he felt normal. He didn’t feel like he was on edge or out of control. He felt sane. He felt powerful. It hadn’t tasted great, nothing like what he craved from Kat, but it had done what he’d needed.

He recapped it, tossing it aside as he turned back to Kat. Her eyes went wide when he was before her in the next breath, and before she could scold him about moving so fast, he’d taken her face in his hands and planted his lips on hers.

He swallowed her gasp of surprise as she melted into him. The blood still lingered on his taste buds, but he could also taste her. Hot and fiery. Lucious and perfect. Her hands landed on his torso, fingers tracing lines beneath his shirt. If Theon weren’t standing mere feet away…

Forcing himself to pull back, he didn’t go far, touching his brow to hers. “I’m sorry, kitten.”

“I’ve missed you,” she whispered.

“I didn’t want to hurt you.”

“I know,” she murmured.

“I wouldn’t be able to live with myself,” he said, a thumb swiping along her cheek.

“Can you please let me help?”

He huffed a rueful sound. “It sounds like we have to fight the Fates.”

Her hands came up, fingers wrapping around his wrists where he still held her face. “That sounds like we’ll need an army.”

He stilled, pulling back to study her, and the way she was looking at him? Gods, it made him feel like he could do anything.

His lips brushed hers again before he tucked her into his side and turned to his brother. Theon’s hands were in his pockets, eyes looking anywhere but at them as he tried to give them this moment. He may have become resigned to the world’s demise, but Axel wouldn’t go down without fighting. They deserved a future. His son deserved a future.

Sensing his attention on him, Theon lifted his head.

Holding his brother’s stare, Axel said, “I need your help.”