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“And when we discuss the repercussions later tonight, you will remember this moment?”

He could see all of her rage and humiliation and helplessness playing out in her stormy eyes, and when faint traces of violet sparked across her irises, it took everything in him not to react. He had not been imagining it all those times. What kind of power would make her eyes do that?

“Verbal acknowledgment, Tessa,” he murmured softer than he’d intended, his thumb gently sweeping along her jaw.

Her throat bobbed. “Yes, I will remember. I will remember all of it.”

She held his stare, her eyes hardening. The traces of violet were gone, but the storm of malice remained.

He released her chin as he said, “You look unwell. I will have soup brought for you.”

She shifted in her seat, her teeth clenching as she worked to control herself this time. “I am fine, but that would be lovely.”

That would be lovely?

Why did those four words make him feel so…unsettled?

The server appeared to clear their salad plates, and then nodded when he reached for Tessa’s with a questioning glance. “Was the salad not to her liking, my Lord?”

“The salad was fine. She is feeling unwell. Can you cancel her order and bring a soup instead? Some type of broth, if possible.”

Tessa stiffened beside him.

“I am sure the kitchen will prepare something for you, my Lord.”

Theon nodded in acknowledgment, and as Tessa reached for her water again, he leaned over to whisper, “When we have our discussions later tonight, you would do well to remember not to lie to me.”

She opened her mouth to speak, but immediately snapped it shut.

And that was all the confirmation he needed to know she was keeping even more secrets.

25

TESSA

She wasn’t fine.

She was the farthest thing from fine.

Then again, she couldn’t really say she’d been fine in years.

She wasn’t ill as Theon believed her to be, although she definitely felt sick now. Well, sicker than she’d felt since she’d woken up in Theon’s lap in the recovery room at the compound. If Theon would have entranced her to tell him what was wrong, they’d have been here all night because there was so much wrong, she wouldn’t have known where to start. She’d never had to function this quickly after an assessment. Despite what that godsdamn priestess had told Theon, they did not “resume their regular duties” within hours of an assessment. Certainly not after a Level Five assessment. They were always given an extra day of recovery time. No lessons or required attendance at anything else. She slept or fucked or drank. Or all three. But the only one she’d been able to do today was sleep, and that hadn’t been nearly as helpful without the alcohol to make her forget or the pleasure to drown in.

The server appeared sometime later, placing food before Theon, then Felicity, before finally setting a bowl of steaming broth before her with a side of crusty bread.

Broth.

Fucking great.

It was probably too salty too. Just like she was forced to endure at the Estate where broth had been her meal for weeks when other food was withheld.

“You are so good to her, Theon,” Felicity praised again when Theon ordered a bottle of ginger ale to be brought, still believing Tessa to be ill. Tessa had to fight the eye roll.

“As I said,” Theon was saying, cutting into his steak, “I take care of what is mine.”

Tessa stiffened at the words, reaching for her water again. She took a sip and jolted when she felt Theon’s fingers on the back of her neck, water sloshing out of her glass and down her dress.

Gods, his touch today. She hadn’t been lying when she’d told him she needed it. The bond was comforting and soothing and all the things she didn’t want it to be. It had kept the nightmares away when she’d slept. It had calmed her when all she could see in her mind was that final vision they’d forced on her. The one where Theon and Axel and Luka had—