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“Did you know before? When you Selected me? Is there something in those fucking documents you have full of information about me that I do not even know? Is that why you chose me?”

“No, Tessa,” Theon said, shaking his head. “I knew you were predicted to emerge with air. You had a slight affinity for water, but the Priestess yesterday told me you have never actually displayed any elemental magic in any of your assessments. They were just guesses based on your reactions during the tests and bloodline.”

“Bloodline?” Tessa repeated, lurching back as if he had shoved her. Her back hit the balcony railing. “I was alone, Theon. Always alone. I was raised in an Estate home until I was old enough to begin my instruction at the Estate school. They would have to know who my parents are for bloodline to play a role in my predictions.”

Something akin to pity crossed Theon’s features. “Come away from the railing, Tessa,” he coaxed, holding out a hand to her.

“Do you know who my parents are?” she demanded, the bond in her chest reaching for him while she held her breath, waiting for his answer.

“Come inside, Tessa. We can talk,” he said, taking a step towards her.

“Do you know?” she demanded again.

Lightning flashed across the dark sky, and thunder cracked.

“Tessalyn.” Her name was a warning. He would entrance her next.

She did not care.

“Why did you choose me?” she asked instead, her thoughts and emotions all over the place.

She couldn’t focus on anything when he clearly knew so much about her and who she was, while she’d been raised in the dark at an Estate with other parentless Fae. Repeatedly told that she wasn’t good enough, wasn’t compliant enough. That no one would want her unless she had something to offer them. That she was too much of a hassle for anyone to bother with otherwise. That she would forever be nothing, too much of a disappointment to be something.

That was how they had found each other. Dex and Brecken. Oralia. Lange and Corbin. The Celeste Estate was different from the others. The other three Estates were more akin to small cities where Fae resided. The Celeste Estate was where the Fae who did not have homes went. Those without families to raise them. But Tessa had been there first. Alone for years.

Dex had been the first to find her when she was scarcely eighteen years. He was older than her by nearly five years and had missed being eligible for the most recent Selection by a mere month. He’d been sent to the Celeste Estate along with a few others to wait for the next Selection Year.

He had found her hiding under a set of stairs that led off of the kitchens. It was the place she had always hidden when she was younger, hoping to steal any scraps leftover from meal preparations. Over time, it became the place she went to escape…well, everything. Except her own thoughts. There was never escaping those.

A head of dark brown hair suddenly appeared, eyes so dark they were nearly black in the shadows of the nook under the stairwell. “What are you doing under here?”

“What am I doing under here?” Tessa had asked. “What are you doing under here?”

The male slipped farther into the shadows, dropping to the floor beside her. He had a small paper bag in his hand. Bending a knee, he rested an arm atop it. Then he held the bag out to her. “Want one?”

She narrowed her eyes. “No.”

“You don’t even know what’s in here,” he countered.

“I don’t need to know. I am not going to help you.”

“Help me? With what?”

“Who are you?” Tessa asked.

“Dex. Who are you?”

“I’ve never seen you around here before.”

“Just got here this morning. Came from the Serafina Estate.”

“Why?”

Dex shrugged. “They needed somewhere to keep me until Selection, I guess.” He reached into the sack and pulled out a doughnut, taking a bite. “You going to tell me your name?”

“No. How did you get those?”

Dex glanced at her out of the corner of his eye. “The doughnuts?”