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“Then choose one of them! Choose anyone else who wants this! Please!” she cried, not caring that she was begging now.

Theon studied her, a muscle ticking in his jaw. He opened his mouth to say something just as a soft knock sounded and a female entered the room. She wore a white sheer gown that flowed down to her ankles. Gold sandals adorned her feet, and a gold belt was slung low on her hips. Her brown hair was braided in a coronet atop her head with strands of gold and ivy woven among it, the tips of her arched ears peeking out. A Priestess.

“I am told you are ready to bestow the first Mark to your Source, Heir of Arius,” she said with a bow.

“Please, Th—” But the name got stuck on her tongue. Apparently the arrival of the Priestess made this a formal situation.

Theon looked at her a second longer before turning his back on her to face the Priestess. “Yes. That is correct. I am ready to proceed.”

The Priestess nodded, moving to the small table. Tessa hadn’t noticed the tray of items on it until now. They had been blocked from view by the bag earlier. She stood silently while the Priestess poured the contents of three vials into a small glass, stirring it with a glass stir rod. The liquid turned a shade of cerulean blue, fizzing with smoke wafting from it. Theon stood a few feet away from Tessa, his arms crossed and pointedly not looking at her.

A moment later, the Priestess picked up the glass along with a small black dagger and turned back to them. A serene smile spread across her lips as she approached Tessa. “You are going to want to sit.”

“I prefer to stand, thank you,” Tessa answered, clenching her hands into fists at her sides.

The Priestess glanced at Theon expectantly. Theon closed the few feet between him and Tessa, bringing a hand to her lower back. “Sit down, Tessa. This is going to be unpleasant.”

Bringing his other hand to her shoulder, he gently guided her down to the sofa, lowering with her so he sat beside her. He was rigid, and Tessa couldn’t help but wonder why. He wasn’t the one about to undergo a Marking. More than that, he knew far more about what was going to happen than she did.

“You will drink this first,” the Priestess said, holding the fizzing glass out to her. “You must drink it all. It is similar to the elixir injected earlier, but much stronger.”

“Okay,” Tessa said, tentatively taking the glass from her hand. It was warmer than she’d been expecting. “Then what?”

Again the Priestess glanced at Theon.

“Let’s get through this part first, and then we will worry about the next step,” he said, his hand still on her lower back. When Tessa didn’t push the issue, he glanced at the Priestess and gave her a small nod.

“Theon St. Orcas, heir of the Arius Kingdom, you have come before a Priestess and requested the first Mark for your Source. Do you acknowledge your request?”

“I do,” Theon said tightly.

“Do you understand your Source becomes yours and yours alone? You assume complete dominium. Once the first Mark is given, there is no undoing the bond that will be started. Only the death of either party can end it,” the Priestess continued.

“I understand,” Theon answered.

Tessa couldn’t help but recognize the superiority playing out before her. These two Legacy spoke of her as a piece of property he was taking ownership of. The Priestess was asking him questions about her own existence as she sat silently, holding a fizzing cup of blue liquid and curling her bare toes into the rug to keep from fidgeting.

“You recognize that the Source bond connects you in all forms— physically, emotionally, and mentally, allowing you the ability to share power and life as one entity?” the Priestess asked.

“I do,” Theon answered, flexing the fingers of his other hand.

“May Achaz bless this bonding, and may Arius offer judgment if it is ever broken,” the Priestess intoned. “Theon St. Orcas, who do you Select as your Source?”

“Tessalyn Ausra.”

Bile rose in her throat as the words left Theon’s lips.

“Let the Selected drink the elixir to open the path for your claiming Mark.”

The Priestess motioned for Tessa to drink, and she glanced once at Theon. His face was impassive as he nodded. She brought the glass to her lips, trying not to inhale the smoke drifting up from the glass. She didn’t even have a moment to process the sweet taste because the liquid was like fire in her throat, burning as it went down. Her eyes widened, and she tried to pull the glass away, but Theon had moved his hand around hers, keeping the glass at her lips. Panicking, she jerked her head back, but his other hand was along the back of her head, holding her firmly in place. He’d known this would happen.

Her wide eyes met his, and that was all he needed. “Drink, Tessalyn,” he entranced, and she swallowed more and more as he tipped the glass up. Her stomach was burning with the liquid pooling in it, tears leaking from her eyes. The room was spinning, but she could hardly move, Theon holding her in place.

He removed the glass from her lips. “Good girl, Tessa,” he murmured, wiping a drop from the corner of her mouth with his thumb and pressing it between her lips. “Lay down, beautiful.”

He slid to the floor in front of her and helped her lift her legs to the sofa, easing her down and onto her side. She managed to drag her knees up to her chest, curling in on herself. The act took every bit of energy she could muster. “It hurts,” she gasped out, more tears slipping down her face.

“I know it does, but what happens next will be worse.”