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“Uh-huh,” Tessa said. “Do you have scales?”

“Yes, Tessa,” Luka sighed.

Theon reached for her, gently pulling her back from between the seats as she said, “Do you have wings? Can you fly?”

“I have wings, and yes, I can fly,” Luka answered.

Ten minutes later, Tessa was still asking questions, but she had also settled into Theon’s side, much to his surprise. He hadn’t initiated it, and he could only assume she was so engrossed in this conversation with Luka, she hadn’t realized what she was doing.

Or rather, what the bond was naturally doing.

“Why doesn’t Lord St. Orcas have a Guardian?” she asked.

“Luka was supposed to be his,” Theon replied.

“Aren’t you two the same age?”

“We are,” Luka supplied, glancing at Theon in the rearview mirror.

Theon nodded subtly, curious how much of his past he was going to share with her. Tessa was right. He was a broody ass, and he didn’t care for people in general. But he’d been different with Tessa from the very beginning. It was in things others wouldn’t notice, but Theon had. And he couldn’t decide if it was because she was his Source, so his friend was making more of an effort knowing they would forever be in each other’s lives, or if it was something else.

“My parents died when I was young,” Luka answered. “I barely remember them. I was only five years.”

“I’m sorry,” Tessa whispered.

Luka cut her a quick look in the mirror. “Why? You weren’t there.”

“I know, but I can still be sad that you lost your parents. Had to grow up alone.”

“He wasn’t alone,” Theon cut in.

She glanced up at him before her gaze dropped to her lap. “Yeah. I guess not.”

“As was stated, Sargon’s bloodline is rare. So rare, in fact, with my parents gone, I am the only known descendant in all of Devram,” Luka supplied.

“But how is that possible?”

He shrugged. “We’ve searched for answers over the years, but have found nothing of value.”

“That’s not true,” Theon cut in.

Axel snorted a laugh, but before Theon could say anything in response, Luka spoke over them.

“Few know my true lineage. Most believe me to be an Arius Legacy, and we simply don’t correct them. But to answer your original question, Valter took me in because of my bloodline. I was to become his Guardian when I turned sixteen years. While the Guardian Bond can be forced, that was never the intention. When chosen by both parties, the Guardian relationship is stronger and more powerful.

“Theon and I, along with Axel, had been raised together. All of us trained and raised to further the Arius Kingdom, but we have…differing views from Valter on the best way to accomplish such things. On my sixteenth birthday, there was a ceremony planned to create the bond between Valter and me.”

“But in the early morning hours of his birthday, we were prepared to do the ceremony ourselves,” Theon supplied.

“How?” Tessa asked.

“Little Theon here is quite the academic,” Axel said teasingly. “He’d been studying that bond for years. You know, instead of doing normal things like playing Chaosphere.”

“But I thought a Priestess had to bestow Marks?” Tessa asked.

“They are trained extensively to do so, and they are the only ones trained for the Source Marks. In fact, there are very few who know how to give the Source Marks to deter lesser Legacy from taking their own,” Theon explained.

“I don’t understand,” Tessa said. “If the Guardian Bond is not well known, how would you have found a Priestess to give the Mark?”