Page 17

How could what was going to happen next possibly be worse than this? Tessa wanted to vomit, but knew it would burn just as much coming back up. She also knew they’d force her to drink another glass if she vomited up this one.

“You have minutes to complete the first Mark, young Lord,” the Priestess said from where she stood behind him. She was holding the dagger out to him, and Tessa’s eyes widened in terror.

“Bring Luka in,” Theon ordered, taking the dagger.

The Priestess crossed the room, and Tessa heard the door open over the roaring in her head. But her eyes were locked on Theon and the dagger. She didn’t know what was about to happen, but she knew Theon hadn’t been lying. This was going to be so much worse than the tonic she’d just choked down.

Luka came into her line of sight, and she began trembling as he moved to her side.

“Hold her down, Luka,” Theon commanded, bringing the dagger to his palm.

Luka’s large hands came to rest on her shoulder and hip, but he wouldn’t look at her.

“Please, Luka,” she begged, resorting to her last hope. She didn’t know this Legacy, but if Theon wouldn’t stop, maybe Luka would stop him for her. “Don’t let him do this.”

“I’m sorry, little one,” he said, barely audible.

Her eyes went back to Theon, who had blood running down his arm from the slice in his palm. Luka took his hand from her shoulder and gripped her right wrist, holding out her arm to Theon. With his bloodied hand, he gripped hers, bringing the tip of the dagger to the back of it. The blade was so dark it seemed to absorb the soft light of the room.

He cut a deep gash into the back of her hand, and Tessa cried out. The Priestess was there, drawing some kind of Mark with the blood running out of the cut. In less than a minute she was done, clearly having done this before, and she nodded to Theon as she stepped back.

He locked eyes with Tessa. “Tessalyn Ausra, I have claimed you as my Source, to be bonded to me irrevocably. With this Mark, may the bond become physical, that we can always sense each other’s presence and crave each other’s closeness. My power claims you as its own.”

The last part was said in the language she didn’t know but that her soul recognized. Theon dropped the dagger, taking her wrist from Luka and holding it firmly as he placed his bleeding palm atop the wound he’d created and the subsequent Mark.

Searing pain whipped through her veins as their blood mixed beneath her skin. It was unlike anything she had ever experienced. It was an agony that made her wish for death. His dark and cold magic crashed into her, invading every piece of her body and soul. She was screaming and arching off the sofa, Luka pinning her beneath him. It felt as if death itself were coursing through her over and over, and gods. She wished it would just take her. Theon only tightened his hand around her own, refusing to break the connection, and something in her was buzzing and thrashing, trying to rise up. But Theon forced more and more of his magic into her, and it was suffocating. She couldn’t breathe, and that familiar sensation only made her panic more.

Theon’s jaw was clenched, sweat beading on his brow, as he gritted out, “Just give in, Tessa.”

But she didn’t know what he meant, and another scream ripped from her throat.

Then a cord of purest gold was floating from her skin, rising up to meet one of obsidian black from Theon. The cords were twining around each other, tighter and tighter, and it felt as if they were wrapping around her chest. She thrashed beneath Luka, gasping for any amount of air. Darkness clouded the edges of her vision, and she thought for sure this was how she was going to die. His dark power was going to kill her. And she welcomed it. Welcomed any reprieve from this. She’d courted death for years. Maybe it would finally take her.

It could have been seconds, but it felt like hours later when a flash of silver erupted from the cords, and they settled back into Theon and Tessa. There was a tingling beneath her hand and a pull in the pit of her stomach, but she couldn’t pay any attention to any of it. She was too focused on dragging air into her lungs.

Luka eased off her as Theon sat on the sofa and pulled her into his lap, cradling her against his heaving chest. Her own chest warmed at his closeness, and the pull in the pit of her stomach settled down, humming contentedly. Her entire body ached, but her head pounded as though she’d been out drinking all night.

“You’re okay, beautiful,” Theon murmured, like he thought he could soothe her. “I’m going to take care of you.”

He seemed to sigh in relief while he held her, stroking her hair. Luka approached with a damp cloth, wiping sweat from her brow. She couldn’t entirely comprehend what was happening right now. They likely thought she was too exhausted to care. They would only be half right.

“You know what to expect over the next several hours and days to come as she adjusts?” the Priestess asked.

“Yes,” Theon answered.

The Priestess came forward and grasped Tessa’s right hand. Tessa tried to look, but Theon held her head against his chest, not letting her see. When the Priestess dropped her hand, Theon snatched it up in his own.

“The Mark is in place. If she purges the tonic now, it will not matter. Your magic has settled into her. I have given the other necessary items to your associate and explained what must be done,” the Priestess remarked, stepping back. “Do you require anything else of me this evening?”

“No,” Theon said. “You are dismissed.”

The Priestess bowed before exiting the room.

As soon as the door clicked shut, Theon said, “Get a blanket, Luka. She’s shivering.” A moment later, a thick fleece blanket was draped around her. Her head was throbbing, and the room was spinning. Every inch of her body felt as if thousands of shards of glass were embedded in her skin.

“How long before you think we can move her?” Luka asked, dragging a chair over from the table and sitting in front of them. His eyes were on Tessa, watching her carefully.

“I don’t know,” Theon answered. “I would like her to vomit first and see what after-effects are going to hit her.”