Page 217

Tessa swallowed down the bile that rose at the idea of that. How were the Fae on the Estates kept so oblivious to all of this? The blood? The basic breeding?

“However,” Theon went on, “your emerging could very well have altered those plans. You could have still been assigned there with the hope of your children having the same power levels as you are anticipated to emerge with. But the far more likely alternative is that the kingdoms would have fought over you.”

“Fought over me?”

He nodded. “The most powerful Fae known to the realm? Tessa, blood will still be shed over you. We are preparing for it. Arius Kingdom will likely be accused of having known your gifts and power levels all along, that we somehow cheated the system.”

“But that’s not possible,” she stammered. “Is it?”

Theon shrugged. “It doesn’t matter, but like I said, we are preparing. You are preparing. It’s part of the reason you’re training.”

“To protect myself,” she said slowly.

“Yes,” he confirmed. “When—not if—someone comes for you again, they will be smart about it. It won’t be when you are with us. They’ll wait for an opportunity, and when they take it, you need to be able to fight back until I can get to you.”

“To fight for me,” she said, and the words tasted weird on her tongue. No one had truly fought for her before. Not even Dex.

“Yes.”

“Because I am your Source,” she clarified, not liking the feeling stirring in her chest.

Darkness flitted across his eyes at her words. “Because you are mine to fight for.”

She’d process those words later because all of this was becoming too much. All of this was pointing to Luka speaking the truth. That nearly everything Theon had done was to protect her.

“You need to get ready. I need to get you to Luka,” Theon said after a moment. “Make sure you eat.”

“Right,” she murmured. “What do you do while I am with them?”

Theon’s brow arched. “Are you missing me, beautiful?”

She scoffed. “No, but I prefer you over Luka’s training.”

“And Axel?”

“Oh, I’d rather run with him,” she replied, reaching for the smaller blanket folded at the end of the bed.

Theon scowled. “And why is that?”

She strategically replaced the sheet with the blanket before she started to climb out of the bed. “I suppose because he’s not you.”

Fingers snagging around her wrist had her stilling and looking back over her shoulder. “You realize he will be in my position next Selection year.”

“Yes, well, he won’t be my Master, now will he?” she retorted. “And the Fae he Selects will likely want this life.”

“Because you don’t.”

“Yes, because I don’t.”

“Tell me, Tessa. What kind of life would you like to live? What kind of life have you dreamed of?”

“What kind of life have you dreamed of?” she shot back. “Besides world domination, of course.”

“If you think I desire Devram for the sake of ruling it, you truly do know nothing,” he said, his voice going cold as he released her wrist. “Go get ready.”

She pressed her lips together, slipping from the bed and going to the closet to put on her training clothes before going to the bathroom to brush her teeth and put her hair up.

Thirty minutes later, Theon was leaving her with Luka without a word, but she didn’t miss the look exchanged between the two.