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The small smile fell from his lips, and he shoved a hand through his dark hair. “My parents are going to be there. They will greet us upon arrival.”

“Okay…” Tessa ventured, sensing there was more to this admission than that.

“There is a small shopping district in Castle Pines. You are going to need to change,” Theon said.

Tessa held in the whimper. She could hardly stand the touch of these loose-fitting clothes against her skin. The thought of changing clothes made her cringe. Shaking her head, she squeezed her eyes shut. “No,” she whispered past the burning sensation clawing up her throat. “It hurts too much. Please don’t make me change right now.”

A pitying look filled Theon’s eyes. “My father will not react well to seeing you in this type of clothing. Luka and I are changing as well. As soon as we have greeted them, I will take you straight to our rooms, and you can put on more comfortable clothing again.”

“I…” She squeezed her eyes tighter, feeling the tears well. Gods. She never cried like this. Lange would tease her relentlessly if he knew. Her heart squeezed at the thought, and she pulled the blanket up around her shoulders, wrapping herself up tightly. She’d lost her godsdamn mind earlier, crying her despair to the gods that didn’t give a fuck about her or this world, the screaming in her head finally finding its way out. She couldn’t do that again. Too many things happened when she lost control like that. It was why Dex hated it when she went off by herself.

Her entire body was trembling, and she’d never been more glad she’d refused food. The cord in her chest was getting agitated at the space she’d placed between her and Theon, and she wished she could reach inside herself and yank the godsdamn thing out.

“Take a breath, Tessa,” Theon was saying, and she opened her eyes to find him reaching for her. She jerked back instinctively, and the bond shocked her. A godsdamn jolt went through her body that made her whimper and curl in on herself even more.

“Tessa.” Theon’s tone betrayed his exasperation as she felt the vehicle slowing and coming to a halt. He didn’t say anything else, only stared at her.

“It will be best to meet his parents looking as presentable as possible,” Luka said, twisting in the front seat to face her. His eyes held the same pitying look Theon had given her. “If you greet them in what you are wearing, the occasion will be drawn out longer than necessary, and you will suffer more.”

They seemed to take her silence as acceptance, and they both exited the vehicle. Luka helped her out while Theon went to get whatever was considered acceptable clothing from the back.

“How do you have clothing in my size? Theon didn’t even know who I was until he found me in the alcove,” she said to Luka as he held her steady.

He seemed surprised by her question, but quickly wiped the reaction from his face. “When Theon took you to the room for the first dose of tonic, I left to get items for you from a list that Theon gave to me,” Luka explained.

“Oh.”

That still didn’t explain how he knew her sizes when he’d only met her that night. She was also trying to figure out how Luka fit into all this. He wasn’t a member of the ruling family, but was obviously close to them. A cousin of some sort? An Arius Legacy of lesser power to drive Theon around and run errands for him? But Theon seemed to value his opinion, and there was a quiet intensity about him that made Tessa wary, despite his somewhat gentle actions since she’d met him.

Luka led her around the vehicle to Theon. He had clothing in his hand, and he passed it off to Luka so that he could help her. They slowly made their way to a row of buildings along the road advertising various wares and services. Tessa was simply enjoying being out of the vehicle when another thought occurred to her.

“Your parents were at the feast.”

Theon glanced down at her. “Yes, they were.”

“Then how are they back already? They couldn’t have gotten back that much sooner than we did.”

“My father shadow-walked them back to Arius House.”

“Shadow-walked?”

“It is best explained as his personal portal,” Theon answered. “It is something he can only do when drawing from his Source, and it takes a fair amount of power so he does not do it often.”

“And you… You will be able to do that? When you draw from me?” Tessa asked.

Theon glanced down at her again. “Yes. When you have all the Marks and the bond has been completed, I will be able to access all the gifts of Arius. Not often, and only for short periods of time. It drains both the Legacy and the Source to tap into the other gifts.”

Tessa fell silent, not knowing what to say to any of that. She hadn’t known that the ruling descendants could do that. They’d been taught that the Legacy were gifted one power from the strongest bloodline that ran in their veins. The ruling families were granted two or three gifts, but she hadn’t known that they could access all of them. That was…

Tessa didn’t have words for what that was.

Theon and Luka led her among the small collection of shops to a little clothing boutique. It was simple and elegant, nothing like what Tessa had been expecting, and Theon appeared to know the Fae behind the counter. She bowed to him, and when Theon requested use of one of the fitting rooms, she replied, “Of course, my Lord.”

Theon took the clothing from Luka and led her to a room, the door clicking shut behind him. She should have argued about him coming in here with her, but she knew it’d be futile. He would insist on helping her change, and she knew it would take her far too long to do so by herself.

He set the clothing bundle down on a small chair and helped her remove the sweatshirt, his t-shirt, and the lounge pants. When she was standing in nothing but undergarments, shivering with the chills from her fever, Theon turned and picked up a dress. Tessa couldn’t hold back the soft whimper this time. It was a deep amethyst and clearly form fitting. There was delicate silver beading woven throughout it. She could tell from the plunging neckline that there would be a lot of skin on display.

Theon stepped forward, and Tessa cringed.