Page 124

“You did,” Theon said. “In fact, you said he could sleep on the floor before sharing a bed.”

“And you didn’t care. So why does it matter now?” she countered.

Theon studied her, feeling her anxiety increase. “Tell me why, and I’ll get him right now.”

But before she could say anything else, there was a knock on the door, and the dragon himself entered the room, two covered plates stacked on top of each other in his hand.

“Food,” he said by way of explanation. “I figured you needed to eat since you couldn’t bother coming to dinner.” His gaze skipped from Theon to Tessa. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing,” she said, but Theon could feel the utter relief down the bond.

Holding her stare, Theon said, “Tessa wants you tosleepwith us.”

“That isnot—” Her eyes went wide before she was throwing Theon a dark glare. “Don’t say it like that.”

“You want me to sleep up here?” Luka asked. “Why?”

“In the same bed,” Theon clarified.

“Shut up,” Tessa snapped.

“Why, Tessa?” Luka repeated, the command ringing in his tone.

“Because Theon said I go to Faven tomorrow, and there will be tests. I don’t want to feel alone tonight when I’ll be alone for a week. I know it’s just the two of you, but?—”

“Okay,” Luka cut in with a shrug. Uncovering a plate of food, he handed it to Tessa, who snaked a hand out from the blankets cocooned around her to take it from him.

Just like that.

Luka had asked what was wrong, and she’d told him. No arguing. No prying an answer from her. No pushing her until she became so furious the answer slipped free.

“I just need to grab a few things,” Luka said before he left the room.

Tessa wouldn’t look at him as Theon slipped from the bed. In the closet, he pulled on loose pants before grabbing a shirt and sleep shorts for her. When he returned, she reached for them, but he held them out of reach.

“You feel alone without him?”

“I feel alone all the time, Theon,” she said, her tone hard. “I can at least pretend I’m not when there’s two of you.”

“You couldn’t have told me that?”

“No, because you get like this,” she retorted, holding out her hand in demand for the clothing.

He studied her a moment longer before leaning over and taking her chin between his thumb and forefinger. “You told me not to do this tonight, but after that, I don’t care what you said. You clearly need to hear it.”

Her eyes went wide, panic skittering down the bond. “Don’t you dare say it, Theon.”

“You are not nothing to me, Tessa.”

“Stop. Now.”

“You’re not nothing because you’re?—”

“You don’t get to do this,” she interjected, lightning cracking in her eyes. “You don’t get to lock me in the dark, tell me you’d do it again, and then tell me I matter to you. You don’t get to whisper lies disguised as sweet words in a bid to win me over and get me to play nice. You don’t get to play on my emotions because you feel them now when you were too inept to understand them before. And you certainly don’t get to ask for my affection because you are jealous of Luka.”

“I have nothing to be jealous of,” Theon retorted.

“You’re right. You don’t. If I had the choice, I’d be rid of both of you, but I don’t have choices, do I?” she said, snatching the clothing from his hand and nearly upending her plate of food. “So quit acting like I’ve done something wrong. You don’t get to make me feel guilty about how I choose to survive any of this.”