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In their rooms when she’d been gone an entire week.

When she?—

“Less than a month,” Cressida chattered excitedly from down the table.

“It will be an exciting month indeed,” Valter said with a wide smile at the head of the table, tipping his liquor glass in Theon’s direction.

Theon’s smile was tight, and his emerald eyes were streaked with black when they flashed to Tessa across the table where she sat next to Luka. She held his stare until he looked away before she picked up her fork and began eating her salad. The marks on the backs of her hands seemed to glitter faintly in the low candlelight of the dining room at Arius House.

Directly across from her sat Felicity in a pale blue gown, and she sat back in her chair, her hand coming to rest on her very round stomach. A Union Mark stood out on her skin that had paled some since she’d moved to Arius House, a ring on her finger catching the light.

“Tessalyn?”

Tessa blinked from the memory of the dream that hadn’t been a dream at all. Felicity was standing right in front of her. If there had been any doubt about what Rordan and Elowyn had told her about her “dreams,” it was gone now. Because here was Felicity, casually sitting in her— No, inTheon’sroom. Shoes off, wine in hand, and clearly comfortable. Fuck. How long had he been bringing her here? Often enough he was comfortable leaving her upstairs, inside his wards.

“Tessalyn?” Felicity said again. “Are you all right? I know you were traveling all day. That can be so exhausting, and I’m sure your time in Faven was very trying.”

“My time… How do you know about any of that?” Tessa asked, her gaze darting to the perfectly made bed.

“Theon told me, of course,” Felicity said, a slight frown pulling at her full lips. She reached out, placing a hand on Tessa’s arm. “Perhaps you should sit down. You don’t look well.”

She didn’t look well?

Tessa looked down at herself. The cream sweater dress stopping mid-thigh. Her bare toes curling against the floor. Her palms glowing at her sides.

She slowly lifted her head, and Felicity’s eyes widened as she yanked her hand back.

“You are upset, but Theon will be back—” Felicity started, but Tessa was already turning away from her. She clumsily made her way back down the stairs, catching herself with the railing more than once. Frantically, she tried to shove it all down. Everything she was feeling, because none of it mattered.

None of this should surprise her. Of course Felicity would have his child. She was to be his Match. The bed was made forthreefor fuck’s sake. The ruling families must have heirs, and what did it matter to her?

Because you will never be mine!

Those were the words she’d all but screamed at Theon that night. It was a truth she’d never been able to admit to herself. Never wanted to admit because it was something she didn’t want to want.

But gods, she did want it.

She wanted one godsdamn person to care enough to chooseher. Just one. And she’d stupidly thought maybe it would be him. Even if it was just the bond making him so infatuated, these last few weeks had been nice in a way. Waking up next to someone. Rarely being alone. Someone who always made sure she had warm coffee and left his shirt out for her and had told her when her birthday was.

She recognized that those were common decencies, that those minor things weren’t any sort of standard she should be measuring against, but no one had ever given those common decencies toher. And she wasn’t naïve enough to think that she meant any more to him than her power, but some part of her had wanted to. Some part of her had thought maybe he hadn’t just been whispering pretty words in her ear to get what he wanted.

Because he always answered her calls until last night, and oh gods. He was probably with her and that was why he didn’t answer.

Ah, but facing truths? That is where the difficulty lies.

An arm wrapped around her waist, and suddenly she was in the sky. She screamed, but it was lost in the howling winds. Rain pelted her face, but she was trying to figure out when she’d gone outside. She didn’t remember walking through the townhouse or going out the back door to the gardens. She hadn’t heard the thunder cracking or felt the cold water trickling down her back.

The sun hadn’t quite set yet, but it might as well have with the dark clouds blotting out the light. She instinctively knew the touch of the dragon who was flying through the dimming sky, and she turned into him, feeling him cradle the back of her head as she buried her face into his bare chest.

It felt like seconds, but it must have been minutes when they were dropping to the ground. She didn’t know. Her stomach hurt, and she was too busy trying not to vomit to care. Her bare feet touched the cold earth, and then warm hands were on her face, trying to force her eyes up.

“Tessa, look at me,” Luka said, his voice hard and laced with the order, and she found herself looking into glowing sapphire eyes. There was pity and fury and something else in them, but seeing him had something settling her soul. It was minor, but it was there. “That’s my girl,” he murmured. “Breathe, little one.”

Lightning flashed, illuminating their surroundings. The river. The same place they always took her when she needed to expend her power. A familiar space.

“How long has he been bringing her there?” Tessa demanded in a hoarse whisper.

“Tonight was the first night,” Luka answered.