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“But they’re not true Source Marks,” he argued.

Her head tilted. “This is the second time you have said such a thing.”

“I never got a chance to tell you,” he said. He shifted in the chair, then winced as his pants brushed against the sensitive head of his cock, his balls already aching from the release she was denying him. “Kat and Axel found some information that strongly suggests the first three Marks aren’t Source Marks at all.”

“Then what are they?”

“I don’t know.”

The look she gave him told Theon she didn’t believe that one bit.

“I swear, Tessa,” he said. “I haven’t had time to research it much. Axel told me the morning of the hearing.”

“But there is a bond.”

“I know.”

“Is it not a Source bond?”

“I don’t know. I don’t have all the answers. Gods, I wish I did,” he said, tipping his head back against the chair and pushing out a harsh breath.

“Would you like to hear my story now?”

Sighing again, his eyes fell closed. “Sure, Tessa. Tell me your story.”

“There once was a daughter of wild and fury, unwanted and tossed away in a forgotten realm.”

Theon slowly lifted his head, eyes connecting with hers. With each word she spoke, her features hardened, and anger flashed in her violet irises.

“She was hidden away, believed to be unworthy and told she was too wild, too impulsive, too reckless. She was told she was nothing, so she became nothing.”

“Tessa—”

“Donotinterrupt the story,” she snarled, energy skittering across the floor in a flash of light. “She was lost to those who needed her and found by those who wanted to use her.”

He opened his mouth to argue again, but she shot forward, moving so godsdamn fast. Her hand slammed over his mouth, her other hand bracing herself atop his arm still secured to the armrest.

“She was taken into the dark where she was forced to give and serve, bow and obey,” she went on. “She begged to be seen, tried to do what was asked of her, but it was never enough. She gave everything and still they wanted more. Until the night she was set free. Until someone fought for her.” Her hand slid along his jaw, her thumb brushing across his lips. “And for the briefest of moments, she thought maybe, just maybe, there could be more. For a breath, time seemed to still and wait, as if even Fate was waiting to see what would happen. She didn’t know she needed to be saved.”

Her hand had drifted again, her thumb making small strokes against his cheek now. She was still looking at him, but she was seeing through him, lost in her memories and thoughts. Her features had softened, and he could swear there was longing in her last words.

“What happened next?” he asked quietly.

She snapped back into herself, all that softness gone. “Instead of saving her, he broke her.”

She straightened, and another vicious yank on his power had him grimacing. How was she doing that? Even if the Source Mark worked both ways, she didn’t have the actual Source Mark.

But she was a direct descendant of Arius.

The realization flooded through him as if ice water had been dumped over him. All this time his power had been drawn to her, seeking her out, curious about her. She was as much darkness as she was light, even though she hated it. His darkness tried to call to her the same way she called to it. His magic wanted her to love it as much as she loved the light.

Hewanted her to love the dark as much as she loved the light.

“She was told he would lie to her, hurt her, break her, but she didn’t believe them. He had told her she knew what he knew. He’d sworn to her it was all to keep her safe, but she was still hunted, still hurt, still wanted only for what she could give. She realized they were right.”

“Whowere right, Tessa?”

“She accepted the truth that she’d been trying to deny for so long, no matter how many times the dreams came to her. So she accepted her destiny and embraced who she was always meant to be.” She lifted a hand, a swirl of golden mist forming at her fingertips. When it faded, she held a scion and a dagger.