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Tessa released a harsh laugh. “Do not worry, Valter.” She smiled wider when he stiffened at being addressed by his first name. “Your son and I are still tied together,” she added, lifting her right hand to show him the final Source Mark in place on her skin. “I told you I would let you witness the downfall of your bloodline before I ended it.”

Valter laughed, a cruel and dark thing. “You think you are better off here, under an Achaz roof, than you were with my son?”

“They do not try to chain me and use me here,” she snapped.

“So foolish,” Valter scoffed. “They’ve made you believe captivity is freedom.”

“Yet I am not the one locked up.”

“Only because you are aiding them at the moment. Invisible shackles are still chains.”

“And if I had aided you and your son in your desires to overtake the realm, then you wouldn’t have tried so hard to have me— How did you phrase it? Come to heel?” Tessa retorted. “You wouldn’t have been so adamant about my bond with Theon being broken?”

“You were never meant to be bonded to Theon,” Valter sneered. “Rordan and the ruling Ladies were never going to let that stand. Even if Theon had managed to complete his task, they would have found another reason to deny his request. Iwas at least going to give you some semblance of freedomandprotection by Matching you with Luka.”

“To breed me for my power,” she scoffed.

“Everything is about power,” Valter snapped in irritation. “The sooner you accept that, the sooner you will realize Rordan is attempting the same thing you accuse me of.”

“Are you trying to tell me you do not wish to rule Devram?”

“Of course I do,” he retorted. “My people deserve the freedom to move about the realm. The Arius Kingdom has been shunned for centuries. We have paid our penance, but it has never been enough.”

“So you desire vengeance,” she clarified.

“As do you,” he countered.

She shrugged because he wasn’t wrong. She knew all about giving everything you had, and it not being enough.

“And you are under the illusion that Rordan will help you have it, but this is much bigger than you and Theon and the politics of Devram. If you don’t believe me, ask the one who brought you to the realm in the first place.”

Tessa went preternaturally still. “What did you just say?”

Valter smiled wider. “You heard me, Tessalyn. You want answers? There is one at the end of this passage.”

“You lie,” she hissed, her fingers curling into Roan’s fur.

“I do not. Rordan, however? He might not lie to you, but that does not mean he hasn’t kept secrets, Tessalyn.”

Tessa pressed her hand to the glass. Energy crackled at the touch, but she absorbed it. “You’re wrong,” she said simply. “I know how Arius tipped the balance. I know what must be done to correct it. I know my destiny.”

“Your only destiny is sacrifice,” Valter sneered.

Tessa stepped back, her hand dropping to her side. “I am aware.”

“Go see who else is kept in these cells,” he said, turning his back on her and retreating to the back of the space. He slid back down to a seated position. “He’s had him for over two decades, and still never gotten what he wanted.”

She knew the Arius Lord spoke in lies and deception. Everyone did in Devram. She’d learned to do the same. But she’d also learned that those lies were often lined with twisted truths.

Tessa ignored Valter’s smug curl of his lips as she turned and took steps farther down the passage. Anxiety prickled, and she ignored the feeling she was doing something she shouldn’t. If there were indeed secrets here, they were ones Rordan didn’t mind if she discovered. Otherwise he wouldn’t have let her have full access to the palace, right?

But as she moved deeper down the passage, this all began to feel familiar, and she suddenly knew exactly what she was going to find when she reached the end. Taking a deep breath, she turned and faced the cell to her left.

A male sat on the floor. His brown hair was long, reaching well past his shoulders. It was a tangled mess of knots and needed to be washed and trimmed. Based on the state of his hair, she would have expected his facial hair to be more unkempt. He had a beard that was trimmed close, as if it had been more recently tended to. A large onyx ring that matchedhissat on his finger, but she was more interested in the manacle at his throat. A thick band of pure white stone, it contained flecks of gold.

Flecks of light and energy.

A chain attached to the manacle was anchored to the wall, allowing for such little movement, she was unsure how the male could even eat or take care of his needs. He wore loose linen pants, the same that had been provided to Valter, but this male’s torso was bare, allowing her the perfect view of the Marks that ran the length of his left arm.