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“It won’t be enough,” he called after her.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Your fingers,” he added. “They won’t be enough, just like my hand hasn’t been enough for me for weeks.”

She didn’t reply, slamming the bathroom door shut behind her.

But later, when she was sitting on the bench, the steam of the shower around her and her hair dripping, she admitted to herself that he was right. As her fingers worked her clit and shefound release, even as she remembered the time she’d walked in on Theon pleasuring himself in the shower, it did nothing. She was still an aching mess of need and want.

Tessa tipped her head back against the wall, and memories of their power connecting enveloped her.

It wasn’t enough.

8

TESSA

She couldn’t breathe.

Not as Theon stood over her, a black dagger in his hand.

She couldn’t get air down to even speak.

“Breathe, little one,” Luka soothed. “It will all be over soon.”

The dragon was near her head, his hands resting gently on her shoulders. Axel was at her side, his shadows twining around her legs and keeping them still.

She choked down a sob, gasping as tears slid down her face. “Please, Luka. Don’t let him do this.”

Luka’s brow pinched, his gaze darting to Theon. “Maybe we should wait. She said the same thing to me before you gave her the first Mark, and look how this has turned out.”

“We don’t have a choice,” Theon said, still standing over her, his hair stirring in the breeze.

A light rain was falling, thunder rumbling in the distance.

“I still think there is another way to interpret this.”

Tessa’s head snapped to the side to find a tall male. He looked familiar somehow, but Tessa was sure she’d never met him. He had a sword strapped down his back, as did the femalestanding next to him. Her red-gold hair was braided over her shoulder, and flames flickered in her eyes. Standing next to them was…

Tristyn?

“Life must give, and death must take,” Theon said. “There is no other way to interpret that. Not if we wish to save our world.”

For so long, Tessa had wished for death, and now, in this moment, she didn’t want it. She’d finally found something to fight for, and she would be robbed of that too.

“You’re wrong,” Tristyn said, his features taut and his hands clenching and unclenching at his sides. “Have you learned nothing over these past months? You yourself have questioned things from the very beginning, even before you knew Tessa.”

“And all that questioning has led me here. To understanding why we were drawn to each other,” Theon said, his grip on the dagger tightening.

“Theon, don’t!” Tessa cried. “It’s more than a bond! I know that now.”

Emerald eyes cut to her. “You’re right, and now that I understand what that means, I’m the only one who can do this.”

She was writhing on the ground, trying to free herself of Luka and Axel. They were too strong though, and even if she could free herself, she’d never win. Not with the ring on her finger keeping her separated from her gifts.

One of Luka’s hands moved to her brow, smoothing hair back.

“Luka,” she sobbed, the sound defeated and broken.