Tempest of Wrath and Vengeance (Legacy, #3)

by Melissa K. Roehrich

At his name, she allowed her lips the barest touch against his, and he jerked against his restraints, wanting desperately to pull her closer. Make that kiss harder. Remind her he was the only one who could give her what she needed.

“They made me into this. They tried to make me small. Too wild. Too impulsive. And now when I join them? Become a monster? Be one of them?” Her gaze snapped back to him. “I am exactly what you wanted me to be,” she said, a maniacal note to her voice. “Someone they fear as much as you.” “Together, beautiful. I wanted them to fear what we would be together,”

flecks of gold and silver ashes—or maybe they were embers?—flickered in the air around her.

We were always meant to destroy one another.

He'd never truly fought back against her, and because of that, she seemed to think that overtaking him would require little effort. Her look of shock at him being free of her bonds was proof enough of that.

he knew his eyes were more black than green right now. Orbs of black hovered near his hands, ready for him to pull weapons from a pocket realm, while his magic coiled in his palm, waiting for him to issue an order.

There wasn't a trickle of fear. No, all he could feel was...want? That couldn't be right. But that was awe that stared back at him, as entranced as her magic seemed to be. Tendrils of light reached for his darkness. He let his power rise to meet hers, taunting and teasing. Her magic wanted as much as she did, and he wasn't surprised. Power would always be drawn to power, and despite her presence in this realm, he was still one of the most powerful Legacy in Devram. This was the first time he'd ever let her see the full extent of that. “Like what you see, beautiful?” he asked knowingly, her power still seeking him out. “No.” But it came out breathy. Her eyes were still wandering, raking slowly over his body and lingering. That was definitely want and need coming down the bond. Her magic was in a vibrating frenzy he could feel.

“Just last night I was kissing another. Isn’t that what you sent him to me for?” He went still. Luka had kissed her?

With those words, his power tightened around her throat, giving her just that— an outlet for that fury and desperation and need. Someone to challenge her because he’d come to realize that was what he needed too. He craved her defiance, pushing her to rebel, and then he’d punished her for it. It was dark and twisted, but it fed his need for control. He was seeing that now. How he’d forced her to become what he needed her to be. She wasn’t wrong. They’d made her into this, and if he was too late to bring her back, he’d make sure to give her what she needed now, no matter the cost.

She shoved hard at the air, and it hit him square in the chest, as if she’d physically struck him. The thing was, she’d flung his own power at him, and it sent him flying backwards. His wings kept him upright, but the burst of power flared wide,

Theon barely had time to get a shield up before another burst of magic was coming at him. This was her power though, and the charge of energy that slammed into his darkness didn’t dissipate. It bounced around as if trapped inside, content to stay there,

It’d been a long time since he’d had to call on the full strength of his gifts like this because usually⁠— Black flames erupted between them. He heard Tessa’s scream of surprise, but Theon took the moment to take a breath and readjust his grip on her magic. Luka was exactly the reason he rarely needed the full strength of his gifts. The Guardian bond always drove him to intervene. The flames receded, Luka standing between him and Tessa, where she was still standing on the desk. “What the fuck are you doing?” Luka demanded, gaze scanning Tessa before he turned to Theon. “Just having a conversation,” Theon answered, breathing hard. “What the fuck are you doing here?” “I figured with the two of you in one place⁠—” He was cut off by Theon’s darkness shoving him to the side to avoid yet another onslaught from Tessa, and she didn’t stop this time.

Eliza and Razik stood in the doorway, and fuck. Luka’s face had gone slack in a rare show of emotion. “Um, Raz…?” Eliza trailed off. “I see, mai dragocen,” Razik replied, his sapphire stare pinned on Luka.

She leapt from the desk, seeming to float to the floor before she was striding towards him. Luka didn’t try to intervene. He didn’t even tense at the danger prowling towards his Ward.

“But the male was…” “My Guardian,” Theon said, opening his eyes and meeting Razik’s shocked gaze. “And if your queen is to be believed, he’s also your brother.”

Yes, she had a theory that she was the most powerful being in Devram, but she would have lost that fight with Theon in the end. All he’d done was defend himself. The little power he had used against her wasn’t the full extent of what he could do.

Could she even drown? How do you kill the daughter of a god? No, Tessa, came a growl down their bond. At the same time a dark voice said, Don’t you dare, little storm.

"I'm not a Source," she retorted, her light converging in her hands, energy sparking. "Maybe not to the Arius Lord, but you are a source of something,"

Until black flames wound their way around the vampyre. The fire moved like twisting snakes, singeing and burning as it wrapped tighter and tighter around the being. The screams were all his now as the black fire dragged him away from Roan. Tessa didn't bother looking around for Luka

"This is me asking you to catch me, Luka!” she sobbed. "Please, Luka. Please!"

"You don't have to do this," she murmured, unable to look at him. “I mean, I would understand⁠—” "Is it what you need?" Theon cut in. She swallowed again, nodding once. "I promised to always give you what you need, and I also keep my promises."

Leaning in close, she whispered in a strained tone, "I am so sorry. Please don't go. Please don't leave me here after we just found each other." There were silent tears tracking down her cheeks now, and once again, Luka had to pull her back a minute later.

They are Trackers. From the god realms. Arius gifted a litter of Trackers to Temural as a gift when his powers emerged. These are from that litter.”

“You should shower, temptress. Get out of those wet clothes and warm up some,” he said. She rolled her eyes. “There is nothing tempting about me at this moment.” She lifted her hands, dried blood caked to them, in emphasis. Luka said nothing, but she felt something shudder down the bond. She

His eyes went back to his phone before they immediately snapped back to her. She paused, fingering the hem of the sweatshirt. “I didn’t have anything to wear.” It took him a few seconds before he said, “You can wear that.”

Staring into the flickering flames trapped behind the glass, she said, “Luka?” “Yeah?” “I want you to train me. To fight like you and Theon. To control this power.” She paused before saying again, “I want you to train me.” His arm came around her shoulders, and a jolt of pleasure shot down her limbs at the sensation. Pulling her a little closer so she nestled into his side, her temple fell to his shoulder, resting there as he said, “That’s my girl. We’ll start tomorrow.”

A kitten and a monster. It was a perfect balance. He smiled to himself as he watched another drop of blood trickle down the wall. She would come to him, and he wouldn't be empty anymore. Another drop. Just a little longer.

He’d let her sleep, knowing she likely hadn’t slept decently since the last time she’d been in his bed. Idly, he wondered if now that she’d agreed to train with him, if that meant she’d be seeking out his bed more often. He ignored how much his dragon liked that idea as he flipped the phone over and saw who the message was from.

Despite the fact that they could communicate down the bond, neither of them chose to do so. There was something too intimate about it when it was just the two of them speaking. It was different when it involved Tessa, almost as if it needed to be the three of them for it to make sense.

"I am still your godsdamn Guardian, Theon," he snapped, his lungs burning a little as he exhaled a plume of smoke in agitation. "I know you are," Theon retorted, his power appearing in his eyes and answering a challenge on instinct. "She's the most important thing right now. That's what I need you guarding."

“He can shift?” Luka asked flatly. “I haven’t seen his full dragon form, but he can isolate it. Like you,” Theon answered.

They called Theon possessive, but when his dragon claimed something as his? Luka felt as out of control as Tessa often was.

“Trackers were—are—exactly what they are named for. They emerged from the Chaos bound to the Firsts. A pair for each of them,” Theon explained. “So they’re like the gods?” Tessa asked, her head tilting with interest. “No,” Theon said, shaking his head. “They have gifts, but they are not nearly as powerful as the gods.” “Then they are like Guardians?” Theon shook his head again. “Bound maybe isn’t the best term. They are not driven to protect like a Guardian bond between a Sargon and Arius Legacy. They can choose not to, but their unique gifts allow them to always track the one they are tethered to. They can Travel, and have an immortal lifespan like the gods they emerged with. Strength and speed like the Night Children, but they don’t need blood.” “But they can die?”

Tessa asked, drifting away from Theon and wandering around the living room. Touching things. Things that were his, and yet nothing stirred in his soul as she picked up an antique frame and turned it over in her hand. No, now his dragon slept peacefully, not even opening an eye. Fucking useless thing.

Luka knew Theon didn’t realize he was doing it. It was an impulse, a natural reaction to the bond and her and everything they weren’t supposed to be. But his hand came up. Tessa was so lost in his stare, she didn’t notice it either. Not until the barest of touches when his fingertips brushed her cheek. Then she jerked backwards, her bare feet tripping on the rug beneath them. Her power flared, lightning crackling around her, and Luka lurched forward to put himself between them.

“I know your power doesn’t seem to require food to regenerate. Or blood.” He went quiet for a minute when she looked anywhere but at him. “You know how your power refills, don’t you?”

Releasing her chin, he sat back. “Eat up, baby girl. While your power might not need it, your body does. It’s already been a long day, and it’s barely past high noon.”

The thing was, the more time he was forced to spend with her like this, the more attached his dragon was getting to the idea of keeping her too. Because he never gave back things that were his.

Tristyn fell silent, but the look on his face told Theon he’d stumbled upon something profound. “No,” Theon snarled. “She will not be the sacrifice to correct this.”

Only certain bloodlines can create new Marks.” “Which ones?” Theon interrupted. “Zinta and Taika.” “Scarlett is neither one of those, from my understanding.” “Yes, but her history is not black and white. She…attained other powers. She does carry some of that lineage and can create new Marks.

“There is more than one type of bond among the realms,” Razik said with a sigh that said he found everyone in this room to be annoying for not already knowing this. “The Source bond you all have here is not what it was intended to be. Instead, someone, at some point in time, took a sacred bond and desecrated it.”

“There is a bond called a twin flame bond,” Razik said, his arm coming around Eliza’s waist and his hand resting on her hip. “The Mark is a twin flame Mark, and if both accept the Mark, it initiates something called the Trials.”

what twin flames can do. Once the bond is initiated, they can feel each other’s emotions and speak to each other via their thoughts.”

“And once the bond has been completed, they can combine the strength of their power so one or the other can use it.” “I fail to see how this differs from the Source bond,” Corbin cut in. “We simply call it something different, no?” Eliza shook her head. “From what I can gather, the Fae here do not choose the Source bond, but that is not the most concerning part. Finding your twin flame is not particularly common. More than that, it is not limited to only the most powerful. Any Fae and Legacy could be twin flames.” “So this bond can only occur between a Fae and Legacy?” Theon clarified. “Correct,” Razik answered.

“If accepted by both sides, it is something to be revered. A twin flame is the one soul you are destined to be with, have been joined with since the beginning of time. It is believed the souls of twin flames recognize each other, somehow finding each other among the stars, and this godsforsaken realm has used it to force the Fae beneath them.”

“We didn’t know,” Theon said, the words almost a whisper. “Someone knew,” she retorted. “Someone did this.”

but it appears with your advancements in this world, they have somehow deconstructed the twin flame Mark,” he explained, and Theon could see some resemblances. “But the first Mark is just the symbol of a god,” Lange said, leaning forward to see. Katya had done the same, Corbin looking over Lange’s shoulder. “That’s the one I still haven’t quite figured out,” Razik said. “But I think that part is some of the Source Mark. When the actual Source Mark is given, one power has to overtake the other. The next one though.” He tapped on the second Source Mark. “That one is this part of the twin flame Mark.”

“The third Mark is this portion,” he went on, tracing another portion of the Mark on his hand. “The last Mark took me a little while to work out. There are small traces of the twin flame Mark, but it also has the actual Source Mark in it along with⁠—” “The Guardian Mark,” Theon finished,

“I thought she was the High Queen of the World Walkers?” “And I am not a fucking World Walker.” “But Eliza serves in her Court?” Katya asked, and thank the gods he wasn’t the only one confused now. “She is the general of the Fire Court. Technically, she serves under the Fire Prince,” Razik said, withdrawing his hand and leaning back against the sofa. “Whom Scarlett is married to,” Theon said. “Yes, but Scarlett’s brother rules another continent. His wife is my queen,” Razik answered.

Which meant Tessa couldn’t be his twin flame, Theon realized. She couldn’t be anyone’s anything because she wasn’t Fae or Legacy. She couldn’t be his, despite these Source Marks trying to force her to be just that.