Tempest of Wrath and Vengeance (Legacy, #3)

by Melissa K. Roehrich

“Their queen will seek her vengeance, Tessa. Make no mistake.” “We are counting on it.” “Her vengeance will know no bounds.” “Then she will know my wrath, just as you have.”

“There is no way they know she’s essentially Achaz, Zinta, Arius, and Serafina. They would have already killed her,” Theon said. “They would have never let her get this strong or this powerful.” “Unless Jove thought he could control her.” “Control the uncontrollable,” Theon muttered. “It all goes back to that stupid prophecy.”

“You are not supposed to be here,” a voice hissed, moments before he was yanked backwards by one of the beings. Luka whirled to find a gold dagger at his throat and a female standing beside the phantom being. These had to be the Hunters Tristyn had warned them about. The female was beautiful in a haunting sort of way. Tall and lithe, her raven hair was stark against her pale skin. It was woven into a simple plait, strands of gold interspersed among it. Her gown was gold, and so were the bangles on her wrists. Her eyes, though, were bright violet as they glared at him. “Did she call to you? Or were you sent?” the female demanded. “I don’t know what that means,” Luka replied. “We shall see, young warlord,” she sneered, before her hand shot out, slamming into his chest. Luka lurched to his feet, tripping over the mess of blankets and pillows as he looked around wildly, blinking sleep from his eyes. He was still at his cave. It was still dark. His black flames still cast a low glow over the space. He was still alone. But somehow, he’d also just been in one of Tessa’s visions, and he didn’t know what the fuck to do with that.

“My son is here with you? Separated from his Ward?” Tessa blinked in surprise. “That is your question?” The male only nodded, his eyes never leaving her. “Yes,” she answered. “He said Theon sent him to me, but I do not know if I believe him.” “Either way, there is only one instance that would allow him to put another before his Ward.” “And what is that?” The male tipped his head back, his eyes falling closed. She could swear a small smile played on his lips as he murmured more to himself than her, “She is going to hate this.”

Her voice was deadly and had that ring to it that always made him take pause. Her eyes were brilliantly violet, flecks of gold shimmering in them, and the power that wove around her arms was doing more than that now. Her feet were an inch off the ground. She hovered in the air, her golden hair floating on a phantom breeze, and what he could only describe as golden ashes were floating among the strands.

“You again?” demanded a female voice. And before he could turn around, he was yanked from the vision once more.

“Together, beautiful. I wanted them to fear what we would be together,” he corrected, every part of him going on high alert as what appeared to be flecks of gold and silver ashes—or maybe they were embers?—flickered in the air around her.

“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.”

And with each death, it strengthened. With each life it took, her hope of regaining any semblance of control lessened.

"They are Trackers," she answered. "You mean they are relatives of the Trackers," Theon clarified. Auryon shook her head. "No. 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.”

Because even if Razik wasn’t related to him in some way, which was highly unlikely given how much they resembled each other, the implication was clear. The male was a Sargon Legacy. “He can shift?” Luka asked flatly. “I haven’t seen his full dragon form, but he can isolate it. Like you,” Theon answered.

“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.”

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.

Towering trees kept them corralled on the path, and with a start she realized they were no longer on the edge of the Dreamlock Woods, but entering them. Why would they put the Villas in the Dreamlock Woods? Where it was said dreams became nightmares that hunted you? Where it was said creatures lived that couldn’t be found anywhere else in the realm?

“I’m not afraid of going underground,” she bristled. Brecken arched a brow. “I suppose not. You’re just afraid of being trapped down there. You’re letting your fears become your limits, Tessa. Be who you were meant to be.” “Stop saying that,” she hissed, making her way to him. “I don’t want to be whoever I was meant to be. I want the freedom to be whoever I want to be.”

“Do not ever speak down to me like that again,” she said. “I did not walk away from Theon to be used by someone else. I am not Theon’s Source. I am not Rordan’s to use and command. I am not Dex’s. I do not belong to Achaz or Arius or any other god. And I sure as fuck am not your pawn for some vendetta or vigilantism. You can tell me what you wish me to know, but rest assured, I’ll find the truth as I have with everything else. So lie or don’t, but know that whatever choice you make in this moment determines your salvation or destruction.”

The Hunter’s head slowly turned to him. “You speak out of turn, light guardian.” Brecken ignored him, turning to face Tessa fully. “If you let them loose in here, they will know it was you.” “Good,” she said again. “And what about the innocent Fae? They have nowhere to go right now, Tessa. Worse, they may be blamed for this,” Brecken went on.

“You would have brought Katya here?” Tessa asked tightly. “They have been trying to get into Anala Kingdom for decades,” Brecken answered. “She was the first fire Fae I found in all my time here. I was supposed to bring her here. She was never supposed to go to the Emerging,” he answered. “But you brought her to the Celeste Estate.” He nodded. “I knew what they’d do to her, and I couldn’t… It was the only way I could protect her then.”

“I was sent to find the hidden Fae. Those who have Legacy blood, and they don’t know it.” “How do you find them?” He hesitated before saying, “I can sense power and the strength of it.”

“You are not a Lady in the realm. I do not bow to you,” he sneered, but she heard the faint tremble in his voice. “No,” she agreed, taking a single step forward. “In this realm, I am a goddess, but to you, I am your ending.”

The pair of them were mates, and they were also power shifters. While most Shifters only had one other form, power shifters could shift into any animal or anyone, and they were rare. So rare, Theon only knew of six of them in the Underground. They could also shift energy and matter, but they did each have a preferred form. Kylian favored a large, black jaguar, while Giselle often shifted into a giant python.

“I am not a Pax Legacy,” Tristyn said. “Pax is my father.” “Bullshit,” Theon huffed, but even as he said it, he knew it was true. Why wouldn’t it be? “As for Cienna, yes. We are full-blooded siblings. Pax fell in love with one of Taika’s descendants,” he replied. “So you are both Pax and Taika Legacy?” “We are not Legacy at all. A direct descendant of a god makes us deities,” Tristyn answered. “And before you ask, Tessa is more than that, despite being a direct descendant of Temural.” “Of course you know that,” Theon muttered. “Anyway, the magic of the witchcraft sisters favors females. I can access it, but it takes more effort on my end. She favors healing and potions; I favor enchantments and spell enhancements.”

“The descendants of Sargon become the Guardians of the Arius bloodline. Achaz did not like this, so he created guardians of his own from beings known as seraphs. Some seraphs were given additional power, like the ability to Travel and banish their wings, but their primary magic must be stolen.”

“How can one steal magic?” “When they reach a certain age, the light guardians select a being. Leading up to this point, they have been watching and observing countless magical beings—Fae, Legacy, Shifters, Witches. They study them and try to determine which power would serve them best.” “Wait,” Tessa cut in, sitting up straight. “They watch beings for years, and when they reach a certain age they…select one?” Xan nodded. “Only they kill them and steal their magic.” “You can steal magic by killing someone?” “No. Only the light guardians can do such a thing, and they can only do so once. Once they make their choice, they cannot kill another for a different power.” But…her Hunter had called Brecken a light guardian. So that meant… Brecken had killed an Arius Legacy at some point to have the power that he did. And if Dex and Oralia were light guardians as well, then they had done the same somewhere along the line. It all fit. The feathery wings she’d thought she’d imagined surrounding Dex. Random feathers in her room.

“Even the monsters and the villains need others. We’re not meant to do life alone.” She didn’t reply, but a single tear slipped free.

“There is a sorceress altering your visions,” Lilura said, ignoring them both. “Like this one?” Tessa said, stepping out from behind Luka despite his grumbled protests. “Is that how Luka is here with me?” Lilura eyed Luka once more. “That I do not know, but he protects you even here.”

Blinking, he looked around, trying to figure out where they were. The waters here were dark, shimmering black under the dying sun. He only knew of waters like that in the Night Waters in Arius Kingdom. What were they doing so deep in the kingdom?

“Love to me is defined as safety, and I know loving someone as protecting them. It’s fucked up, and I know it’s not how the whole love thing is supposed to work, but that’s how I’ve known love. And this thing between us? I don’t understand it either, but I know that I love you. I was loving you when I sent you with Tristyn, and I was loving you when I left you here. I know I need to learn to love you differently. Normally maybe? Whatever it is, I’ll do it. If you’re telling me that loving you means we’re together no matter what, then that’s what I’ll do. Tell me how to love you, kitten, because I’ll pluck stars from the sky and walk through your flames. And when I’ve turned, and this bond we never got to have has faded, I’ll still choose you. I’ll still love you, and it will mean even more because we’re choosing it. We’re not being drawn to each other by some bond gifted by the Fates.”

“Sargon can isolate the shift like we can. Just wings or eyes, for example. He can do that because he is a god. Some of his children, however, cannot. Some are either in their human forms or their dragon forms. All or nothing, so to speak. Because our mother was a dragon shifter and not a mortal, we can isolate our shift.”

“Arius and Serafina had two children together: Saylah and Temural. But Saylah and Temural’s gifts are simply extensions of Arius and Serafina’s,” Razik said. “Saylah is the goddess of night and shadows, which are extensions of Arius’s gifts of death, darkness, and endings and Serafina’s gifts of dreams.” “And Temural?” Tessa asked. “I admittedly do not know him as well.” Her brow arched. “You know Saylah?” “Better than I’d like to,” Razik muttered. “But Temural is the god of the wild and untamed. Both could conceivably come from Arius and Serafina’s gifts, which brings us to your gifts.” “Have you ever had visions when you aren’t sleeping?” Theon asked. Tessa’s brow furrowed. “No. That’s why I always thought they were dreams.” “Exactly,” Theon said, and she almost smiled at the excited note that had entered his voice. “The visions of your Zinta bloodline merged with the dreams of the Serafina bloodline.” “And we think that because…?” Luka asked, having taken a seat between her and Theon. “Because one of Serafina’s gifts is being able to walk among dreams,” Razik said. “But because the powers were altered in Tessa’s case, she is pulling others in to walk her dreams. Or in this case, her visions.” The room fell silent as they let all this sink in. Tessa had to admit in some ways it made sense, but in others, it still didn’t. “Then why is it only Luka?” she asked. “Why did I never pull Theon or Axel into a vision? Or anyone else, for that matter?” “Because you trust Luka the ...

With the focus of the Lords and Ladies elsewhere, she wants to take over the Underground. Then, when Devram is broken, there will be no one to stand against her when she comes in.” “With the whole of the Underground behind her,” Kat said in understanding. Axel nodded. “All the mistreated and forgotten of the realm. Everyone banished for whatever reason.” “And she wants you at her side.” “Yes,” Axel said. Swallowing thickly, he added, “She…helped me find you in the end, but she believes I killed you.” Kat lurched back. “Why would she care?” “I think…she knew,” he said. “I think she knows about this twin flame bond. I think she knows what we are.” “How could she possibly know?” “I don’t think she’s from Devram,” he admitted. “She’s one of the oldest beings in the realm. Honestly? I think she’s been here from the beginning.”

His fangs didn’t sink into warm flesh of fire, but it was powerful blood that flooded his mouth. It still wasn’t what he wanted most, even if it was enough to satiate the need. The power he drank was soothing and mighty, a sense of peace and calming coming over him. But more than that were flashes of images he didn’t recognize. A female with red-brown hair and violet eyes. Another female with dark skin that glowed with a silver aura and raven black hair floating around her. A kiss beneath the moonlight. Swords clashing. A panther prowling. “That’s enough,” Tristyn growled, yanking his arm back.

“Your tears are red,” Kat whispered. “And yours are heartbreaking,” he replied, pressing a kiss to her temple before he pulled her back into his chest.

“Tessa?” Lange said in surprise. “I had a feeling I was going to see you today, but I didn’t quite believe it.”

Stepping closer to the water, she watched the darkness churn. She knew of the Night Waters in the Arius Kingdom. Those waters were black as night too, and she’d heard the Wynfell River had fallen to the same. What no one could figure out was how or why.

“Tessalyn!” Auryon snapped. “You are wild and fury, light and dark. Once lost, you were found. The only one who hasn’t realized that is you.”

“Tessa asked us to free her. Not Theon,” Lange went on. “Knowing Tessa, I would imagine she meant freeing her from more than a room. Like a genesis.”

“There was a prophecy given when I arrived here with you and Tessa,” his father answered, but his eyes were still fixed on Razik. “When a son learned truth, a genesis would commence. That’s when my imprisonment would end.

“You are his?” Xan asked, pulling everyone’s attention back to him. “Yes,” she answered immediately. “His chosen inevitable?” Eliza frowned. “If you are asking if I am his source, the answer is yes. If you are asking if I am his twin flame, the answer is also yes.” “That is not what I was asking, but the confirmation will suffice,” he answered.

Black flames appeared at the same time as flames of red and orange and hottest blues. They tangled together, winding and twisting, until something burst from the center of it. One would expect a dragon, but it wasn’t. It was a giant bird of dark flames, his eyes the bluest of fire, while its wings and tail were tipped in oranges and reds. Razik yanked Eliza back with an arm around her waist as the bird let out a shrill call before soaring above them. Luka ducked, feeling the heat blaze down the back of his neck. “What is that?” he barked. Cienna was standing tall, watching the flaming bird. “A dark phoenix,” she answered. “Anala favored phoenixes. Interesting that is what their magic chose to form.”

Razik’s smile was sharp. “Eliza’s been dying to spill some blood.” “I have not,” she scoffed, but that was excitement in her eyes as she drew her sword. “Where did you get that?” Xan asked, eyes wide and fixed on her blade. She smirked at Razik. “I was faster than a dragon and won it.” “By mere seconds,” he snarled. “It’s still mine,” she tossed back. “If I take out more guards in the next few minutes, I get to use it in the next fight,” Razik said, sauntering past her and drawing a blade from his magic. “Deal,” she replied eagerly, darting past him.

“There is alcohol in our rooms, mai dragocen,” he gritted out. “Your dragocen?” Xan said, nodding stiffly in thanks when Luka handed him a glass before pouring the amber liquid into it. His father knocked it back, careful not to disturb that stone collar too much, before immediately holding the glass out for a refill. “You have completed the proving ritual?” Razik’s jaw clenched again, hard eyes sweeping over them. “Dragocen is a word from our home world,” Xan tried again. “I’m aware,” Razik growled. “And you know what it means?” Razik looked visibly affronted. “Yes, no thanks to you.” “What Razik means to say,” Eliza cut in, “is that we have not completed the Trials yet.”

“What does dragocen mean?” Luka asked. “It is an ancient language from the Beginning,” Razik replied, his tone pure arrogance. “Dragons hoard treasure. Their most valuable is called dragocen. Mai is a claiming. My most valued treasure.” Luka looked at their father, who was sipping on his second glass of liquor. “That is true, but it is more than that.” “By all means, enlighten us,” Razik drawled. Xan’s lips twitched as though he was fighting a smirk. He’d already picked up on his son’s love of knowledge and was using it to pull him into a conversation. Luka finally poured his own drink, settling into a chair. He still couldn’t believe he was sharing a drink with his father. “Dragocen is from an ancient language, but it refers to a bond that emerged with the Beings of Chaos,” he answered. “It is the bond the twin flame was modeled after when the gods created it as a gift to their children and the Fae who fill their magic.”

Xan’s smile was warm. “I’ve only witnessed your interactions with Razik for an hour or so, but I can tell you are his inevitable.” “That is the second time you’ve said that,” Luka said. “At its core, it is what a dragocen bond is,” Xan explained. “An inevitable bond.” Eliza stiffened. “You mean a forced bond?” “No,” Xan said. “A bond can always be rejected. But if the proving ritual is done and accepted, it becomes inevitable.” “What is a proving ritual?” she asked. “I am assuming my son sacrificed greatly for you,” Xan said, his tone softening. “Perhaps nearly died? Proving he values you above all else?” Eliza swallowed, looking over her shoulder at Razik. It was the only answer that was needed. “You will complete your twin flame Trials,” Xan said. “But you are his dragocen. A bond not created by gods or designed by the Fates, but born of the stars and chaos. A pull that cannot be denied? That appeared when you both needed it most? Am I correct?” Eliza shifted on her feet, her hands pulled into her sleeves and curling around the ends. Razik said nothing, staring coldly at his father. “We thought it was just the twin flame bond,” Eliza said quietly, and it was only when she spoke that Razik broke his stare. He stepped forward, wrapping his arm around her and pulling her into his chest. “It changes nothing.” “I didn’t intend for it to,” Xan replied. “I only meant for you to properly understand.” Then his sapphire eyes landed on Luka. “Both of you.” “If this is a bond of all...

Ask Tessa. As if that was some simple task. A chosen inevitable. Eliza was right. It was a contradiction. But what if he didn’t want to choose it anymore?

“We’re Fae,” Corbin said slowly. She sent a knowing look. “You’re as Fae as I am,” she agreed. “Which means not entirely. You even less than him.”

“You forget I have spent decades with the rulers of this realm,” she said, her tone filled with venom as she darted forward. They weren’t expecting it, and her dagger was at Corbin’s throat before either of them could blink. “I know their secrets. In the time it would take your call to Luka to connect, I will have already killed your lover. While you were panicking, I will have alerted the Serafina Lady that you can hear the winds.”

“Here’s the thing: this area of the Pantheon is designed to keep things in. That is what we keep. Everything about it is designed that way.” “By who?” Theon demanded. “Surely you weren’t here when Devram was created.” “No,” he agreed. “But others were. Cienna and I are not the only Keepers. There have been others over the millenniums. Some have faded; others still live. One now leads the Apothecary District in the Underground. The point is, on the rare occasion something makes its way into Devram, a Keeper is here to meet it. Cienna and I were no exception. Neither were Xan and Luka when they brought Tessa.” “What does any of this have to do with getting her out of here?” Theon asked. Tessa was listening, but she was also restless. She started wandering the perimeter of the room again. No windows. She couldn’t see the sky. “Because everything about it is designed to keep her in,” Tristyn said in exasperation. “It’s designed to contain gods. It is why technology is not allowed in the Pantheon. It is too unpredictable, and we don’t know what those who make it through are capable of. We give them less to manipulate. I can get her out of that cell, but doing this quick and dirty is going to trigger other enchantments.”

“I don’t know what this is,” Theon started. “It is the start of a genesis,” he answered.

One could go mad trying to stay ahead of the visions, constantly seeking new prophecies and omens, and still destinies would alter. In the end, nothing was inevitable. The only certainty among the stars was that fate was a culmination of choices made over days, months, and years.