Dawn of Chaos and Fury (The Legacy Book 4)

by Melissa K. Roehrich

“I’ll always find you. I’m forever yours.”

“You broke me too,” he called after her, making her pause. “In ways I never could have imagined. So hate me, Tessa. Hate me and break me and make me feel it all, but would you save me? If you could?”

I can have motives and still care. It does not have to be one or the other.

“What am I going to do with you, Tessa?” Her eyes snapped open, and she lurched away from his touch. What was he going to do with her? The wild, untamed, chaotic thing that could never do as she was told or be what she was supposed to be. What was he going to do with her? The one who could never clean up her own messes and who always needed saving. What was he going to do with her? The Source that couldn’t submit, and the one expected to understand everything, yet be told nothing. A dark bark of laughter fell from her lips, a sound tinged with the madness that had laid claim to her soul. He should be asking what she was going to do with all of them.

How often had pretty words been used to manipulate her? No, Tessa only understood actions. Words fell on deaf ears and emotions betrayed her.

In the end, he couldn’t blame her one bit for sinking into her power. It was the only constant she’d ever had.

“We’re going to a new world, Tessa, and all we’ll have is each other,” he said into the room, his eyes still closed. “I don’t know what that looks like. I don’t know how we do that after the betrayals we’ve faced here.”

“I don’t know how we live without him.”

“You need shoes, Tessa,”

we're back to this?

Tessalyn Ausra, I would sacrifice all the realms and all the stars for you. You are perfectly wild. Perfectly untamed. You were not made to be caged, nor were you made to be a sacrifice for a realm that does not deserve such a gift. You were made to live in the light. Go live, little storm.

“I have been forgotten and discarded, used and abused. You think I have any care for what you are? For my own wellbeing at this point? I have nothing to lose anymore. I’ve already lost it all. I am the villain in everyone’s story, including my own. I am the excuse for everyone’s actions, and I am the power everyone seeks. I stand at a crossroads. Salvation or destruction. So either tell me why you chose your path or leave. I will make a choice either way. You can decide if your knowledge is valuable enough for me to consider before I take that next step.”

Life must give, and death must take.

“Theon, get to the fucking point,”

“What do I need to do, Tessa? I’ve sworn loyalty to you. What can I give you in penance?” In the next breath, her entire face lit up as she said, “A story.”

“We’re the same. You are alone. And I’m alone. And you survived. I need to know how to survive being alone. We were alone for so long, and then I thought … And then we weren’t, and now we are. And I know it’s my fault, but—”

“I don’t forget anything,” she replied. “That’s not true,” he answered, a grim note in his tone. “But that’s not entirely your fault.”

“I don’t know how to trust anyone anymore,” she whispered.

when did you?

Tessa. Then trust yourself.” “I don’t trust her either. She’s too—” “She’s perfect,” he interjected. “Too many people have tried to change her and use her and take from her.” “And now?” she asked, her voice wavering as she waited for his answer. “And now she is free to become whoever she wishes to be,”

“Axel, you weren’t born to live in the dark. You were born to bring your people out of it.”

“I need you to stop protecting me and start needing me in the same way I need you,”

“I need to know you still choose me, Axel.”

You’re right. I can’t guarantee a godsdamn thing, but I can vow to never stop trying.”

She wasn’t a Queen or a Lady or a god. But she was a reckoning. She was vengeance. She was chaos and fury and everything in between. And even if she could choose it for herself, there was no one left to be her balance.

“I’ve come for what is mine.”

“I know this is hard for you to understand, as most things are for Arius and his lineage, but you don’t get to have something just because you want it,” Dex sneered.

how revolutionary

Don’t try to figure out fate. It will only lead to madness,” Miara warned. “The Fates are crafty beings, keeping their secrets close. They wander about unknown and unseen. It is why we do not meddle. They are everywhere and nowhere.”

“What? I swear to the gods if you keep any more godsdamn secrets from me,” Luka said on a growl, smoke appearing on his exhale.

“You are important, Tessa. Not your power. Not your bloodline. You.”

“I can’t decide if this is a dream,” she answered, and his brow furrowed. “It is not a dream, Tessa.” “Then you truly just apologized to me?” she asked with a wry smirk. “You are a brat,”

“You’re insane,” Felicity rasped. “Indeed,” Tessa hummed,

“Stop touching my godsdamn things,” Tessa snarled,

“Yours, little storm. Only yours. Every piece of me.”

“Am I a villain now?” “I don’t give a fuck if you are. I’ll still sacrifice every star in the sky for you,”

Who was going to buy her flip-flops? And why was she thinking about flip-flops when he wasn’t fucking moving?

“I’m going to kill you.” She slowly rose to her feet. “You’re going to run because you’re a coward, but I will hunt you down. It won’t be too much of a hassle. I’ll enjoy it. Knowing you’re constantly wondering if today will be the day I find you and make such an awful mess. I’m going to kill you, and I’m going to enjoy every second of it.”

“Cienna,” Theon said. “What is happening?” “She is bartering with the gods and the Fates,”

“You don’t get to decide who pays it. Fate will do what it must to keep the balance.”

“You can’t defy Fate,” Eliza argued. “Watch me,”

“There’s always a cost, and you are playing with life and death.” “I am life and death,”

“Both of you let me be who I was always meant to be, whether that’s a villain or a saint. You accept me and all my chaos. Some hate the villains, but I joined them and learned how to love and to be loved. And maybe it’s not how the rest of the stars love, but it’s ours.”

he’d sit in the rain forever if it meant he could be one of the two people she’d let herself learn to feel with.

They’d convinced her she wasn’t alone. Proven it as best they could. Now she needed to understand that she was theirs as much as they were hers, and that meant she didn’t fucking leave them behind. They were hers in every way. Lovers. Equals. Protectors. And, when necessary, they’d still be her villains.

“We can have all kinds of plans, baby doll,” he said, uncovering the plate and carrying it to the counter. “Some work out. Sometimes we’re fucked over. And sometimes we didn’t know we were dreaming the wrong dreams all along until we’re living them,”

“Is that why we got along so well? Two souls lost to madness?” “We have to be a little mad to dream, Tessalyn,”

“You’ll pluck the stars from the sky for me,” she murmured against his lips. “But I’ll burn them to ashes for you just so we can build something new

there was always a cost. For every good, there was an evil. For every light, there was a dark. For every sacrifice, there was a reward.

It is hoping, even when it seems pointless, because hope sees the invisible. What is possible. What hides in the dark, hope drags to the light. Hope is never truly lost as long as one person still dares to dream of something better.”

“I once thought hope was pointless,” Tessa said softly. “What changed your mind?” Kyra asked. “A friend gave me music,” she answered, her eyes finding Axel. “When my world was breaking, he cared enough to give me something to drown in when there was nothing else.”

“We can try to anticipate problems and prepare for them as best we can, but eventually, we just have to jump,

“This is utter nonsense. It will change everything.” “That is the entire point,”