29. Tessa

Tessa jolts from a harrowing vision: Theon stands over her with a dagger, intent on a sacrificial act to "correct the balance" while Luka, Axel, Tristyn, Katya, and two unfamiliar warriors look on. As Theon moves to strike, a queenly World Walker arrives with wolves and blocks the blow.

Waking in transit with Dex and Dagian, Tessa returns early to the Acropolis. In the car, Dagian recounts Arius history as defiers of the Revelation Decree who were banished and left desperate, shaping the kingdom’s ruthless edge.

At the townhouse, Theon is absent. Climbing to her rooms, Tessa finds Felicity Davers—Theon’s Match—relaxed inside his wards, pregnant and informed about Tessa’s week. The discovery confirms Tessa’s dream-memory of a dinner announcing an imminent Union. Reeling, Tessa flees.

Outside, her heartbreak detonates into a violent storm. Luka snatches her into the sky and sets down by the river. When Tessa accuses Theon of bringing Felicity into their rooms, Luka insists it is the first night. Tessa attacks; Luka endures, then binds her with black bands, cutting off her power. She begs Luka to numb her with sex; he refuses, insisting she must feel to avoid becoming a monster, and holds her as the storm eases to sleet.

Luka returns Tessa to his room, dries and dresses her, and promises Theon will come only after she’s asleep to stabilize the bond. Tessa, numb, vows not to wake in that bed upstairs and rejects hope—choosing distance from Theon even as her visions warn that her life and the balance may hinge on his choices.