10. Tessa

Before dawn, Tessa slips from Luka’s bed after her first dreamless sleep in ages. Dex confronts her in her dark room, accusing her of losing focus and trusting the wrong men. Their argument escalates; Tessa’s uncontrolled surge knocks them both into furniture, exposing how volatile her power remains. Dex demands she prioritize her destiny and wash Luka’s scent away; Tessa orders him out, then pointedly senses Theon through their bond and trades barbed words with both Theon and Luka.

At breakfast, tension hangs between Tessa, Dex, Dagian, and Sasha; Rordan and Oralia are absent. Refusing to train with Luka, Tessa heads to the cells carrying a feather she found, probing Valter first. She taunts him with negotiations while channeling light into the warded glass until refracted magic rips screams from him. Calibrating pain and threat, Tessa forces Valter to admit Axel is hidden in a paid-for safehouse in the Underground’s Leisure District, protected by bribed Alpha and Beta.

With Luka pressing her through the bond and Tessa shutting him out, she moves to the final cell: a shirtless, sapphire‑eyed prisoner with an onyx ring and a gold‑flecked white stone collar. She proposes a deal, contrasting Valter’s selfish betrayal with the prisoner’s implied honor as a father. To secure his cooperation, Tessa vows—if he provides accurate truths—to protect his son to the best of her ability.

The prisoner accepts, and their words seal as a magical bargain, Marks appearing on both. Acknowledging her own destructive path, Tessa embraces the ruthlessness fueling her campaign: she has the lead on Axel, leverage over Valter, a new pact tied to a father’s love, and tightening, conflicted bonds with both Theon and Luka.