“Wait,” Rordan interjected. He snapped his fingers at the seraph. “Start over. Here,” he said, motioning a circle around the mirror.
“Here?” the female repeated. “Make it flow here?”
“Yes,” he clipped out. He turned back to Tessa. “Prove that loyalty then.”
His eyes narrowed as she snatched up the dagger the Hunter was offering her, and she wasted no time dragging it across her palm.
“Tessa, wait. Stop!” Theon said, trying to get to his feet, but the seraph behind him planted his hands on his shoulders, keeping him in place. The seraph’s hand moved as if gesturing to something. Or halting something. Tessa couldn’t split her focus to figure it out right now.
A Hunter moved closer, but he stilled when Tessa hissed, “Do not touch him. He is for Achaz. Will you steal from him?”
The Hunter froze. “We never steal from the Light King.”
“Good answer,” she replied before she slid her hand atop a symbol of three interlocking triangles.
“Tessa!” Theon said again, his eyes wide. “Tessa, what are you doing?”
“Come now, Theon,” she said patronizingly while the mirror swirled. “You keep telling me you want to meet a god. Now you can.”
Rordan was standing ramrod straight, his eyes fixed on the mirror. “If you are lying to me, child…”
She stepped to his side as the seraph finished the circle, taking a wide step back.
“You can see the symbol as well as I can,” Tessa drawled. “Is that not Achaz’s symbol?”
Rordan didn’t speak as the mirror continued to eddy, gold and silver embers and sparks flitting throughout until a form took shape. A small gasp came from the male beside her, as though he hadn’t truly believed she was summoning the god they descended from, and she was glad because the sound hid her own whimper as her power reached for the mirror.
No. We can’t have that.
But we want it.
No.
Yes.
A little longer.
It took another few minutes. It always did, and she was fairly certain it had more to do with the gods favoring dramatics than anything else. But finally, there he stood. Blue eyes with brilliant flecks of gold. A glowing aura surrounding him. Tan complexion. Golden hair that reached nearly to his chin.
Rordan had fallen to a knee, and Tessa did the same, bowing her head as the god formed fully in the mirror.
“Tessa!” Theon barked.
The Hunters hissed, and Theon fell silent. She didn’t dare look at him.
“Has my granddaughter learned respect?” Achaz asked, his voice ringing in the circular room. She lifted her head, meeting Achaz’s gaze as he added, “Then again, that can’t be true because your mother is missing.”
“She is here. I can be rather impulsive,” Tessa answered, a sliver of her power breaking free. Achaz honed in on it, a hunger filling his eyes. “But I had to know. I had to meet her.”
“I offered to bring you to her,” Achaz chided. “This could have all been avoided. Misunderstandings could have been rectified. I would have taken care of both of you.”
“I know,” Tessa said softly, eyes dropping to the floor where the Marks sat in front of her. “I am not very trusting. Too many people have tried to use me.”
“You can still fix this. You know what you need to do to regain my favor. I can still take you from that world like I promised,” he went on.
When she didn’t immediately answer, his attention shifted to Rordan. “What do you have for me?”
“The Arius Lord, your grace,” Rordan said, lifting his head. “I will rip his traitorous power from his soul before your eyes.”
