Queen of Ruin(Book three of the Immortals Series)
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX TESSA IDRISSI

"Not so fucking tough now, are you?” Kneeling over the Death Dealer's body, Tessa rested her chin on her hand and poked at it with her knife.

As she continued to spew insults at whatever remnants of the man's spirit might still exist in the air of that room, her disgraced uncle slithered away out the front door like the masked coward that he was. "That felt so good; I ought to bring you back so I can do it again."

Rafik understood every creature has a role to play in the grand scheme of things, and seeing her slice through the Death Dealer made it clearer what Tessa's place in the order of beings was.

The scientist in him fell even more in love with her at that moment, kneeling over her kill like the beautiful monster she was, his perfect specimen of nature's love and hate, Fate's gift to seduction and destruction. He believed that whatever lay ahead for her must be extraordinary and that she might rule the entire world someday.

Watching the twins talk nonchalantly over the bloody remains of the Death Dealer, he observed his wife in awe, and she glanced at him then smiled. Even with his bloody, swollen features, she only saw the boy who kissed her that muggy Savannah night. He would forever be her pinnacle of man, the muse against which she judged all others. "Are you alright, baby?"

With a cute little hop over the dead man like a child playing hopscotch on the playground, she came to Rafik and pushed his hair off his face. "Those fuckers didn't have to hit you. Look what they did to that handsome face!" Her soft, plump lips were like the healing waters of Lourdes when the blast of endorphins surged through his body as she kissed his cheek. Then a soul-wrenching flood of adrenaline shot through his veins when he glanced up to see Teddy breathe his gift of flames over the man, incinerating him instantaneously.

His entire body shivered in fear and adoration at the two wonders before him. Finding one Firebreather was a marvel, but having two in his presence was indeed a miracle.

In the parlor's doorway, Delia stood speechless and shook like a leaf about to blow away in the wind. Teddy smiled knowingly and shook his head. "Sorry about all this, ma'am. We'll be leaving you soon; we don't want to cause any more trouble for you nice people."

Delia pulled her arms tight about her and shook her head. "Where will you go? They have spies everywhere."

Glancing back at Tessa, Teddy sighed before looking to Delia again. He hoped that whoever might listen in on their conversation would take the bait and stop searching for them. "To the Realm. There's nowhere left for us to go." Going to Rafik, Delia threw her arms around his neck and patted his back as her eyes teared over. "You be careful." Pulling away, she put her hand on his cheek. He was like a son to her, and knowing she would never see him again was a bitter pain to swallow. "I'll see you on the other side. You will always be welcome in the Eastlands."

As Tessa slid her arm around his waist to help him up the stairs, Rafik placed his hand on his heart and spoke out to his mentor. "For everything, Delia, thank you. I will never forget." When they got upstairs, Teddy tended to Rafik's wounds as Tessa frantically searched the room to make sure she left nothing else behind. "We don't have long, Tess. Are you ready?"

She pushed her hair off her forehead as her eyes snapped back to them. "Whoever took my dairy, they're working with our grandparents." Rubbing her fingertips against her head, Tessa searched around the air in front of her. "My diary." Realizing it was her own love-struck, drunken words that doomed them, she sank back into the chair by the bed while her lips curled down into a frown and quivered as tears began streaming down her face.

The burn of knowing that her love condemned Rafik flashed over her and rose through her throat, then spilled out her mouth. "I wrote my real name in it. They know we're together because of my dairy. They wouldn't even have known who you are if it wasn't for that stupid fucking book."

Rafik slid off the bed and kneeled before her, then wove himself between her hands as she tried to cover the shame on her face. "No, my darling one. The only sin is that I pretended to be someone I wasn't and that I asked you to do the same to protect me. For that, I beg your forgiveness."

He wiped her tears away with his healing hands and smiled through his split lips. "Now, you are Mrs. Tessa Idrissi only."

Taking her hand in his, Rafik kissed her knuckle. "I am exceedingly proud because, now, I get to claim you properly. If I were any kind of man to begin with, I would have done so from the very beginning."

She cupped his cheek and closed her eyes. To her, he was the very definition of perfection, and even he couldn't speak negatively about himself. "Don't say that, baby."

With her other hand on his cheek, she looked in his eyes so he would understand she meant every word. "You are an angel." Bringing her face to his, Tessa kissed his bloodied lip. "You are my man no matter what you call yourself."

Rafik pulled her up into his arms and groaned as the adrenaline started to recede, and the pain of his wounds began to set in. As he rocked her in his arms and kissed the top of her head, he looked over his shoulder. "We have to leave. They'll be coming for us soon, and we can't endanger everyone else."

Snapping the cable-knit sweater out as he came to Rafik, Teddy nodded. "I know. I'm thinking."

As he helped Rafik dress in something less bloody, Tessa took their bags from the bed. "Where are we going?"

"Haldir said not to stay in one place too long, so I guess it doesn't matter too much. I know for one goddamn thing; we'll leave the frozen chunk of ice in Norway as a last resort. That will be the Alamo in case shit goes terribly wrong. They won't be able to sneak up on us there." Rubbing the back of his neck, Teddy shrugged.

"Well, shit. They'll probably expect us to go to Uncle Billy first, so Savannah's out." Trilling his lips, he tossed up his hand. "Fuck it. We'll start in Romania and work outward in a circle. If we become separated for whatever reason, that's how we'll meet up again."

Standing between her mate and her twin, Tessa slid her little hands in theirs and closed her eyes.

When her feet were on solid ground again, Tessa opened her eyes as the black mist floated off on the early morning wind, and the sun started to peek up over the horizon.

Standing on the lush green hillside overlooking a turquoise lake and surrounded by rocky mountains, the cold wind blew through her sweater, and her teeth began to chatter as she hugged herself close.

It's thought that Firebreathers don't mind the cold, that their internal spark kept them warm, but quite the opposite is true. Even the slightest drop in temperature sent her into a painful wave of ache that reached every cell. Wrapping her in his cloak, Rafik nuzzled his bruised and battered face against her cheek. "It's alright, my love. Hold tight to me."

The tall silver furs and pine trees blew in the breeze, and as their branches rubbed together, the eerie wailing of it filled the open space where the cabin sat. It was almost like they were crying for the three fugitives thrust back into a life they didn't want, for crimes they didn't commit.

Once they got inside, Teddy lit the fireplace as Tessa helped Rafik sit on the sofa. As she searched for a blanket in the wooden trunk they used as a coffee table, Rafik observed her in the firelight. "I'm so sorry. If I were a better man, I would have let you live out your life in peace without me."

Sucking back the pain in his chest, his teary eyes pleaded for forgiveness. "You'd be living in Greece on our beach, and you'd never even know I existed."

Her brow arched as she glanced up and shook her head, then shut the trunk and sat beside him. "Don't be silly, Rafik. My life would have meant nothing." Taking a second to look around the room, she sighed through her nose. "It's not your fault. It was my stupidity that got us into this mess."

She wrapped him in a soft fleece throw, and he hissed away the pain from his side as she wedged herself into it. "You were a girl, and you were in love. That is not a crime, and if it is, it is worth dying for to me."

Pulling him down to her chest as she moved to lay down, she shook her head. "I won't let them get you because of my mistakes. I'll kill them all; I don't care whose blood runs through them."

As she hummed their song to him, Tessa rubbed his hair as Teddy searched through her bag for a healing potion. After shaking it up, he gave it to Rafik. "Drink up. You'll be as good as new tomorrow."

Turning his nose up at the bitter concoction, he swallowed it down and rested against her breast again. She glanced up to her brother and grinned a tight-lipped smile. "Well, that whole normal thing was fun while it lasted, huh?"

With a sigh, Teddy plopped down on the trunk beside them as he shook his head. "It wasn't really all it was cracked up to be on my end." Looking back in her eyes, he shrugged. "We'll get there, Tess."

After she kissed the top of Rafik's head as he snuggled close to her for warmth, she motioned upstairs with her head. "Go on and get some sleep. I'm too fired up to close my eyes now."

Scratching out his curly hair, he nodded, then slapped his hands to his knees and pushed himself up. "Alright. I'm going to take the bed."

While he crawled up into the loft, she whispered to Rafik as she caressed all his pain away. "You know, before all that happened, I was holding our baby again in my dreams. I can't get her little fat cheeks out of my head. I'm going to kiss all over them when I finally meet her."

Her voice drifted further and further away while he fell under the spell of sleep and hummed into her chest. "I have her, Rohi. We'll be waiting for you by the sea.