Chapter Thirty-three
THEA
W ith her magic simmering beneath her skin and Wilder’s hand in hers, Thea felt more like herself than she had in a long time.
Despite the festering state of the midrealms, for her, the missing pieces of the puzzle had slid into place and she felt as though she could breathe again – felt that whatever came next, she could face it as she’d always intended.
Lightning sang in her every nerve ending; Wilder had made sure of that last night.
As they made their way into the tavern below, more than once, Thea had to check that there were no sparks dancing off her.
It was liberating to be whole again, to feel the full force of her power at her fingertips once more.
She hadn’t realised how much she had become accustomed to it until it was gone.
Sensing Wilder’s gaze on her as they wove through the chairs and tables, she glanced at him.
He was smiling.
Not a slight quirk to the corner of his mouth, nor the arrogant smirk he sometimes offered to drive her mad.
No, this was a true smile. The harsh lines of his fierce face softened, his dimple was deep, and his eyes were bright like pools of starlight rather than molten steel.
Gods, he was beautiful. And he was hers.
‘Easy there, Princess,’ he murmured, his warm grip tightening around her hand.
Thea blinked at him. ‘What?’
He licked his lips and smiled wider. ‘I can feel the storm gathering in you…’
She nearly stopped in the middle of the tavern. ‘You can feel it?’
Wilder rubbed the centre of his chest. ‘Right here.’
‘It doesn’t scare you?’ She had asked some version of this question once before, on the cliffs at Thezmarr, a lifetime ago. But so much had happened since then. Everything had changed, and there were so many challenges still to come…
‘It never has.’ He pressed his mouth to the back of her hand, kissing it, the sensation hot but brief on her skin.
Something in Thea eased, a coil of tension she hadn’t even known was there. She gave her Warsword a quick smile before taking the lead and making her way through the last few rooms of the Singing Hare.
True to his word, Everard had cordoned off an entire private section of the tavern for their meeting. A crackling fire blazed in the hearth, and sitting at a large round oak table were Torj Elderbrock, Cal and Kipp.
Thea dropped Wilder’s hand and braced herself as the latter two jumped to their feet at the sight of her and half tackled her in an overzealous embrace, grinning from ear to ear.
She squeezed her friends tight, relief rushing through her. ‘It’s so good to see you both,’ she said, not quite ready to let them go yet.
‘And you, Thea,’ Cal replied, though he was pulling away, having noted the towering Warsword at her back.
She bit down a laugh and revelled in the joy of seeing them. ‘You’re both well?’
‘Never better,’ Cal reassured her, still warily keeping his distance.
Kipp, however, flung an arm around her shoulders, still beaming, his gaze sliding to Wilder. ‘The Shadow of Death and her faithful mentor, the infamous fallen Warsword… Together again at last. You’re both looking… refreshed.’
Behind him, Torj groaned.
The sound only seemed to delight Kipp further, and at last he released her and held out his hand to the others. ‘Cough up, gentlemen.’
To Thea’s shock, both Torj and Cal scowled, reaching into their pockets for their coin pouches. Cal passed a handful of coins to Kipp with a grimace, while Torj threw his whole bag on the table.
‘Un-fucking-believable,’ he muttered.
Wilder’s laugh sounded. ‘What was the wager?’
‘Oh, nothing important,’ Kipp said, gleefully scooping up his winnings and wiggling his brows. ‘Just a little bet between friends.’
‘Oh, fuck off, Kipp.’ Thea threw herself down into the closest chair, unable to suppress her smile.
‘That’s how you treat your dear friend whose countless connections saved your sorry arses?’ He gave Wilder a knowing look. ‘I said you’d need that handkerchief again, didn’t I?’
Wilder took the chair beside Thea. ‘That you did, and I’m grateful. I owe you a debt.’
‘Always good to have a Warsword’s favour,’ Kipp replied with a grin. ‘I’ll collect in good time.’
Wilder chuckled. ‘I don’t doubt it.’
‘When did this exchange of favours take place?’ Thea asked, brows raised.
Kipp shrugged. ‘That’s for us to know, and for you to never find out.’
Finally wiping the frown off his face, Torj stood, reaching across the table and grasping Wilder’s forearm in greeting. ‘Glad you made it out of that gods-forsaken floating dome, both of you,’ he said with a nod to Thea.
Wilder bowed his head. ‘I’m in your debt too.’
But Torj gave a warm smile. ‘There are no debts between Warswords.’
There was a moment’s pause as the mutual respect settled between the great warriors.
‘Now I sound like a prick,’ Kipp blurted.
Cal scoffed. ‘You are a prick.’
Thea held back her laughter as Torj gave a long-suffering sigh, rubbing his temples as he sat back down.
Kipp ignored him entirely, leaning across the warrior to speak to Thea again. ‘So what else is new, Your Royal Highness? You’ve got your Warsword back, got yourself a new sister, you’ve discovered the delights of my second-favourite tavern…’ He waited eagerly for her to fill in the rest.
Unable to help herself, Thea reached out and tapped Kipp’s arm with her finger, sending a sharp zap of energy his way.
‘Ouch!’ He leapt up, dramatically clutching his arm to his chest before his eyes went wide as the realisation hit him. ‘You don’t say…’
He whirled around, thrusting his hand out to Cal and Torj again.
‘Hand it over, my friends.’
Cal gave another groan and fished more coins from his pocket, his face flushing deeply.
Torj just stared at Kipp’s hand. ‘I already gave you everything I have.’
‘Well, I hate to break it to you, but you shouldn’t have bet outside your means then, should you? That’s irresponsible gambling —’
Torj raised a single brow in challenge. ‘How about I fight you for it?’
‘How about we call it even?’ Kipp said smoothly, sitting down with a joyful glint in his eyes.
‘That’s what I thought,’ Torj muttered, shaking his head in disbelief before he addressed Wilder and Thea once again. ‘You two are quite the talk of the midrealms at the moment.’
‘Is that so?’ Thea asked.
‘Indeed,’ Torj replied. ‘Half the kingdoms think you’ve run off into the sunset together and are both traitors to us all. The other half think you’re on the hunt for the fallen Warsword again, Thea, and that this time, you’ll bring him back in pieces.’
‘We’ve tried to encourage the latter idea where possible, of course,’ Kipp added.
‘For which we’re grateful,’ Wilder said.
Kipp leant in, his bulging coin purse rattling. ‘How grateful?’
Torj pulled him back into his chair, shaking his head. ‘Hawthorne, will you tell us who exactly we’re meeting? Before I lose any more of my hard-earnt coin? Before I strangle this imbecile for his incessant chatter?’
Wilder barked a laugh at that, but Thea’s magic prickled suddenly, as if in recognition. She shot to her feet as three hooded figures entered the room. When they each lowered the fabric from their faces, a little cry escaped her and she surged forward, arms outstretched.
‘ Wren! ’
Within seconds, the sisters were in each other’s arms. Audra, the Thezmarrian librarian, and Farissa, the fortress’ Master of Alchemy, waited behind them.
‘I can’t believe you’re here,’ Thea blurted, pulling back to study Wren’s face. Her sister looked older, stronger, and she hummed with magic of her own. ‘I’m so happy to see you.’
Thea meant every word. So much had happened since she’d last seen her little sister; there was so much she wanted to share with Wren.
Thea didn’t know when things had changed from being vitriolic between them, but they had.
She no longer saw Wren as a nagging – sometimes scheming – younger sister, but someone to be respected, and at times, feared.
A teammate. She was proud to have a sister like that.
‘And you, Althea Nine Lives…’ Wren returned Thea’s smile before her eyes flicked to Wilder with a look of apprehension. ‘He’s not in my special chains, I see.’
‘Not anymore,’ Thea said.
‘She had her fun with those wretched things,’ Wilder replied. ‘Told her if she wanted me restrained, all she had to do was ask.’
Wren’s nose wrinkled. ‘I didn’t need to know that.’
‘Here I was thinking you needed to know everything,’ Torj chimed in with a smirk.
‘I do not need to know everything,’ Wren muttered. Torj had clearly found his way under her skin again. ‘But the essentials would be nice.’
The Bear Slayer only grinned.
Wren ignored him and instead waved to Cal and Kipp. ‘Glad you’re both still in one piece.’
‘I’m sure you never doubted us for a second, oh royal one,’ Kipp said with a flourish and a half-bow.
Torj rolled his eyes.
Thea drew her sister’s attention back to her. ‘We have much to talk about.’
‘I’ll say,’ Wren agreed, with another pointed look at Wilder.
Thea laughed, giving Wren another squeeze, warmth blooming in her chest. ‘He’s the least of it.’
Out of the corner of her eye, Thea saw Audra and Farissa quietly take up places at the other side of the table. When Thea made to greet them, Audra motioned for her to remain where she was.
‘Later,’ the librarian said simply. Her hand brushed one of the ceremonial daggers at her hip. Suppressing a laugh, Thea recalled Wilder once referring to them as letter openers .
‘Who else are we expecting?’ Wren asked, taking the vacant seat on Thea’s other side.
With perfect timing, three thin ribbons of shadow curled around the doorframe. Torj, Cal and Kipp leapt to their feet, steel singing as they unsheathed their weapons, ready for attack.
Beside Thea, Wilder groaned and pinched the bridge of his nose. ‘For fuck’s sake, Dratos.’
Thea held out a hand to their friends. ‘It’s alright.’