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‘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 asletter 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.’

But her words did nothing to placate them, and she could hardly blame them, given how long it had taken her to come around to the idea of the shadow-touched folk. Torj and the two Guardians stared as the darkness dissipated and Dratos the Dawnless rounded the corner.

Thea felt rather than heard Wren’s intake of breath beside her, but her sister remained calm. A glance across at the two Thezmarrian academics assured Thea that neither of the older women were panicking either. Thea remembered Wilder telling her that Farissa had tried to help Talemir Starling in his hour of need, so she knew about the shadow-touched, and clearly, so did Audra.

With a smirk on his face and his black-and-red wings tucked behind his back, Dratos strode into the room. ‘You know I like to make an entrance, Hawthorne,’ he drawled, his bottle-green eyes sparkling.

‘What the fuck…’ Cal breathed, brandishing his sword.

‘It’s okay, Cal,’ Thea soothed, worried he might do something stupid. ‘It’ll make sense in a minute.’

Dratos seemed to be revelling in the attention as he made a point of inspecting which chair might best accommodate his membranous wings. The Bear Slayer and the two Guardians stared in disbelief as the shadow-touched ranger had the gall to look up at them.

‘What?’ Dratos demanded, before his eyes widened in recognition as he focused on Cal. ‘You’re the bastard who shot me with a flaming arrow.’

Wilder’s hand flexed around hers and Thea knew that although he wouldn’t admit it, he was nervous about the two worlds colliding.

Cal’s face went bright pink and he looked to Thea for guidance. But Dratos gave a dismissive wave.

‘Water under the bridge, Guardian. The ladies love the scar.’

Torj, Cal and Kipp exchanged baffled looks, but didn’t sheathe their weapons.

It was so bizarre that Thea almost laughed, but the moment was interrupted by another newcomer, or several. Anya strode in, scythe at her belt, head freshly shaven, scarred gaze fixing immediately on the trio on the far side of the room – and then her attention slid to Wren.

Wren tensed, spearing Anya with a look of utter contempt. Thea should have tried to warn her in advance somehow. The last time the pair had met… it had been less than friendly. Anya had taken Wren hostage. Thea recalled Wren’s screams like it was yesterday. The three sisters had been reunited in chaos, wrapped in shadow and storms, each at war with their own darkness.

‘Elwren,’ Anya greeted her, her voice soft and tentative for once. ‘I —’

But Wren’s head snapped to Thea. ‘You’re with her?’ she hissed. The rage laced through her words was palpable.

Thea didn’t miss how Anya’s face fell before her mask of cool detachment slid back into place.

Thea rested a hand on Wren’s arm. ‘It’s complicated…’

‘Souncomplicateit, Thee.’

Suppressing the urge to squirm in her seat from the discomfort of it all, Thea glanced at Wilder, who seemed to be doing his best to give them some semblance of privacy.