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‘I understand,’ Thea said. ‘I haven’t earnt that level of trust yet…’ She squared her shoulders and faced her sister fully. ‘How do I earn it?’ When Anya didn’t respond right away, Thea insisted. ‘What do you need from me?’

She let the implication hang between them. Anya knew she had no magic left, that the power she had once wielded had been snuffed out like a candle.

Anya poured herself some water from a jug and drank deeply before she spoke. ‘Hawthorne has arranged for us to meet with some allies in a rather delicate but important location.’

‘Alright…’

‘We need you and him to go ahead of our party, and secure a discreet entrance for us. Hawthorne assures me that it won’t be a problem, but he’s a wanted man throughout the midrealms. And he hasn’t exactly kept a low profile lately.’

Thea scoffed. ‘And I have? You know there’s some speculation now, given that he and I disappeared at the same time…?’

‘We’ll cross that bridge when we come to it.’

‘We?’ Thea echoed.

A hint of a smile tempted Anya’s lips. ‘That’s what I said.’

Thea cocked her head. ‘I thought you didn’t trust me?’

‘I don’t trust anyone,’ Anya countered. ‘It’s why I’m still alive.’

Adrienne cleared her throat. ‘I’ll pretend I didn’t take offence to that.’

‘Great.’ Anya turned to Thea again. ‘So, will you go ahead for us? Make sure it’s safe for the likes of Dratos and Gus, who can’t keep their shadows in their pants?’

Thea shrugged. ‘Why not?’

‘Good.’ Anya threw her a pack that had been lying on the ground beside her and grinned. ‘You leave now.’

CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT

WILDER

Wilder cursed Anya as he and Thea took to the passageways again, packs hoisted high on their backs, weapons strapped in place. He had been on the move for the better part of a year, barely staying in the same spot for more than a single night at a time. Now, he was on the road again, with more conflict on the immediate horizon.

‘You’re quiet,’ Thea ventured as their boots crunched over wet gravel.

‘I’m always quiet,’ Wilder countered, picking up the pace.

‘Horseshit. You were quiet when we first met because you were a grumpy bastard, but you warmed up after a time.’

‘I’m still a grumpy bastard.’

‘True,’ Thea said with a sideways glance at him. ‘What are you thinking?’

‘Honestly?’

‘Honestly.’

Wilder wanted to tell her that although they’d been intimate, although he’d held her hand, there was still an ache in his heart. He’d hurt her, but she’d hurt him too. And now that her hunt forhim was over, that hurt lingered even as the dust settled. But it was too heavy a subject to unburden here and now. Instead, he sighed. ‘I miss my fucking cabin.’

Thea’s head snapped in his direction and she looked at him in utter disbelief. ‘You can’t be serious.’

‘I’m deadly serious,’ he replied flatly.

‘We’re on the brink of war. We’re allying with shadow-wieldingteenagers. Monsters with eight eyes and eight fucking legs are coming through the Veil, trying to kill us. And you miss your cabin?’

‘I don’t think you understand the gravity of the situation,’ he told her. ‘Can you imagine the state of my plants? I bet Malik hasn’t watered a single fucking thing.’