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She came apart, her third climax ripping through her like a savage tempest, blurring all her senses. Chaotic sparks shot through every inch of her body, so intense that she blinked back tears, unable to fathom putting herself back together.

And beneath her, Wilder came undone with a hoarse shout. His body shuddered beneath hers, his release spilling inside her.

As they both rode the aftershocks, Wilder kissed her soundly and breathed her in as though she were something to be savoured, cherished.

Thea’s heart nearly burst as he gazed upon her with nothing but love – pure, adoring love in his silver eyes.

‘No man could have you and not be consumed,’ he murmured.

CHAPTER NINETEEN

THEA

Wilder’s words stayed with Thea well into the next day. She clung to them when the brutal cold of Aveum’s hinterlands bit into her bones as she, Wren and Anya landed atop the snow in the icy woodlands. Anya’s ribbons of power dissipated and her wings dematerialised at her back, all evidence of her shadow-touched magic gone in the blink of an eye.

The sisters had decided that arriving on Queen Reyna’s doorstep swathed in darkness would likely set the wrong tone for their meeting, and so Anya had brought them to the outskirts of Vios, where they would make their way on foot to the floating domes at the heart of the capital.

Thea had forgotten how much she detested the cold. Even with Furies-given power thrumming inside her, the grip of Aveum’s winter was unrelenting, pain already blooming at her extremities and her scarred wrist aching like a bitch. In the chaos, she’d forgotten all about the salve Wren had made for her, and she made a mental note to use it as soon as they were somewhere her fingers wouldn’t snap off.

‘Where exactly are we?’ she muttered, burying the lower half of her face in the woollen scarf she’d looped around her neck. Barren trees surrounded them, evergreens that should have borne leaves even in the frost. But there was no sign of life in sight, only the trickle of the half-frozen stream nearby. Thea already longed for the warmth of Wilder and their bed.

‘The woods just outside of Silverbrook village. Kipp said you rode through it before – it’s just beyond the treeline,’ Wren replied. ‘We should get moving before we freeze to death.’

Anya cupped her hands to her face, blowing hot breath over her fingers. ‘Sounds like a solid plan to me. Of all the ways to die after everything I’ve been through, turning to a block of ice in some dead forest would be rather underwhelming.’

Thea snorted at that and trudged after her through the snow.

Together, the sisters wove through the skeletal trees and navigated the icy terrain without much complaint, though Thea could hear their teeth chattering. She found it increasingly surreal to be walking at their sides – the heirs of Delmira, united after all this time. Most of the midrealms knew it now, and they were on their way to declare it to another ruler, in the hopes of securing her alliance. Life had changed a lot since she’d been forced to mix potions as a would-be alchemist at the fortress.

‘I think we need to train together,’ Anya declared as they crested a ridge and spotted the outer buildings of Frostvale.

‘Wren’s got basic defence training, same as all Thezmarrians,’ Thea replied. Their younger sister had never shown much inclination towards fighting beyond the basics, insisting that her alchemy skills were just as dangerous as fists and blades.

Anya laughed. ‘That’s not what I meant. Though…’ She turned to Wren. ‘It might be time to brush up on some of those basics.’

Thea suppressed a chuckle at Wren’s answering scowl. ‘What did you mean, then?’ she prompted.

‘Magic,’ Anya said. ‘We need to train our magic together, so we can work as a unit, when the time comes.’

‘I thought the same thing,’ Wren admitted. ‘We’re strongest together. Though I haven’t the faintest idea how it might work…’

Anya tucked her gloved hands under her arms, cursing the cold. ‘I spoke with Audra. She showed me a few things we might try, but she wasn’t sure those techniques would help us so late in the game.’

‘Not exactly encouraging, as always,’ Thea retorted.

Wren silenced her with a well-placed elbow to the ribs, finding her mark even beneath all the layers. ‘What did she suggest, then?’

Anya forged on. ‘Her main point was that joint magic is all about connection.’

‘We’re connected by blood. Doesn’t get more solid than that, surely,’ Thea said, training her gaze on the nearing village.

‘Audra seemed to think otherwise.’

‘Audra going against the grain?’ Thea mocked. ‘Never.’

‘Shut up, Thee,’ Wren snapped.

Anya gave her a grateful look, a silent exchange that would never have happened a matter of months ago. Thea reeled back a little. She had clearly underestimated how much her older and younger sister had bonded in her absence. A twinge of jealousy bloomed in the wake of the realisation.