Page 123

‘Furies save me,’ Wilder muttered, shaking his head.

But Thea couldn’t keep her smile at bay now. She loved this, all of them together – and seeing Wilder caught off guard because of her, well… It made her stomach flutter.

They ate and drank, chatting as they did. Thea kept glancing over at Wren, knowing that she and her sister were well overdue for a conversation, but it wasn’t the right time or place for it. Instead, Thea tried to revel in the normality of the meal, in the joy of it.

She hadn’t realised that Cal and Kipp had become so familiar with Torj, but she supposed that was natural with how much time they all spent together. Torj seemed to treat them like younger brothers, with the occasional stern word of a father figure. It suited them.

She looked across at Kipp, whose cheeks were flushed from the liquor. He seemed very much recovered from his heartbreak.

He nudged Wren. ‘Wren, what say you and I give it a go, then? We’ve had something special since the moment we met. Don’t you think?’

Thea nearly choked on her ale, but Wren simply raised a brow. ‘I’m nobody’s second choice, Kristopher.’

Torj let out a low whistle. ‘Albert’s right. You’ve got a set on you, Kipp… And perhaps a few screws loose up here.’ He tapped the side of his head.

Kipp sighed dramatically. ‘You’re not the first to say that.’

Cal snorted. ‘Nor will he be the last.’

‘But did you hear the bit about the big set of balls?’

‘I don’t think that’s what he said.’

‘That’s what I heard,’ Kipp replied with a shrug.

Torj laughed. ‘You tend to hear what you want.’

Thea was so busy trying to stop the ale coming out her nose that she almost didn’t hear the men’s voices carrying from a few tables over.

‘— the guild is so desperate they’re accepting women now, haven’t you heard?’

A cruel laugh followed. ‘Only because the whores are spreading their legs for the Warswords. Weren’t you in here last night?’

Thea felt Wilder tense beside her, her own body going rigid at their words. She tried to find that pocket of calm Audra was always on about. But all she found within was icy rage. She didn’t allow herself to blush, even as her friends and sister registered what was happening, even as the filthy, insulting words penetrated the pleasant time they’d been having.

Regardless of what was between her and Wilder, Thea had earnt her place at Thezmarr, had earnt the right to wield a blade among the Guardians of the midrealms. She knew that.

‘— no amount of cock-sucking is gonna save the kingdom from the tyrant building an army of monsters. The guild should never have let the bitch in. She’s cursed us all. And for what? So the warriors can feel better about passing around some whore —’

Wilder moved, but Thea was quicker.

One second her throwing stars were in her hands; the next they were embedded in the patron’s table, between each of his five fingers.

‘Call me a whore again,’ she said quietly, lacing the words with threat as she pressed her dagger not to the man’s throat, but to the soft flesh of his groin.

His beady eyes flared in panic. ‘You —’

‘Me,’ she said simply, her magic roaring in her veins along with her fury. She wanted to end him just as she’d ended those leering mercenaries in the storehouse.

The man’s companions didn’t move, each of them staring at her not with scorn or ridicule, but with fear.

They should fear me, Thea thought, shifting the blade slightly so the man winced. ‘Suddenly nothing to say?’ she asked casually.

Outside, thunder cracked, rattling the walls and windows of the tavern.

Thea felt it in her chest.

Lightning followed, illuminating the dimly lit bar in a vibrant flash. Rain sounded on the tin roof before another rumbling shook the ground and a near-deafening crack boomed.