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Thea let those words sink in, trying not to buckle under the weight of a secret withheld, trying not to let her shock show.

‘I’ve been looking for you for a long time.’ As she spoke those final words, the darkness around her intensified, seeming to gather its strength, rallying around Wren.

A soft cry of terror broke from Wren’s lips, and it was all Thea needed to hear.

She wrenched her alchemy-treated fate stone from her neck, tossing it aside into the dirt.

Her magic barrelled into her like a tidal wave, threatening to drown her. It flooded her whole body, brutal and overwhelming, to the point where she staggered beneath its weight.

Am I more powerful than before?she wondered abstractly as the lightning filled her veins and crackled at her fingertips.

She didn’t know what she looked like to the enemy, but Wren’s awed expression told her enough. They could feel the current of her magic from where they stood. They could feel the surge of an incoming storm.

Thea looked at the forks of lightning dancing between her fingers, then to the Daughter of Darkness, who stood with her ribbons of shadow, smiling.

Thea launched her lightning at Anya, sending a bolt straight for the bitch’s chest.

The brilliant white light was swallowed by darkness.

But that didn’t stop Thea. She threw bolt after bolt at both the woman and her general – a distraction, while she sank deep into herself, rallying that kernel within. She found a thread of that power, the very one that called to the skies above, not just to the magic she already possessed.

She may not have been trained, she might only hold power in its rawest form, but it didn’t have to be perfect. Rage had guided it before. And it would do so again. She just had to free Wren from those bonds.

Wind whipped around Thea, and above, thunder cracked, the forest floor rumbling beneath them in answer. It vibrated in Thea’s chest, coaxing more magic from her being, one form of chaos recognising another.

It empowered her, liberated her, brought that final piece of herself to the surface, the piece she’d been hiding for nearly twenty-five years.

The skies opened up and rain lashed down upon them all, and Thea’s lightning carved through the air, striking those ribbons of obsidian. She didn’t hold back.

The enemy already knew who she was, who Wren was. But it didn’t matter. Not now. What mattered was the power surging from Thea, and that it stood between the Daughter of Darkness and her sister. Thea would not let them take her.

She delivered a world-shattering strike of lightning.

But there was no fear on Anya’s face – only triumph as the storm raged around her.

‘Now we know for certain,’ she said.

‘Know what?’ Thea snarled, sending another bolt of power straight for the woman’s face.

Darkness surged into the shape of a shield and took the brunt of the blow.

‘That the storm magic runs deep through the Delmirian line,’ Anya replied, with a knowing look to her general. ‘It is just as powerful in each of us.’

Us.The word hit Thea in the chest like a blow.

Anya’s general gave a nod, reaching for Wren —

A flaming arrow soared through the air.

A surprised cry of pain escaped the half-wraith’s lips and he looked down, gazing at the arrow protruding from his chest.

Thea whirled around, expecting to see Wilder charging towards them, but it was Cal, another arrow already nocked to his bow.

The general swayed on his feet, his hands reaching for the shaft of the arrow.

‘Leave it, you fool,’ the Daughter of Darkness cursed, shoving Wren aside to get to him. The binds around Wren dissipated, fading into the night like ash in a breeze. Wren scrambled for Thea – no; for her weapons.

Lightning still snapped at Thea’s fingers and she aimed another bolt at the woman, to end her once and for all.