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‘It’syourfault. Given everything you did to get here, I thought you’d be taking this more seriously. I thought you’d realise that you need to bestrong,not broken.’

Thea lifted her chin, defiant. ‘I’m far from broken.’

‘Your dislocated knuckles and your cracked ribs say otherwise,’ Wilder replied coldly. ‘I thought you learnt this lesson when you were a shieldbearer. There are days to rest, and days to fight.’

Thea took a step towards him, her eyes blazing. ‘Every day’s a fighting day when death is closing in on you.’

‘Death comes for us all, Princess. One way or another. You’re no use to anyone if you keel over because a broken rib punctured your lung. And those knuckles? If they’re not set, you could do permanent damage to your hand.’

He watched her suck in a breath, watched as she warred with her temper and the truth of his words.

He wasn’t nearly done with her. ‘When was the last time you ate a decent meal? A full serving?’

‘I eat.’

‘Not well enough. And don’t even start me on your drills. What was that display just now?’ he pressed, gesturing to the ring. ‘Isthathow you’re sparring?’

‘I waswinning.’

‘You weremessy. Undisciplined. What’s worse, you’re not nearly where you should be. I was leagues ahead in my development —’

‘Probably because your mentor actually deigned toteach you, not run off into the wilderness.’

She was suddenly close enough that Wilder could feel the warmth radiating from her body. He could smell the storm on her, a violent sea with notes of bergamot. He couldn’t stop his gaze tracing her curves, curves he hadn’t worshipped nearly enough during their brief time together.

Gods, he was not ready to fight this battle.

‘Where did you go?’ she asked. ‘What was so important that you had to rush off without a word after everything we’d been through? After what we discovered?’

Wilder clenched his jaw. He hadn’t wanted to leave her, ever. But he had needed to be sure that there weren’t more reapers rallying together and thirsting for her power, that word of the woman with lightning in her blood hadn’t spread. So he’d left her in his cabin and gone to the closest tear in the Veil in search of monsters and secrets.

He’d found them in droves.

‘My whereabouts are no concern of yours,’ he told her at last.

Thea’s nostrils flared slightly, her jaw clenched as she shook her head in what seemed to be grim satisfaction, as though she had been proven right. ‘So this is truly how you mean it to be between us? Master and apprentice and nothing more. Like nothing ever happened?’

Furies save him, his mind went right back to the moment he’d had her against the tree in the Bloodwoods, plunging his cock into her while she cried out his name, each stroke more intoxicating than the last.

He gritted his teeth. ‘Yes.’

‘Then stop looking at me like that,’ she snapped.

‘Like what?’

‘Like you’ve seen me naked.’

He couldn’t help the blush that stained his cheeks then, but he steeled himself and unsheathed his sword. ‘If you’ve trained so damn hard, if your injuries are so insignificant,’ he said, his voice dangerously low, ‘let’s see what you can do.’

Thea’s glare could have wilted a lesser man, and he didn’t blame her. In fact, it wasgoodthat she was angry. Perhaps she’d claw his face off rather than rake her claws down his back —

She got into her starting stance, feet apart and knees bent.

Wilder didn’t wait. He attacked. Containing the brute force of his Furies-given strength, he unleashed blow after blow, hoping to show her just how far she had yet to go, how much there was still to learn as a Guardian, and that there were limits to what she could achieve in such a short space of time. He was careful of those swollen knuckles, of the obvious pain in her side. When she wasn’t so headstrong he’d teach her about the importance of self-care, but he knew no words would puncture that hard exterior now.

Thea matched his every strike. He could feel her muscles trembling with the effort of blocking, but she was fast and agile, even as he advanced, forcing her across the width of the training area.

As she moved, he saw her fate stone come loose from the confines of her shirt.