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They didn’t have to wait long.

Ten minutes later, a fire sparked to life at the northern end of the camp below: a flicker of light at first, before wild flame roared into being.

‘Thanks, Cal,’ Kipp murmured, already starting down the hillside. Thea followed.

The enemy camp was abandoned in chaos as the men surged towards the fire, buckets of water in hand. Cal had lit one of their supply crates on fire, and judging by the size of the flames, it was the one with all the liquor.

Thea stifled a laugh at that.

While the forces were distracted, she followed Kipp’s lead, sneaking through the site. In the darkness they went from boat to boat, boring holes in the vessels’ hulls with their daggers. The timber splintered beneath their efforts, but it wouldn’t be until the boats took on water that their enemy would know something was wrong.

Thea was onto her fourth when she heard the distinct crank of a crossbow being loaded —

‘Kipp!’ she shouted, throwing herself against the side of the boat.

Her friend moved just in time, and Thea launched herself after their attacker. Another bolt came for her, whistling through the air, but she ducked and, in three paces, she’d caught up. A second later, she disarmed her opponent and, without hesitation, dragged her dagger across the fragile column his throat.

Warm blood spilt into the sand, a ragged choking sound escaping the enemy.

‘Gods, Thea…’ Kipp murmured, frozen in shock.

But Thea didn’t think about how quickly she’d acted, how easy it had been to take a life, not even as the dead man’s blood puddled at her boots. Instead, she spotted something on his cloak.

‘Kipp,’ Thea said softly. ‘Look…’

She pulled at the sopping garment, running her fingers over the small sigil she found on the fabric.

A pair of wings.

For a moment, Kipp only stared at her bloodied fingers, but he soon shook himself out of whatever trance he’d fallen into. ‘Bring it with you,’ he said, his expression grim.

Thea nodded, ripping the design from the cloak and stuffing it in her pocket, leaving the corpse to the mercy of the incoming tide.

‘Fire’s almost out,’ she warned with a glance towards the plumes of smoke at the far end of the camp.

For good measure, Kipp spilt drums of oil across their sacks of flour and grain. ‘Let’s get out of here.’

Like shadows in the night, they slipped away.

CHAPTER TWELVE

WILDER

By mid-afternoon, Wilder hadn’t seen any sign of Thea. Had it only been the night before that he’d had his face buried between her thighs? That her mouth had been on him? He told himself that she was just keeping her distance after his harsh words… and that he had to respect that.

But by sundown, there still had not been a whisper of Thea’s whereabouts in the fortress, and when Wilder returned to his cabin, it was as silent and still as when he’d left it. The peppermint tea he’d set out for her was untouched, his note with the lightning bolt still propped up against it. He’d snuck enough glances at Thea during mealtimes in the Great Hall to know that she would never leave peppermint tea unattended, that she was just as likely to take Cal’s mug and sip from it while hers brewed. If she had been home –here– he’d know it.

Worry prickled at him now. He hadn’texplicitlytold her she wasn’t allowed to leave Thezmarr, but he hadn’t thought he needed to. Yet another mistake on his part. Thea was reckless at the best of times and had a tendency to find trouble, or have it find her. Especially when it came to that prick apprentice of Vernich’s. But where would she go? She certainly wasn’t one to let complications between the two of them interfere with her training.

Wilder wracked his brain, trying to recall if he’d seen her friends or her sister throughout the day. He hadn’t.

Jaw clenched, he snatched his cloak up once more and headed back to the fortress.

There, he found himself banging on the door to Torj’s apartments.

‘Coming, coming,’ he heard his fellow Warsword mutter from inside. When Torj flung the door open, he frowned. ‘Where’s the fucking fire, Hawthorne?’

‘You seen my apprentice?’ he growled, stepping inside without an invitation.