Page 56

Wilder shook his head. ‘Not now,’ he told her. He wasn’t ready to explore the nuances of wraiths and those who were shadow-touched, and he wasn’t sure she was ready to hear it. It had only been a matter of weeks since her own encounter with the reaper, since its dark power had nearly touched her heart.

‘You’re sure you’re alright?’ he asked, trying to keep the emotion from his voice.

Thea nodded, though the mark around her throat was bright red. She retrieved her dagger from the ground and sheathed it at her waist.

Wilder squared his shoulders. ‘We still need to deal with the blight.’

‘Fire?’

Wilder shook his head. ‘A sure way to help it spread. Its pollen would easily drift away on the ash and find new hosts elsewhere.’

‘How, then?’

‘Lightning.’

Thea blinked at him. ‘You can’t be serious.’

Folding his arms over his chest and fixing her with a cool stare, Wilder shrugged. ‘Audra said you should try, that you need an outlet. Here it is. Do your worst.’

‘It’s not that easy.’

‘No? You managed well enough with the reaper.’ He didn’t mention how she hadn’t summoned her magic in her own defence just now.

‘That was different.’

The vine blight writhed, a new tendril snaking forth through the fresh blood on the ground.

‘Why?’

‘Because…’ Thea avoided his eyes and clasped her arms around herself.

‘Because why?’ he pressed. ‘Why was it different then?’

‘Because you were in danger. Because I —’ The words came out fast, and hung suspended in time between them. From the way Thea was blushing, it was a truth she hadn’t wanted to admit.

Wilder did the decent thing and pretended he hadn’t heard her. ‘What about after? On the clifftops?’

‘I don’t know.’ She snapped the words this time. ‘I don’t know how it works.Clearly.’

‘So try.’

‘And what if I shoot a bolt of lightning through you by mistake?’

‘I would have thought you’d find that appealing.’

‘More so by the minute,’ she muttered.

Every part of Wilder longed to pull her close, to reassure her that she could master her magic, that the storms were hers to wield. But that was not the role he’d claimed. No, he had claimed the role of mentor and master, of a hardened teacher.

‘I don’t have all day,’ he said bluntly.

She cut him a furious glare and he did his best not to flinch at the tempest brewing in her eyes. Jaw clenched, his apprentice turned her back to him, her head tilting back to face the sky.

Body tense, Wilder didn’t dare speak, didn’t move as he noted Thea’s fingers flexing at her sides, as he heard her exhale sharply.

He waited for the crack of thunder, for the spark of light at her hands.

But nothing happened.