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He waited another beat.

‘Fuck!’ Thea whirled around. ‘I can’t.’

‘I doubt throwing a tantrum helps.’

‘Fuck you,’ she spat.

Wilder raised a brow, irritation prickling. ‘Apprentices don’t speak to their masters like that.’

‘I have no master.’

‘Yes, you do,’ he said, voice raised. ‘You made damn sure of it.’

‘You are mymentor.’

Widlersmeltthe incoming storm then, the rich, earthy scent tangling in the briny sea breeze, washing away the stench of the blight. ‘Same difference.’

Thea’s eyes narrowed, before she glanced down at her hands in surprise.

Where small sparks had started to surge at her fingertips.

‘Try again,’ Wilder commanded quietly.

His apprentice rolled her shoulders and inhaled deeply, her hands tensing as she tipped her face back to the sky.

Audra had told him to talk her through it, to tell her to breathe and focus, lean into the restlessness within. But Wilder knew in that moment that another word from him would send Thea hurtling over the brink of destruction, which would only serve to make her recoil from her power when she needed it most. And so he said nothing.

And nothing happened.

‘Fuck this,’ Thea muttered eventually, turning back to him with accusation in her eyes. ‘There’s obviously another way to kill that thing. I don’t see any other supposed storm wielders slaying monsters around the midrealms.’

Wilder pulled a vial from his pocket, uncorking it with his teeth and pouring several drops of liquid over the blight. ‘Courtesy of our alchemist friends.’

Ribbons of steam hissed from the vines upon contact, and the monster recoiled, emitting an eerie whistling sound. A faint burning smell filled the air. Wilder didn’t look away until the whole blight had turned to stone, now a mangled addition to the cliff face.

He felt Thea’s incredulous stare boring into him.

‘Is there a problem, Princess?’

‘Why didn’t you just use that to begin with?’ She glared at him, knuckles white around the grip of her dagger.

‘Think you can take me?’ he said flatly.

Thea’s nostrils flared as she sized him up, jaw grinding. ‘Not today…’ she murmured. ‘But one day.’

‘You’d die if you tried.’

Her chest rose and fell then, her fate stone along with it. ‘No, I wouldn’t.’

Wilder closed the gap between them in an instant and disarmed her, snatching the blade from her belt. Twirling his brother’s dagger between his fingers menacingly. ‘However you’ve lived your life until now isn’t good enough,’ he told her coldly. ‘You cannot be some irresponsible fool because you think you won’t die. There are fates worse than death. And a Warsword can and will face them all. Your recklessness is a liability, and I won’t train someone who flings themselves at danger without a care. It’s a waste of my fucking time.’

Thea opened and closed her mouth, and despite his harsh words, Wilder found himself leaning in, desperately wanting to trace the curve of those lips with his tongue, wanting to breathe in the heady scent of her. But he didn’t let the mask falter.

‘Are we clear?’

His apprentice seemed to war with herself, and he could have sworn he felt a flicker of that storm magic ripple off her again.

‘I said,are we clear?’