Outside the world was cold and chaotic.

Shouts of alarm mingled with a roar that was vicious enough to raise the hairs on the back of my neck instinctively. I reached for the glaive still strapped to my back and cautiously moved toward the noises and the courtyard. While the plan had been to distract the guards, I didn't want to take the risk that one of my people was fighting for their lives while I stalked around in the shadows.

A flare of bright torchlight shot past me, carried in by a terrified looking soldier who looked like he'd only barely reached the age requirement to serve. He didn't spare me a glance as he passed-probably couldn't see past the bright torch into the shadows- but I couldn't risk him calling in any reinforcements. In a quick move, I grabbed him by the back of his shirt and let his momentum carry him headlong into the nearest stone pillar.

He fell with a groan and I spared him a sympathetic wince. "Sorry, kid. Nothing personal."

That awful bellow started again in the courtyard so I tossed the kid's cloak over him in a meager protection and hurried in that direction. Luck stayed with me because I didn't pass another soldier until I stepped out of the outer hallway and into the main area. Despite knowing the plan, seeing it in action was enough to make me stop at the edge and gawk.

Clearly I'd underestimated Kai's level of dramatics.

The illusionist had recreated the beast we'd hunted in Spring with terrifying detail. The nue was still just as horrifying as it had been in our brief battle with the massive claws scraping against the ground and the bodies of its victims twitching feebly along its spine and shoulder blades. This one was even larger than the monster we'd fought in Spring-it barely fit in the training ring without scraping against the walls. Kai had even included animals that were more naturally occurring in Winter just to add to the realism. If it weren't for the smell, I'd be just as alarmed as the guards struggling to react to this unexpected threat.

As it was, I felt a thrum of adrenaline fueled panic when the beast turned its massive head toward me and let out a low rumble. I gripped my weapon a little tighter and edged to the side in time to watch a group of brave soldiers rush the nue. A sharp whistle split through the night and I spun towards the sound in time to see Ifrit rushing towards me. Her hands moved so quickly I could barely make out the message, but the alarm in her eyes was enough to connect the dots.

Kai wasn't going to be able to hold on much longer.

I knew without looking that our youngest member was running on the last bit of his strength. A flash of pale blonde hair told me that Talia was already heading his way to help him before he was tapped out. Now that I knew to look for it, I could see the edges of the massive nue beginning to dim and turn fuzzy. The Winter soldiers hadn't noticed in their efforts to organize an offensive, but it wouldn't be long before they began to suspect something was up.

Better get your prince moving, I muttered to Stryker. Our time is running out.

Instantly the link between us flared to vivid life and I could feel the panic that swelled like a tidal wave. Are you hurt? He asked quickly. Aria, what's happening?

The visceral reaction made me feel awkward and off balance. It was too violent, too real to be anything but honest. I wasn't ready to interpret what that meant for us. If it meant something. Being this close to my mate without a completed bond made everything complicated and raw and dangerous in a way that I was afraid to investigate further. That would come later-much later.

We're fine, I said shortly, pretending he was concerned for the whole of my Core. Kai's tapped out so we're going on to Plan B. Signal when Rhone is out.

I didn't bother to wait for his reaction, not when the fake nue was shivering like a mirage in an unexpected parallel to the exhaustion that must be plaguing Kai. Ifrit watched me move and I sent her a quick gesture to get him out of here. We couldn't risk him burning out like I had in Prythian. I refused to let another one of my family get hurt because I dragged them into another fight.

Like it knew what was about to happen, I could feel my magic crackling to life in the air around me. Above us, I could sense the power lurking in the storm looming closer with the promise of bitter cold and ice that would seep into bones and skin like frost over a lake. It was nothing like the warm heat and driving rains of my homeland, but I felt it resonate all the same.

For the first time in years, I let the beast within me step free.

My lips parted on an exhalation that shivered with a power that was replicated in a howling wind that ripped through the evergreen trees framing the courtyard and sent the snow pillowing through the air in sheets of glittering white. Thunder rumbled distantly, the melody as familiar as a friend and as jaded as an old lover. Wind circled me in a tight halo before racing away to disappear into the night and muffle the sounds of new panic blooming in the soldiers.

There was none of the pure and lively air that had served me so well in Hybern any longer. To stay alive, it seemed my body had given over the purest parts of my soul to the howling wind and crackle of thunder. The very thing that had nearly killed me once was now the only thing that kept me alive.

Kai's grip on the illusion finally slipped enough that the beast in the center of the courtyard flickered oddly, surreal and incomprehensible. The men around it paused in confusion before it gave a final shiver and disappeared into ash.

For a long moment, there was silence but for the soft creak of leather pommels being squeezed too tightly in sweating palms. A male bearing the stripes of an officer turned slowly to scan the area for threats and I could feel the moment his eyes finally landed on me. We stared at one another for a beat. Me, still holding the glaive loosely at my and side, while a long bead of sweat slowly trickled down his cheek.

Then I winked and all hell broke loose.

The storm above us opened up like the wrath of some long forgotten titan. Sharp barbs of ice shot down in a concentrated burst that rained down on the soldiers exposed in the courtyard like fragile arrows. They fell to their knees beneath it, raising their hands in an instinctive shield against the onslaught. It was an effort to keep the attack non lethal with the swell of power tasting like violence and chaos in my lungs.

A hand wrapped around my arm, yanking my mind away from the tumultuous storm above us and back to the earth with a jarring sort of surprise. Talia stared into my eyes fiercely and shook me roughly. "Don't you dare lose control. You stay with us," she demanded.

I stared at her blankly, reeling my mind away from the current of air and the bright spark of lightning begging me to dance through the clouds with them. Blinked away the burn of frost and sleet from my lashes. Felt the weight of my body and the touch of warm skin on mind cementing me to the earth.

And inhaled.

"I'm fine," I told her hoarsely and, after another breath, it was the truth. My mind returned to the problem at hand in time to see Ifrit hauling a stumbling and pale Kai down the hallway towards us.

Talia stared at me for a beat longer before she nodded and turned to Kai.

He gave us both a grin that looked far too weak for my liking. "You always have to be so dramatic, commander. Makin' me look bad."

"First rule of war, kid," I said with a fond smile, "Commanders always get all the credit."

His grumbled response was drowned out by Talia slinging his other arm around her shoulder and beginning to hustle him down the hallway. The short healer pressed a flask into his chest and he awkwardly tilted his head to take a long swallow. Whatever was in it made him gasp and splutter as they hustled him along.

I moved ahead of the group to make sure the corridor was clear while they moved more slowly. Right on cue, Stryker's rough voice murmured in the back of my mind, We're on the move. Heading your way.

Hopefully that meant the murderous new High Lord had been dispatched without any difficulty.

We took a right turn that I remembered vaguely from the map and were rewarded with the scent of hay and warm horses. The stables were thankfully far enough away that the animals it housed were only slightly perturbed by all the noises outside. Kai was dumped onto one of the seats nearby so Ifrit and I could quickly assemble the tack for one of the horses.

"Why only one?" he asked. Talia nudged the flask in his hand meaningfully and he scowled at her before obediently taking another drink.

I tossed a saddle blanket over the back of a sturdy looking mare and reached for the saddle. "The guards will be spreading the news of our attack quickly now. If we rushed the gates on horseback, they'd focus all their energy on hunting us down and making sure we never got out of the city alive," I explained with a soft grunt as I tightened a strap. "One rider won't be worth hunting."

"So who's riding out?" Ifrit rolled her eyes and shot him a look at his question. He made an offended noise that we all ignored. "What? I'm not leaving you guys!"

"We're going to be escaping on foot, kid," I cut in before he could protest further. Ifrit finished with the bridle and I handed the reins to the younger male with a sharp look. "I need you to get to Stryker's gambling den and bring the horses waiting there to this address." The final piece of the plan was scrawled haphazardly onto a scrap of paper.

Kai frowned at it, still looking mutinous.

I clapped him on the shoulder and shoved him toward the horse. "That's an order."

Thankfully he seemed to realize this was loosing battle because he hauled himself onto his new mount's back and turned it toward the exit. Before disappearing into the frozen night, he sent us all a stern look, "Don't have any fun without me."

Talia snorted and we turned as one back towards the palace at a ground-eating jog. The pause to stop by the stables had cost us only a few minutes, but I was already eager to confirm with my own eyes that Stryker and Rhone were safely free from the thickest clusters of guards. Lights flickered to life all around us as people finally began to notice the strange assault in the middle of their palace. I was sure by now that the small storm I'd created was losing steam without me there to feed it, but the snow continued to fall around us in a helpful cloak that muffled our footsteps and kept us anonymous to any onlookers.

Twice we were forced to double back for another route when the sounds of approaching Winter fae came too close. Now that Thrace was dead and Rhone was-mostly-free, we had no reason to keep fighting the soldiers tasked with protecting the royal family. A morbid sort of smile flickered at my lips at the thought of how bad their track record was for keeping High Lords safe this week.

The link in my chest thrummed like a lodestone with each step, guiding me inevitably towards my mate. It only took a few minutes longer before my stupid soul was reward with the sight of long legs and dark power racing in our direction just as we reached the gate we'd marked on the maps in Stryker's hall. It'd been the closest to the training yards and therefore the most likely to be empty of guards after the distractions started nearby. The two wolves from earlier darted ahead like they were trying to herd us all toward the exit or away from their injured master. I ignored them in favor of looking over the two males for obvious injury.

"What's the plan?" I asked as Stryker fell into step at my side. It rankled something in me that it was so easy for us to move as a team even now. It was like our bodies still remembered what it felt like to trust each other.

Stryker looked a little wild eyed in the dim lighting and I could feel his stress thrumming through the bond. "They have his mate," he said quickly, pitching his voice so the others could hear him. "They want to exchange her for Amarantha's spellbook."

Something sharp and brittle in my chest crackled violently and I skidded to a halt, forcing Ifrit and Talia to the twist sharply out of the way to avoid me. My heart thundered loudly in my ears and I could feel the ozone gathering in the air around me as my body reacted to what Stryker had said.

Amarantha. The catalyst for the destruction of everything I'd built and the future I'd hoped to achieve. Even now, it seemed the red bitch would haunt me.

"What?" I hissed, furious and confused by this chain of events. Stryker didn't seem surprised to know Amarantha was involved-even beyond the grave-which meant…

He'd been lying to me. Again.

Maybe one of these days I'd stop being surprised by it.

Stryker turned toward me, mouth opened to pour out some no-doubt honeyed excuse, but paused when the sounds of footsteps turned in our direction. His eyes pleaded with me silently to wait, to trust in him, but I brushed past him without a word. If I'd been looking for a sign that he was still the same spy master and manipulator I'd foolishly believed in in Hybern, I'd found it.

This chapter was un-beta'd in a burst of late night inspiration, so I hope you'll bear with me if you run across any mistakes. I cut it a little short because I liked ending on this note since you know if you've read the Thief and the Soldier that a lot of tension is going to be riding this group now. I'm also going to be introducing a new villain for Stryker and Aria to face in the next chapters which I'm super excited about.

You might have noticed that there have been some delays in updating which I'm very sorry for. I've been forcing myself to prioritize an original book idea I've been playing with forever and finally-maybe-try to actually get something published. Hopefully. Eventually. Either way, I appreciate your patience and continued support! Your reviews give me strength!