My neck prickled with uneasiness. He was here to spy on me. What was he and my father so damn worried I would do? Or find out? I glanced around at his men before turning back to him. I was in a war; what kind of trouble could I get myself into?

“I’m fine. You can go back to the safety of your castle.”

I turned from him, but he gripped my wrist and yanked me back. A memory flashed so quickly that I didn’t register it at first.Jesper beating me. His handsome face twisted like a sadistic monster as I begged him to stop.

“Thea?” Jesper’s concern pulled me out of the memory. I yanked my arm from him instantly and backed away. His eyes narrowed on the movement as his jaw clenched tightly. “What’s wrong?”

“I don’t like to be touched. Now leave; I have a job to do.”

He stared at me so angrily that I gripped my dagger tighter in my hand to the point of pain. I would slice him open if he thought of hurting me. His eyes fell to where my dagger was before the anger disappeared in the blink of an eye.

“I’m going.” He smiled, but it did little to comfort me. “Just remember that we're watching everything you do. So, tread carefully.”

Before I could respond, he turned and left our camp. He was threatening me. My eyes flickered at all the men in gray uniforms staring at me now. I swallowed hard. I had hardly slept and wanted to rest, but that would be impossible with them watching me. I was so uncomfortable that I went to my tent and slept with my dagger in my hand.

?????

Crimson had never come to attack us, and I was thankful because I hadn’t slept well in the week that Kizar guards came here. They watched me closely—too closely. I was sick of waiting for the war to find us, so today we were looking for Crimson. The sooner I could end this war, the sooner I could get away from these lurking spies my father and Jesper had.

We had packed camp this morning and slowly made our way through the thick forest between Crimson and Falgon. I was so lost in my thoughts that I almost missed how silent the woods became. My horse stopped, and I immediately glanced around us. The stupid helmet my father gave me severely limited my sight. My eyes caught movement in the trees ahead of us. I narrowed my eyes on the men hiding.

“Fall back!” I yelled, but it was too late. A cloud of arrows cascaded down on us. I flinched, waiting for the arrows to kill me, but they never hit. When I looked up, there was some sort of barrier magic above us. Thank the gods someone here had used their magic. Crimson guards had started advancing and were already almost to us. I urged my horse to run forward as soon as Cassius came into my view.

He didn’t wear a helmet today, which sucked for me because he was still distractingly handsome. Lust instantly coiled in my stomach. His dark hair blew back in the wind, and his black eyes narrowed on me. He was fixated on me, not bothering to try and fight anyone else near him. It would be a shame to kill him. I ignored every other guard around me too, and Cassius’ focus never wavered. He gave me a smile full of hatred as he closed in on me.

He repositioned himself on his horse, but before I could understand what he was doing, he leaped from his horse and tackled me off of mine. His arms had me in a death grip as we soared through the air. Fuck, this was going to hurt. My body cushioned his fall, and his muscled body nearly crushed me to death. Wheezing, I stood as he did. He pulled out a dagger and swung it at me, not giving me a second to try and catch my breath.

Dodging it, I pulled mine from my boot and swiped at him. He almost didn’t dodge my strike. His surprised face looked at me before he made his next move. Cassius was fast for how tall and built he was. He missed me narrowly but struck again quickly with a second dagger. I groaned when the blade sliced my thigh.

Fuck.

I was panicking as blood seeped down my leg. I tossed my dagger at him, and it missed when he turned his shoulder slightly. Well, that was a stupid move. Cassius smiled at me before charging forward. I reached down and grabbed a sword from a dead fae. For fuck’s sake, this thing weighed as much as I did. I swung it as best as I could to deflect his daggers. The man was going to kill me. He was charging at me without relenting. I was too exhausted to keep up with him.

My sword tangled with his daggers, pulling me close to him. His eyes were black as night as he stared at my armored face.

A vision of Cassius and me in this same position hit me like an arrow. Only that time he smiled at me in a way that had lust pumping through me.The memory was enough to distract me from his violent shove backward. I stumbled, trying desperately to keep my balance. He moved forwardand kicked me so forcefully in the chest that my feet lifted off the ground as I flew back.

My lungs lost all their air when I landed on my back. I stared up at the dark sky, feeling dazed. I could hear swords clanging, and the smell of smoke assaulted me. Cassius was moving for me quickly. He would overpower me, especially since I hadn’t been training for long. I wouldn’t go out without giving him hell. Taking a deep breath, I waited for him to get close enough to me, and when he was, I swiped my foot out, taking his legs out from under him.

He landed with a grunt, and I was crawling on top of him. I punched that handsome face twice before he shoved me off. We both stood, our breathing labored. His brow was bleeding slightly down his face.

“Why don’t you take off that helmet and face me like a man, Captain?” He sneered at me. Stars above, at least his face would give me a pretty view as I died. Neither of us had daggers. Where did his go? I glanced around, but I didn’t see them.

“You’re a gifted fighter,” he breathed heavily as he stayed in his fighting stance. “Most men don’t last ten seconds. Who trained you?”

I didn’t know who trained me. Maybe I taught myself. That damned memory of Cassius and me sword fighting hit me again.

“Fuck,” I muttered as my head became dizzy at the onslaught of the memory playing repeatedly. My broken mind was going to get me fucking killed. As I steadied myself, Cassius just watched me curiously. A moment later, the floating, colorful orb appeared between us. She was flashing bright purple. Cassius could see her too. Maybe she was his pet. His brows furrowed as he glanced at her and then at me. Something like confusion filled his features.

“I don’t feel like beating you to death. Let’s use daggers,” he sighed as he looked around the field at his men. Cassius seemed bored fighting me, and it hurt my feelings for some unknown reason. That damn purple orb was twirling in front of Cassius, and he was watching her again. Confusion filled his eyes before he glanced around like he might see someone.

“How fucking gracious of you,” I snapped. This had him twisting his body toward me quickly. His black eyes cascaded over me as if he could see through my stupid armor. Cassius tilted his head slightly to the side as if trying to decide if he heard me right.

“Where is Palo?” he questioned. “The captain of the Certhian armies?”

“I’m the captain,” I answered.

This time I could see his body tense when he realized his worthy opponent was a woman. Through the slit of my armored helmet, I could see his chest rise and fall quickly. The purple orb calmed down now and just floated calmly between us.