We made our way, winding around buildings and past even more smiling people. We got to the last door in what appeared to be a row of homes, all in one building. I already knew Ryker was nearby.

“What is this place?” I asked as I followed Burn into the sparse room.

“Ryker’s place.” Burn turned and hollered, “Ryker?” He then moved to a faded blue couch and flopped down, kicking his feet up onto a rough piece of wood that served as a table.

“Be right there,” Ryker called back from the other room.

Other than the couch, there was nothing extravagant about the place. Where was the large manor house? Or palace, even? He lived…here? Was he poor? No. There’d been more food than I’d ever seen, not to mention the soap. Nothing about this place made any sense.

Ryker walked out a couple of seconds later, glancing over me as if the room were empty except for Burn. Then his eyes shot right back, as if he barely recognized me.

I swung on Burn. “He’s looking at me weird too. I want my clothes back.”

“If I’m looking at you weird for a second it’s because I can’t believe that there was actually skin under all that dirt. Sit.” Ryker pointed to the chair near the sofa.

I sat. I did have a lot of dirt on me before.

“You hanging out?” Ryker asked Burn, as if he were surprised but pleased.

Burn scrunched up his face and twisted his mouth to the side before popping back off the couch. “Nah, healers give me the creeps.”

“She’s not here yet. You want to come hang for the training?” Ryker asked as Burn made his way for the door.

I watched Burn, hoping he’d stay. Please say yes, please say yes. The room already felt suffocating with Ryker here. Even though Burn was Wyrd Blood too, and in theory, there would be that much more magic in the area, I knew what it felt like when it was only Ryker and I. Burn needed to hang around.

Burn stopped by the door, hand on the knob, looked at the two of us, and said, “Nah, I got a lot to do.”

Burn left and then there were two.

Silence fell.

Ryker walked over to the door and turned to me, giving me all his attention. His stare made me feel edgy. I’d liked it better when he tried to ignore me.

He rested a hand on the knob. “Can you train or are you too weak?”

“We train outside?” There was a way to get out of this small room with only the two of us?

He nodded, and I knew he wanted out as much as I did.

“I can train. I feel fantastic.” I felt like shit, but I’d fake it all day rather than sit here.

He raised an eyebrow. He might not have believed me, but he said, “Come on.”

I followed him and let the lead grow until there was a nice gap between us. We were quickly leaving the city and entering the wooded area surrounding it.

“How long is this training going to take?” I asked, as I followed him down a well-trodden dirt path.

“Probably much longer than either of us want,” he said, now about ten feet ahead of me.

I didn’t like him either, but did he have to color everything he said with it? “Is longer than either of us want approximately a week or a couple of days?”

“Hopefully weeks, but probably closer to months.”

I lost sight of him around a bend and then found that the path had opened up into a small field he was standing in, waiting for me.

I stopped, keeping the ten-foot buffer in place. “I already broke through your wards. I hardly think I need that much work.”

“You didn’t break through mine. You broke through one of my people’s, and it was purposefully weaker than intended. I don’t try and keep Wyrd Blood out. I want to know when they arrive, especially ones who can waltz through wards with ease.”

He smirked as he let me know I’d pranced right into his trap. How did people follow this man? It had appeared as if Burn actually liked him. All I saw was an arrogant man who thought he knew everything, and I was the peasant he was going to step all over to get what he needed.

“Then tell me what I need to do, Lord Ryker.” I said “lord” the way he said “thief,” not that I expected him to notice.

“It’s Ryker.”

So, he did notice. A lord of a country who didn’t like to give himself a title? I didn’t buy it. He probably had people call him king in private.

His magic poked me again, the way it’d done when I was in the room, before I thought we’d made peace.

“Breaking wards is only the beginning of what you need to learn. You have to be able to build one, too, or you’ll be a sitting duck once you get in.” He poked me a few more times.

“Stop doing that.”

He continued as if I hadn’t said anything. “Then there’s your control. Right now, your magic is flying out of you in a disorganized mess, chaotic shots out in every direction. You need to pull it tight to you, as if it were a force surrounding you. If you can’t control your magic, you’re going to be like a rabid dog on a killing spree for the rest of your life.”

I took a couple of steps back, wondering if that would lessen the magical poking. It didn’t. I tried a couple of different spots.

“Once you get in, the person who made the ward is going to know. With that kind of magic, there’s a good chance that anyone else who’s Wyrd Blood is going to sense you. That’s why you’ve got to drop the ward and immediately put one up around you and keep it up until I get you out. Moving isn’t going to help you.” He shoved so hard with his magic that I fell on my ass. How did he do that?

“You’re stronger. I got the point. Are you going to help me or just shove me around all day?” I got up right away and brushed the dirt from my pants.

“I am helping you. You want me to stop? Learn.” He pushed me again. I stayed on my feet this time, but only because I’d expected it and widened my stance.

Then he poked harder.

“You better watch out, because once I can push back, you’re in trouble.”

“That’s not the kind of gifts you have.” He pushed.

“How do you know?” Most Wyrd Blood had no idea what they had until it showed up one day, either by trial and error or dumb luck.

“Because I’d sense it.”

He continued to push.

Sometimes I fell. Sometimes I managed to stand. Nothing about this felt like training. It felt like he was still pissed off I’d stolen food from his chugger.

After another twenty pokes, I snapped. “Why don’t you just punch me if you’re so angry?”

“And you need to learn to control your temper.” He, on the other hand, was perfectly calm. He walked over to the perimeter and picked up a stick.

“Are we done, or is this when you start beating me with that branch?” I sat with an undignified thump onto the ground.

“Neither.” His back was to me, so I couldn’t see his face, but it sounded like he might’ve been smiling when he said it. I was glad he found the idea of beating me humorous.

He dug a circle in the dirt around him as he chanted until it closed.

He tossed the stick to the ground and turned to me. “The bigger a ward is, usually the weaker it is. A tight ward like this is going to be very hard to get through, even for someone who’s a natural ward breaker. Once you can get through this one, you’ll be ready to get through anything they’ve got.”

I was a natural ward breaker. I liked that. It sounded…important. Special, even. I’d felt exhausted a second ago, but the looming challenge in front of me had me nearly jumping to my feet again. Maybe this was something I’d be good at, like he thought? The fact that he stood there so nonchalantly, as if I had no shot of breaking his ward, didn’t hurt matters either. Months my ass. I’d break it this afternoon, and after his healer bought me some time, I’d get the hell out of here. First I’d find Ruck and my crew, let them know I was okay, then figure out a way to find the Debt Collector on my own. It was too dangerous for them to go with me.

I sauntered toward where he stood and then hit the ward. I bounced and then staggered back, as if everything I’d just given it had been thrown at the side of a cliff. I’d seen that happen before, but not to me. Never to me.

Ryker was standing inside his circle, I told you so prominently displayed on his face.

It only added fuel to my charging. The next time I hit it, I didn’t stagger back—I bounced and fell.

He leaned closer and softly said, “You might want to try a little less ramming and a lot more finesse. A ward is woven magic. Brute force doesn’t usually work, but you never know.”

I didn’t want to follow his instructions, but I did want to get through that damn ward and get back to my crew. Wiping the look off his face wouldn’t be a bad outcome, either.

I approached it softly and tried to slowly step through it. It felt like I was trying to step through a wall. “You knew that wouldn’t work. Are you trying to help me or get a laugh?”

His hard angles softened slightly. “Magic is a muscle. It’s like lifting a weight. You’ve got a lot of it, but you’ve never done much with it. It’s going to take a while.”

It was the first time since I’d met him that he hadn’t talked to me as if I were a bug to squash. I nodded and took a couple of steps to gather up some more energy.

“What is it that you want in Bedlam, anyway?”

“Why are you called Bugs?” he asked.

“I don’t know. Just a nickname.”

“Where’d you get it?”

“I’ve had it for so long, I don’t remember.”

“Did you know your magic flares when you’re lying?”

Actually, I had. What I hadn’t known was that other people felt it. Live and learn.

I’d geared up to ram into the ward when he said, “Time to quit.”

What was it with this guy? He’d poked me, had me run into a ward, and now he thought I was too weak? We’d see who’d quit first. I gave as good as I got. “I can keep going.”

“No. You can’t.”

“Yes, I…” I wobbled and went down for the count.