I spend the rest of the evening alone. Antonio is gone. I have no doubt that he’s preparing some other vital cog in our engines of war. Readying his troops in case all goes to plan. It’s nice to sit in silence. I wait in the hotel’s restaurant area. Other guests see me and decide to make themselves scarce. The waiter finally takes a hint and stops asking if I’d like a refill.

It allows me a moment to trace back over the map. Rehearse the right rebirths. I’m closer now than ever to starting a war. I’m full of fear and hunger and foreboding. After a few hours of staring through the window and out into the busy Furian streets, I decide to call it a night. I’ll want as much sleep as I can get. It will be scarce during the Races, even scarcer during the war that will follow. The upstairs hallway is empty. I open my door.

A shiver runs down my spine. Something strange is in the air, but as I stare around the room, the details all look the same. I search the shadows and corners. Nothing. I close the door behind me and I’m halfway into the light of the room when I see the man sitting in the corner.

He was not there a second before.

And fear trembles through me, because he is no man.

“Take a seat,” the creature hisses.

He is shirtless. Dirt stains the vessel’s upper body. I try to cling to the truth that this is just a man. He’s flesh and blood. But my eyes trace the disturbing scars that start at the base of the priest’s neck. A scaled mask threads directly into the skin. Those protective scales enclose the human head completely. I note slit nostrils, a single gleaming eye, the reptilian profile. Each feature resembles the iron turtles that live along the coast. Creatures known for their caution and their unbreakable shells. It takes a second to remember the name of this particular god.

“They call you the Dread.”

The priest spreads both hands. “So they do. Go ahead. Sit.”

My heart thunders. It was easy to dismiss the gods—and the role they’d play in the war—from a distance. But seeing one in person has my heart beating faster. I take a steadying breath and it’s like his finger is set on the pulse of all my fears. He smirks. The animalistic features look so alive. Is this priest following his god’s command? Or has the Dread actually entered our world for this rendezvous?