I wish I could believe that. “Just promise me you’ll be careful. Please.”

Her smile warms up a bit. “You know you don’t have to worry about me. I have things under control.” She nudges my shoulder with her fingertips. “If you’re finished…”

“I am.” I sling my arm over her shoulders, loving and hating how good it feels to have her pressed against my side. Being this close to Shiloh is pure agony because it makes me want things I can’t have, but I wouldn’t give up this casual intimacy for anything. No matter how much it hurts sometimes. “If you want, I’ll keep you company for the rest of your watch.”

“Of course. I have a deck of cards around here somewhere. We can play for a bit.”

“Deal.” And maybe by the time the sun rises, I’ll have figured out what the hell I’m going to do about Monroe.

Chapter 4

Shiloh

Three Weeks Later

Coming back to Sabine Valley was a mistake. No one else seems to agree with me, so I’ve kept my opinion to myself, but there’s no shaking the dread that dogs my steps every waking moment since we breached the city limits. Three weeks of jumping at shadows, startling at every loud sound, and looking over my shoulder for an attack that never comes. It’s frazzled my nerves and makes me wonder what the hell I was thinking returning to a city that shares such a complicated history with me.

Sabine Valley.

It’s unlike anywhere else. I’m honestly not sure if that’s a good thing or a bad thing. I stare out the window of the office Monroe and I have traveled to every day for the past two weeks. It’s the tallest building in the Amazon faction, and Monroe’s office presents a stellar view to the south, showcasing the river that branches around the island where the three factions hold their feast day rituals. At the island, it splits to the south and east, creating a natural barrier between the factions. Amazons to the north. Raiders to the west. Mystics to the east.

They all look identical from up here.

Really, for all their superficial differences, the factions aren’t that different from each other. One ruler, a family that surrounds and supports them. Each nursing a superiority complex that might be funny if they didn’t hold so many lives in their hands.