Roman keeps his chin dipped to his chest, so I can’t see his face as Lucius makes a dramatic circle around him before focusing on me.

He holds my stare as he gives the judgment. “Interfering with the competition carries a death sentence. It seems fair our newest member should be the one to carry it out. After all, she benefited from his actions.”

Roman’s head finally shoots up and he stares at me. He wants me to do it. I can read it all over his face. When did I learn to read his few expressions? I shake my head slightly in answer.

I may be angry with him right now, in this moment, but I still recognize what he did for me and why he did it. I’d have done the same for him. But killing Roman would make me the very thing he tried to save me from.

Lucius watches our silent exchange and then claps his hands once. “The execution will take place tomorrow at dawn. Decapitation works best for us immortals. Can’t tell your body to heal when your brain’s not attached anymore. Fun too.” He gives me a sick grin. “Until then.” He spins and strides into the hallway.

Lucius wants me to be like him—wants to push me until I can’t look back, until I can’t judge him because the blood on my hands will be just as thick. He’s going to try again and again until one day I break.

I burst into the hallway after him. “You can’t make me do this.”

He doesn’t even bother to turn around. His black boots click away from me down a hallway of glossy black tiles that turn to icy silver each time his foot touches one. He thinks he’s a god. I want to show him he’s not. I want to make him bleed.

Almost more than anything else in the world.

Except saving Roman. I’d let him live if it meant Roman would be safe. I’d bow to him. I’d play his little games if only he’d give me Roman back. The realization shocks me so much I stumble a bit and glance down at my feet. Gold blooms under my foot, erasing the trail of silver that Lucius leaves behind. I know he’s the one making it change silver, but I’m not making it go gold. It’s the magic itself, pressing against the cage it’s been trapped in. It wants to be free.

I think it wants me to be the one to free it. I look back up at Lucius’s retreating form.