“This Impostor wants you to serve yourself and to serve him, not the King,” Marcus said. “He tempts you to sacrifice the eternal on the altar of the immediate. Are you so blind you cannot see that?”

“But Gabriel has been kind to me. He rescued me!”

“He appeared to rescue you—but from whom? From himself! Search your heart—you know who he is!”

I backed away from Marcus, terrified. I’d observed fire in his eyes but had never seen him so angry as now. He pointed his finger at me, his mighty arm shaking, his voice shouting.

“Did you think I was not there by the fire? Did you think the King was asleep? Did you imagine all Charis was blind to Thuros, that we did not all see when this one you call Gabriel enticed you to seduce the woman? Do you think we do not know your plans to commit the great wickedness this very night?”

I dropped to my knees as an awful clarity fell on me like a meteor from the sky. A white-hot dagger stabbed my chest. I felt warm blood in my mouth, the taste of death. The acts I had already committed in my heart flashed before me relentlessly, without mercy. I had fallen, and the depth of my fall overwhelmed me.

I looked up at Gabriel and saw his eyes. Shark eyes.

How could I have been so stupid? So blind?

“I’m sorry,” I cried. “Forgive me, Marcus.”

“You have betrayed—and plotted to further betray—one far greater than I. He rules the universe. Ask his forgiveness, not mine.”

“Forgive me, my King,” I cried out to one I could not see. “I have wronged you and Victoria and Malaiki and Shad and Gordy. And Marci, Amy, and Brian.”

“You’ve done nothing wrong,” Gabriel said in a soothing voice.

“I’ve done everything wrong. I’ve been proud, impure, selfish. I’ve dishonored the one who crossed the chasm for me. Forgive me, Lord,” I cried, looking up. “I wanted too much.”

“No, you wanted too little,” Marcus said. “You settled for momentary power, possessions, and pleasures that would rob you of eternal ones.”

“I forgot there is no private moment,” I said, choking on tears. “The GuideBook says what is done in darkness is shouted from the rooftops. I forgot.”

“The GuideBook is your sword,” Marcus said. “You had put down the book—you were unarmed, helpless to fight the battle. My strength was not enough to defend you against the mutineers.”

As Marcus spoke, he staggered, shifting weight from his badly hurt leg.

“I’m so ashamed,” I said. “How can the King forgive me? How can he use me after what I’ve thought and done? And come so close to doing? How can I face the others?”

“Come now,” said Gabriel … Joshua … the Impostor. “Say nothing to the others. You need to maintain their respect. Image is everything.”