Protect her at all costs, Lira heard another voice whispering. Not in her com, but in what felt like her very soul.

It was the same voice she’d always heard since Nor took power, flickering into her mind throughout the day and night like a candle in the darkness. She latched on to the order, desperate to obey.

Protect your queen.

Figures emerged throughout the crowd, dressed in deepest bloodred—the color of Arachnid. Another shot rang out. The sea of people writhed and shoved and moved in too many directions at once, a wave rocking and rolling, ready to crash against the shore.

Enemy, Lira’s gut screamed as she saw the black spiderweb design painted on their helmets. Where were they coming from? It seemed like they’d emerged from everywhere and nowhere all at once, holes in the universe that she couldn’t trace.

She had to exterminate the enemy. She had to prove herself worthy of serving her queen, especially with her past affiliation with Andi weighing on her daily, shaming her.

Lira had to be better than her past.

This was her time.

Lira fought her way through to the center of the chaos, toward the stage where she’d last seen her queen. She could see Nor’s personal guards now, forming a line of defense as red-helmeted enemies approached from all directions, but Lira saw not a glimpse of the queen or her crown.

Panic raced through her.

“Our orders are to remove all threats to the crown,” Breck’s voice said into her com. “Whatever it takes.”

A man fell beside Lira, his head cracked and bleeding as he hit the pavement. He was Adhiran, his skin blue like hers. Like someone else she’d once known and loved—a twin who’d become a traitor. As he fell, Lira caught a full view of the stage through the gap in the crowd.

Her heart leaped as she saw the queen, alive and well. Nor was shoving back against Zahn, reaching for something...her lips forming a name.

Valen, she was saying. Valen.

“They’re closing in,” someone shouted. Gilly suddenly appeared beside Lira, her small frame moving like a warrior as she lifted her gun and fired twice, a smooth cadence that hit its target. One of Arachnid’s soldiers fell midsprint, body convulsing before they dropped to the ground, trampled beneath rushing feet.

Their weapons only stunned, creating a short-term paralysis. Another order of the queen’s, when she took up her reign. None were to die; only to fall. But the red-helmeted figures had no such constraints as they shot through the crowd, taking down anyone and everyone in their path.

The city, once beautiful and fully protected from war, was now a graveyard.

An enemy soldier sprinted past Lira. She lifted her rifle, breathing steadily as she centered him in her sights and fired. The stunner round took him down immediately. Beside her, Gilly shot another.