My head is going a million miles per minute. This can’t be real life. In the real world, there aren’t dynasties and heirs and factions and all this bullshit. There are just people.

These men aren’t people.

They’re monsters.

Every last one of them.

“I was only trying to protect you, Junepenny.”

He sounds so sincere. But then again, he always did. Wasn’t that the problem in the first place? I believed him too easily. I gave him my trust too freely.

“You do believe me, don’t you?”

“I don’t know what I believe anymore,” I croak.

He sighs. “I know it’ll take time to earn back your trust. I’m prepared for that. But for right now, we shouldn’t be out in the open like this. Will you come with me, Junepenny? Please?”

My gut twists. But since I don’t have any idea where else to go, I do the only thing I can do.

I nod.

2

KOLYA

FIVE DAYS LATER

Thunder rolls over our heads. Clouds sit like black pits of concrete in the skies, but there’s still no rain.

I turn my attention to the line of men kneeling in front of me. There’s a certain tidiness to a bullet in the head, but my mood calls for something a lot less clean.

“Sir,” Knox says, moving to my side, “we’ve rounded them all up.”

My eyes veer across the men. There are eleven in total. All of them have their arms bound tight behind their backs and ankles cuffed together. No matter what they do, they will not escape their fate today.

I pace before them, letting my eyes flicker over each man’s face for a brief moment. I don’t recognize a single one.

“Well?” I ask, pausing in my tracks. “Information is the only thing that will save you now.”

A shiver that runs through the line of captives. Every single one of them wants to speak, but fear keeps their lips sealed.

I make eye contact with the youngest man in the line-up. He can’t be older than twenty or twenty-one. His beard is a wispy tumbleweed, but his eyes are dark and proud. “We weren’t high up enough in the ranks to be told anything important,” the boy tells me. “We don’t know where the girl is.”

Milana appears on the dock, framed by the gray harbor waters behind her. The shipyard is deserted now, but it won’t be for long. Considering we’re in for an early morning thunderstorm, I’m guessing I have a little extra time.

“You don’t know where the girl is,” I repeat. “Is that true for every man here?”

I glance towards Knox. That’s all it takes to communicate my orders. Behind the lineup of poor souls who chose the wrong leader, my men take up their positions.

“Yes,” one of the older ones growls. “We were given orders. We followed them.”

I pace leisurely over to him. “What’s your name?” I ask.

His eyes narrow. He’s got a full beard that acts as something of a mask. Most of his features are hidden behind it. “Tucci.”