The coldness in her eyes sets the hairs on the back of my neck at attention. Shit. Maybe that was the wrong hand to play.

But who is this woman, and how did she know my grandmother?

“I don’t know what vile scheme brought you here, but the only reason I’m allowing you to live is so His Majesty can question you first.”

Then she scans me from head to toe, her eyes narrowing ever so slightly with an implied threat, before she turns on her heel.

“Come,” she says to the guards before they all disappear, leaving me alone in my cell as Zerra’s clock tick tick ticks over my head.

CHAPTER 4

GABRIEL

APHELION—THE SUN PALACE

My sword dangles from my hand, the tip dragging over the pavement with a dry scrape. It feels like it weighs a hundred pounds. Maybe a thousand. I step over a body, barely noticing it, my legs heavy and leaden, and make my way towards the palace.

I stare at the carnage, the air singed with smoke and ashes. And death. So much death. More than I ever imagined and so much more than I ever hoped.

When I concocted the plan to reveal Tyr to the world, I knew it would break us. I knew it would stir up ancient grudges and shake the foundations of our existence, but I hoped it wouldn’t be this bad.

What a naive asshole I was.

The sky is finally lightening after an endless day and night of fighting. Red bleeds into the sunrise, mimicking the blood that runs along the streets.

Gods, I fucked this all up.

Running a hand through my hair, I feel my fingers tangle in the knotted strands sticky with sweat and blood, and Zerra only knows what else.

Everyone finally saw the truth. Tyr is alive, and Atlas is a fraud.

I’ve lived with this secret for so many years, but its release doesn’t feel as light as I expected. Now I stand burdened with something entirely new and unfamiliar.

Tyr is alive, but he isn’t present. And Atlas is a traitor. He has always been a traitor.

He cursed me as they took him away, screaming and hurling accusations of my betrayal. I tried to drag up an ounce of sympathy for what I’d done. I’ve condemned him to an inevitable fate, but will this be where it ends? I’ve lived in Atlas’s shadow for so long, a victim of his ambition and his cruelty, but I’m not sure if I have the strength to face what comes next. There’s a punishment for traitors in Aphelion. The rules are clear. And for what reason would anyone want to show him leniency? I’m just hoping I’m not the one forced to make that call.