Atlas catches the direction of my stare, his gaze falling on Lor. He blinks like he can’t quite believe it. Slowly, she approaches, looking down at him, her expression giving nothing away, but something passes between them. No matter what Atlas did, I know Lor believed in him for a short time.

She takes in the measure of him, the arcturite cuffs around his wrists, the defeated look on his face, and I don’t think that I imagine the glimmer of satisfaction that shines in her eyes.

Atlas’s gaze narrows as he studies her before turning back to me.

“What do you plan to do with me?” he asks as he dismisses Lor. Clearly, his fate is his main concern.

I shake my head. “I don’t know, Atlas.”

“Gabriel—”

“Take him away now,” I say to Rhyle, cutting off whatever Atlas wants to say.

I can’t stand to look at him a moment longer.

My brothers haul him up from under his arms.

“Gabe, please,” Atlas pleads. “Please don’t do this. I know you. You’ll regret this.”

The tether on my temper is so close to snapping. I approach him, hissing in his face.

“Do not tell me what I will regret. I regret so many fucking things, Atlas, but this will never be one of them.”

It takes four warders to restrain him as he thrashes and screams and fights against his bonds.

You’d think he could go out with some dignity, but I guess that’s asking too much. This excuse for a man will always be who he was. The sight of the once glowing Sun King is pathetic to behold.

To the sounds of the chanting crowd, my brothers haul him into the palace, bearing the weight of his lies that have finally caught up with and will soon become the end of him.

CHAPTER 42

LOR

Seeing Atlas again is a shock to my system. I wasn’t prepared for this onslaught of emotion. Nadir wraps an arm around my neck and drags me close, speaking against my temple.

“You okay?”

“Yeah,” I say. “I think so.”

Atlas used me and abused me, but I am at the bottom of the very long list of his victims. While I could hold on to my anger, I also want to step aside and make room for those he lied to for a century. For those whose lives he’s affected in unalterable ways.

Whatever my personal grievances, they’re nothing compared to what Gabriel, Tyr, and the other warders had to endure. The pain is written into their faces, etched into the haunted look in their eyes.

Atlas spared only a glance for me. I never mattered to him anyway, and knowing that doesn’t hurt as much as it might have once.