Elias exited the cover of the trees and began his trek across the open clearing between the forest and the ruins. The black sky had given way to pewter as the hour inched toward twilight, allowing him to see the outline of the fortress. Macor stood tall and square, a once mighty monument to war. To be fair, the ruins were in decent shape despite their age, with just a few places where the stone had crumbled away from the façade.

As he walked, he was plagued with another round of déjà vu. Something about the walk seemed familiar, as if he’d done it before. He almost felt as if an overwhelming sense of fury and nostalgia were about to overcome him, and he wasn’t sure why.

It was a strange time for the I’ve done this before to return.

Any moment, a bullet might zing from the tree line and end him. Or from Macor tower itself, if the enemy had gotten there before them. Elias somehow doubted it; they’d departed the Ahtissari stronghold quickly hours before and had set up a perimeter around the ruins. Military snipers were in the trees, had been there before everyone else.

What no one knew was whether the enemy had gotten there first. Thus far there had been no sign of other shooters or movement anywhere around Macor.

The knowledge did not ease the tension gripping his spine.

Although he wore a bulletproof vest, there was no protection on his head or below the waist. His arms were also exposed. A barrage of bullets sprayed in his general direction would undoubtedly hit flesh.

He drew in a breath and slowly exhaled.

One foot after another.

Rather than think about bullets, he thought about Sander. About his family. He thought about Inari and her sweet face and how patient she’d been during the entire ordeal. Even when he’d been much less forthcoming and somewhat dismissive. He experienced pangs of regret, still, over his inability to connect with anyone but Sander.

For the king, he’d developed a small but important bond. He cared whether Sander lived or died. The man had been there, altering plans as needed according to Elias’s whim. If he was honest with himself, it pained him to think of anything bad happening to Chey as well. Or his siblings. He’d spent much less time with them than with Chey and Sander, but there was a pull he could not deny.

The changes made him hopeful. He tried to grasp tighter to the weak thread of familiarity, willed his memory to return completely.

Halfway to Macor.

No bullets yet. No sign of the enemy.

Elias scanned the tree line to each side but saw no signs of life. Not even from his own team. The forest appeared empty of people, of animals.

He walked on.

A flicker near one of the uppermost windows of the ruins drew Elias’s gaze. His attention snapped there of its own accord, his body acting on instinct.

Had it just been a bird? A shadow?

His shoulders tightened with unease. He had a sudden, crazy desire to make himself smaller and run the remaining distance to the fortress.

The déjà vu struck again. He could almost picture himself doing exactly as he’d thought, creeping up on the ruins but with intent, rather than as a decoy.

He imagined himself in other places: palaces, castles, manors. Skulking through darkened hallways with a gun in his hand, on a mission of unknown origin.

Sweat broke out on Elias’s brow.

He felt close to a breakthrough.

The imagined scenario almost felt like a memory. It was just there, a hair’s breadth beyond his grasp.

“You okay, Elias?” Mattias asked through the bud in his ear.

Elias realized that, at some point, he’d stopped walking. Mattias had said they would only break radio silence if absolutely necessary.

He resisted the urge to reach up and touch the earbud, and started walking again.

“Fine,” Elias said. He spoke the single word quietly, although no one was close enough to hear.

Again, movement in a window drew Elias’s gaze.

A bird erupted from the stone ledge and took flight toward the trees.

Just birds, he told himself. Nothing more nefarious than that.

Ten yards to go.

There had been no shootouts, no sign of the enemy leaving the trees to approach Macor as the others had hoped. Elias mentally shifted from plan A to plan B, since the enemy had not been coaxed from hiding.

He aimed for the right side of the fortress, intending to circle around to the front where a door would allow him access inside. The structure wasn’t small by any means, and the closer he got, the more imposing it seemed. He followed the exterior until he rounded the final corner.

From his vest, he withdrew a small device. Mattias had given him a crash course on its use before they’d departed Ahtissari Castle. He used his teeth to pull the pin and tossed the flash-bang through a lower window.

When he hit the ground, he did so with care for his injured arm.

A concussive blast lit up the interior, more light and sound than actual shrapnel. The device was meant to stun and disorient the enemy. Elias remained on the ground against the thick stone wall and withdrew the gun Mattias had tucked into a hip holster.

Any second he expected men to stagger out the door, coughing and shielding their eyes. He knew Mattias and their team were on the move; some were headed to the ruins, others were hunting the enemy in the forest.

In moments, Mattias, Leander, Jeremiah, and others had crept up to his spot on the ground.

“Haven’t seen anyone or heard anything,” Elias whispered to Mattias. The men were all dressed head to toe in black.

“We haven’t found anything in the forest either,” Mattias said. He gestured for troops at their flank to enter the ruins.

A stream of men, crouched and running, passed everyone and kicked open the heavy wooden door. They had their weapons drawn and held at the ready.

Elias waited through the next few seconds, as tense as he’d ever been.

Shouting or gunshots could erupt any moment.

“Clear!”

That was not what Elias expected to hear.

He glanced back to Mattias, frowning.

Mattias shook his head as if he didn’t understand, and rose from the ground.

“Leander, Jeremiah, wait here with Elias,” Mattias said, and entered the fortress through the open door.

From the inside, Elias heard the troops murmuring among themselves. Mattias’s voice joined the conversation, but he could not decipher what was being said.

“What’s going on?” Elias asked Leander.

“Don’t know yet. It appears no one is here.”

“But they were the ones that set up the meeting place.”

“Unless this is a ruse and they’re attacking someone else, somewhere else,” Leander said. He got on his radio and called in a check for Chey, Emily, Erick, and Eliana.

A knot took shape in Elias’s stomach as he thought about the rest of his family falling prey to the attackers. But no, that was impossible. The others were under heavy guard—unless the guards themselves were the traitors and had waited for everyone else to be distracted with Macor to strike.

Elias felt sick.

Maybe the plan had been total annihilation all along. Instead of just going after Sander and himself, they’d gone after everyone at the same time.

Would he lose his family before ever regaining his memory?

“You’re kidding me,” Leander said.

Elias frowned. Something had happened, and it wasn’t good if Leander’s expression was anything to judge by.

“No, no, wait until we get there.” Leander rang off.

“What is it?” Elias asked. He started to rise. Leander put a hand on his arm.

“Stay low for now,” Leander said. “Something is very wrong with all this. Erick and Eliana managed to find the traitors within the guard ranks before an apparent attack. Two men are dead, and they’re holding two others for questioning.”

“So the attackers had planned a full-scale event. They’re trying to wipe out the whole line at once.”

“It looks that way. Chey, Emily, Erick, and Eliana are safe for now.”

Mattias stepped outside. “There’s no one in there. No signs they were in there at all.”

“Erick and Eliana discovered the traitors. They’re guards, and they’d been planning an attack to take out the family. Two are dead, two are about to be questioned,” Leander said. “Which means all this was planned out ahead of time. They wanted to separate us, divide the ranks. And they did a good job of it.”

Leander stood, bringing Elias with him.

“But that doesn’t answer why no one is here, waiting for me,” Elias said once he was on his feet. He holstered the weapon, unease sitting heavy on his spine. Something still felt wrong, off. He couldn’t put his finger on what it was.

“Maybe they were, and retreated after they saw us arrive. Despite the fact we were stealthy about the deployment, they could have had scouts farther out who saw us land,” Jeremiah said.

“Or the guards with Erick and the others overheard our plans and called their comrades to pull out,” Leander added.

“It could have been that, but it could be something else,” Mattias said. “I agree with Elias. Something feels wrong here. I think we should gather our men and return to Ahtissari Castle, see where the questioning goes.”

“So if they did show up here and they saw the backup, do you think they still killed Sander?” Elias asked.

“I don’t know, Elias. I just don’t know,” Leander said.

“It’s a good bet they didn’t. I still think they need him as leverage,” Mattias said. A new thread of tension entered his voice. “Until the members of the coup get word of the turnout, they’ll keep him alive in case they have to regroup and start over.”

Troops exited the ruins and took up positions around the inner group. Elias paid little attention to the coming and going of the others, too busy wondering what was eluding him. They were all missing something major, he was sure of it.

He found out a moment later when one of the guards turned, raised a gun at his head, and pulled the trigger.