Urian’s head spun while Bethsheba came in his arms with a shrill battle cry. Laughing at her enthusiasm, he sank his fangs into her throat and let her blood invade his mouth so that he could feed on her sweetness. There was something about whenever she climaxed that made her all the tastier to him.

He didn’t know if it was something about her adrenaline or if it came from her being a different form of Daimon. Whatever it was, she made his senses reel. Quickening his strokes, he lost himself to her cries and her scent.

“Majesties?”

Urian cursed in frustration.

Sheba went rigid in his arms as her climax was cut in half. First lesson he’d learned when he’d moved in with her—make sure she was done completely with her orgasm before he finished or there would be hell to pay.

She let out a shriek that challenged the elasticity of his eardrums as she flung a heavy gold wine cup at the hapless maid. Fortunately, the girl was used to dodging projectiles from her volatile mistress. “Damn it, Niva! What have I told you about interrupting us?”

Cringing, the petite blonde picked up the cup and deftly policed the wine before it stained the rugs and resulted in a beating for the girl for her carelessness. Which would have later caused a fight between Urian and his wife after he defended what Bethsheba viewed as a lowly servant.

“Forgive me, Majesty. But I have visitors for King Urian … his brothers are waiting for him.”

Sheba let out a frustrated breath as Urian gave her an apologetic grin. Stroking her intimately and deftly beneath the covers in an effort to placate her ire, he nuzzled her breast with his whiskers. “Sorry, my love. They have always been my bane.”

She yanked at his hair. “Should I have them beheaded?”

Urian laughed. “Tempting … but nay. They are my brothers and my solren would demand satisfaction for it. Let me see what they need and I shall spend the rest of the night making this up to you.” He pressed a kiss to her bare stomach and breast, then moved to slide over her.

She caught him and wrapped her legs about his waist, holding him between her thighs. “I will be here, naked and waiting for your return. Don’t take too long.”

“I’ll return, posthaste.”

With a precious pout, she released him.

Urian slid from the bed, washed quickly, and grabbed his linen shendyt from where his wife had tossed it earlier when she’d attacked him for her “dinner.” Raking his hair back from his face, he grabbed a lightweight robe and left their room, which had been carved from the heart of an ancient mountain that Bethsheba’s people considered sacred to the goddess they served as devoutly as his father did Apollymi. The dark stone walls were soothing to their eyes that Apollo had cursed them with and it kept the temperature cool.

Quite similar to Kalosis, the only real difference was that humans could actually access this home.

If they climbed high enough.

That being said, Sheba’s culture was nothing like the Apollymians’. Which made it hard for him at times whenever he paused to dwell on it. He’d married Bethsheba out of anger, and he was paying for it in ways he’d never imagined.

While she was kinder to him than Xanthia had ever been, he still didn’t love her. And he felt every bit as used.

Thia had wanted a protector to keep her safe from the humans and to guarantee her and her children a permanent place in Kalosis. Sheba wanted an attack dog to unleash at her command. One with no will of his own. She expected unquestioning obedience. A loyalty that overrode his conscience.

She’d wanted Urian Deathbringer.

That myth had only lived to avenge his mother. A rabid hellhound who wasn’t as mindless as she’d assumed. What he found out here in the human realm after his temper cooled was that he bore no hatred or grudge whatsoever toward humanity. They were that far beneath him. He was completely ambivalent toward them.

He reserved his hatred solely for the gods who’d cursed his people.

And away from his family and Apollymi, the volcanic heat inside his blood only seemed to arise whenever injustice occurred. Day-to-day, without his brothers around to nettle him for shits and giggles every time they drew near, he was rather mellow.

Frightfully so, in fact.

He’d had no idea just how quiet and introspective he actually was.

Worse than that, he really missed Sarraxyn. More than he’d have ever thought possible. So much so that he no longer even cared that she’d lied to him about her abilities.

Part of him just wanted to see her again—even if it meant apologizing. But he didn’t know how after all this time.

In truth, he barely recognized the stranger who resided inside his skin nowadays. He really had lost himself. And that feeling was rammed home hard when he opened the door to the ornate throne room where Archie and Theo waited.

They turned toward him, then gave him their backs so that they could continue their whispered conversation, because neither of them realized he was the one they’d come to visit. They thought him a stranger.

I haven’t been away that long.

Well, almost a year. But still …

They shouldn’t haven’t forgotten what he looked like. Or failed to recognize their own flesh and blood.

Bitterly amused, Urian glanced around the familiar room. Black marble was veined with gold and dusted so as to awe and impress any who came here, not that it appeared to have any effect on his obtuse brothers.

Sheba was big on intimidation. Hence her two pets she kept chained to her throne. Agitated at the presence of his brothers’ unfamiliar scent, both oversized lions were pacing around and growling at Archie and Theo, straining at their chains as they sought a way to get nearer their intended victims.

He paused to grab them a bit of steak from their larder. “Shh, Nero, Leo … it’s all right.” Urian tossed the raw meat onto the golden platters set on the floor next to Sheba’s throne.

They immediately pounced on the food.

Archie was the first to gape at Urian’s half-naked state. “Damn, Uri. What happened to you?”

Scowling, Theo moved to his side so that he could paw at Urian’s hair, which now flowed just past his shoulders. “What’s this?”

Urian snatched at the tiny braids Sheba had plaited with care that were interwoven throughout his hair with beads. While it was the fashion of his father’s people to keep their hair length just below their ears, Sheba’s tribe wore theirs much longer. Urian’s now fell past his shoulders. “It’s a sign of nobility among their culture. The long silver and gold beads mean that I’m their ruler.”

“And the eye makeup and face paint?” Theo fingered the intricate pattern that Niva painted along the left side of Urian’s face and hairline every morning and from the tip of his nose to just under his chin.

“It’s tradition, moron.” Just like the ruby stud in his left ear that said he was a free man and not owned by his wife—which was a rare thing for her tribe. “And also indicative of our rank in their society.” Urian scratched at his bare shoulder. “So is there a point to your visit? Or were you two bored and thought, what the hades? We’ve got nothing better to do, let’s go annoy Urian?”

Archie rolled his eyes. “And here we were actually missing you.” He glanced over to Theo. “Why again?”

Shrugging, he held his hands up. “I don’t know. Maybe because we had something to show him?”

Now that was a scary thought. “What? Did the two of you finally locate a single brain cell between you and you needed someone to show you how to use it?”

Archie shoved him.

The moment he did, an arrow went whizzing for his heart.

Urian barely caught it before it landed in the center of his brother’s chest. Had he been a breath later, it would have killed his brother instantly.

Eyes wide, Archie went pale. “What the—”

“Halt!” Urian snapped as his wife’s guards moved forward to slaughter his siblings. Smirking, he returned the arrow to Birgit, who’d shot it. “I appreciate your protection, but I’d be most upset if you killed my brother for his stupidity.”

“Forgive me, Majesty.” She cast a warning glare at Archie before withdrawing back to the doorway.

Both of his brothers gaped in shock.

Crossing his arms over his chest, Urian gave them a smug grin. “Not your little brother here.”

“Apparently.” Theo let out a nervous laugh. “Damn, Uri. How are you doing with it all?”

Some days were better than others. But he wasn’t the kind to share those thoughts.

So he cleared his throat. “Why are you here again?”

Recovering their earlier mischievousness, they exchanged a grin. Then, they pulled open their tunics to expose their chests to him. More to the point, the Daimon’s mark that now rested over their hearts.

Urian’s stomach shrank at the sight. For several seconds, he didn’t react. He couldn’t. Honestly, he didn’t know how to respond to their news. While a part of him was glad to know they wouldn’t die horribly from Apollo’s cold stupidity, another part was sick with the thought of how they’d have to live from this night forward.

That their futures could end in a single heartbeat if they didn’t kill on time …

As precarious as life was for an Apollite, it was so much more for a Daimon.

Theo sobered. “Aren’t you happy?”

“More confused than anything.” He scowled at Theo, unable to understand why he’d convert so soon when he didn’t have to. “You still had three years left until you turned twenty-seven.”

“I know, but Archie was afraid.”

That he understood. They were only a few months away from Archimedes’s birthday when he would have to make a choice. But …

Archie rubbed at his neck. “I couldn’t do it, Uri. I tried so hard … I did. Theo had gone with me and I had the human there. Compliant. I had the human’s will mesmerized to my own, just as Solren had taught us. More than willing to surrender his soul to me. The human was a bastard dog with no regard for anyone—he abused everyone around him, I figured he deserved to die so that I’d have less guilt killing him. I mean, the world is better off without his ilk. And he was more than willing to give up his soul. But then he started whimpering and begging pathetically, and I … I couldn’t do it.”

Theo nodded. “So I did it for him. I killed the human and took the soul, then shared it with Archie.”

Urian flinched. “So what does this mean?” He frowned at Archie. “You’re having to live as an Anaimikos?” They were Daimons who fed from other Daimons in order to remain alive—like a baby bird feeding from its mother.

Sheepishly, Archie nodded.

However, that image quickly turned into something much more graphic and horrifying as Urian thought about how Theo would have to “feed” Archie. Surely this wasn’t as sexual as when Apollites fed …

Was it?

His eyes widened.

They immediately protested as they caught on to where his mind had drifted.

“Oh dear gods!” Archie snapped. “It’s not like that!” He shuddered violently. “I’d rather die!”

“Why would you think something that disgusting?” Theo started to slap Urian’s arm, then glanced at the guards and lions before reconsidering. “It’s not the same as a feeding! Besides, if I were going to sleep with a man, I’d pick someone a lot better-looking than that oaf! Uh! He’s revolting! I’d at least go after Davyn.”

Urian scoffed. “Well, how would I know how you share a soul? I’m not a Daimon!”

Theo rolled his eyes. “Soul exchanges are completely different.”

“How so?” Urian had always been curious how it worked. It was the one thing no one would ever go into. Rather the best-kept secret of their people.

“You wouldn’t believe me if I told you. It’s something you have to be shown when you’re ready.”

Urian moved closer to Theo so that he could study him to see what else might be different about his brother. “So what’s it like?”

They both sobered.

“I don’t know how to describe it, really.” Theo didn’t move as Urian fingered his ear. “My powers are heightened now. In ways you can’t imagine.”

Archie made a face. “For one, the souls are loud.”

Theo nodded in agreement. “I now know why the treli go mad. You can hear the human in your head all the time. It’s like the worst sort of nagging wife.”

“Aye.” Archie sighed. “They beg and whine and barter. And you can’t escape the sound. It rattles in your brain.”

“Is there anything you can do to quiet them?”

They shook their heads. “Solren says it’ll get fainter as they weaken and the soul dies. That we have to pay attention as that will tell us when we need to hunt again. So for that reason, we want them to be yelling loud and clear in order to maintain our life.”

That was terrifying. His own inner monologue was loud enough at times. He couldn’t imagine having something inside him trying to outshout it. “And there’s no other way to live?”

They shook their heads.

Archie scowled. “What about your wife’s people? How does it work for them?”

“Their goddess bonded them to fire demons to preserve their lives. I don’t recommend it, either.” Especially given some of Sheba’s more particular vicious mood swings whenever the demon in her acted up.

Archie glanced over to the guards. “So are they Apollites?”

Not anymore. Even their young were different from what Urian was used to. “The Marzanni are a different species … more akin to Daimons. With some differences.”

Theo arched a brow at that. “Such as?”

“They don’t age the way we do, but they’re not immortal. They can still have children, at any point.” Unlike Daimons, who couldn’t have children. Once they ceased to be Apollites, they lost their fertility.

“Can they walk in daylight?”

Urian shook his head. “No one has thwarted that part of the curse yet. At least not to my knowledge. Though I’ve heard of some who’ve tried.”

All had ended in disaster. It seemed Apollo was determined to make sure no one with a drop of Apollite blood would ever again see the light of day.

“Majesty?” Niva nervously cleared her throat from the doorway shadows. “Forgive my interruption, but my lady bid me to remind you of your duties.”

Ever his horny mistress. He sighed. “I’ll be right there.”

She scurried away.

“Duties?” Archie mocked. Then he sobered. “Truth. Are you happy?”

He couldn’t honestly call what he had here happy. While it wasn’t miserable or abusive, he’d only ever been really happy with one person.

Xyn.

And since she wasn’t here and he was never able to see her …

“I’m content.”

“That’s not happiness, Urian.” Theo passed a concerned glance toward Archie.

How he hated the fact that his family could read him so easily. He’d never been able to hide anything from them. No matter how hard he tried. “You two worry like old women. But I would ask one thing before you leave.”

“That is?” Archie cocked his head.

“Would you escort my children home to their mother? They’ve been missing her and I know they’d like to see her.”

“Sure.”

Urian inclined his head to Archie before he went to ask Niva to gather them for the journey. Nephele in particular had been begging to see her mother. Keeping them away from Xanthia had been the shittiest act of spite he’d ever done in his life, and given some of the things he’d done to his older brothers as a boy, that said a lot.

But the truth was, they’d been the only part of his marriage to Xanthia that he’d enjoyed. And they’d been the one thing that had kept him sane here with Sheba and her people. A balm against his loneliness and his own homesickness.

Especially where Sarraxyn was concerned. He’d needed them as a distraction so that he didn’t dwell on how much he missed his friend.

Nay, not friend. The only woman he’d ever loved.

The one woman he could never have.

And the thought of being here without his children …

Heartsick, Urian sighed. It wasn’t fair to Geras and Nephele, and he knew it. They didn’t belong here and they were miserable. He was being selfish and it was time for them to be with their mother. Not their stepfather.

“Baba!”

He paused at his bedroom door as he heard Nephele’s call from the other end of the hallway. Her voice echoed off the stone as she came running toward him. Even though she tried not to show it, he saw the excitement on her beautiful face as she neared him.

“Are you really taking us home?”

Those words were a fist to his gut. How he wished, but if he went home, he’d never return here either and that would cause a war between their people.

Urian sighed at the tears that choked him. “Nay, love. My brothers are here. They’ll take you and Geras back to your mata.”

“Oh.” Her voice mirrored the same disappointment he felt. “What about you?”

Pain swelled up inside as he fingered her blond braids. “I have to stay here with the Marzanni. But if you wish to stay in Kalosis, I won’t force you to return. I shall miss you terribly, though.” His voice cracked on that last bit. He would miss them every day.

Tears welled in her eyes as her lips trembled. With a sob, she threw herself against his chest.

Closing his eyes, Urian held her there as he fought against his own tears. He really did love his children. He always would.

Geras came running and threw himself against them so that he could pout over the fact that Urian wouldn’t be joining them.

His heart breaking even more, Urian held them until he heard Sheba calling for him to join her from the other side of the door.

Damn it. He shouldn’t have to choose between her and his children. But life was never fair.

And it seemed to take a special joy out of racking his balls.

“I have to go and your uncles are waiting.” He kissed them each in turn. “Take care. I shall come visit as soon as I can.”

“I’ll miss you, Baba!” Geras said.

“Miss you already, scamp.” Urian chucked him on the chin, then wiped away the tears on Nephele’s face. “Be good for me.”

“I will. You take care, Baba.”

Her words made his heart swell and ache. Every time they called him that, it tore him apart and made him glad that in spite of how it’d ended, he’d married their mother. For them alone, his hell with Thia had been worth it.

He paused to watch as they walked down the hall. Geras glanced back to wave and Nephele to blow him one last kiss.

Urian returned both gestures with a heavy heart. I hate change. He always had.

That was the worst part about being an Apollite. Change came fast and furious for them all in their pathetically brief lives.

Twenty-seven years just wasn’t long enough for anyone to live and die. They were gone before they had a chance to begin.

Game over. Why? Because his own grandfather was a selfish ass. Why did people have to be so selfish and cold?

What a world it would be if others could look around for three seconds each day and realize that they weren’t the only ones in pain. That everyone suffered.

If people would take a breath before lashing out to take into account everyone who was in their line of fire.

Yet they never did. Instead, anger was a double-edged sword that cut in both directions as it swung a wide arc and left a bloody swathe in its wake.

Urian sighed. His personal fate was looming faster than he could keep track of. He had less than five years to that fateful birthday.

Five years …

A blink, and he’d either be dead like his mother or a Daimon like his brothers and father. In a way, he envied his brothers for having already made their decisions. It no longer weighed on their minds.

Would he be able to do it? Or would he be like Archie and Davyn, and have to be fed by another Daimon?

While Urian thought himself strong enough to go Daimon, he didn’t really know for certain. It was one thing to tear apart the humans who’d hurt his mother. Another to kill those who were innocent.

The gods knew that Archie was the last one he’d have thought would falter in the face of a human. His brother had never spared him any conscience.

Or any blow. Physical or mental.

And he’d been the one to rip apart the human children that night …

But then the true measure of any warrior was never known until the day they were battle-tested. Only in the heat of that moment would they come to know if they would be shattered from the blows of a superior enemy or rise victorious to overcome all challengers. It was one thing to say what he’d do in the abstract but another to actually do it when that moment came barreling down with crushing brutality.

Stand and fight, or turn and flee.

The irony wasn’t lost on him that the brother who’d gone out to avenge their mother and slaughter humans in her name wasn’t the brother who’d been able to turn Daimon to save his own life. Yet the one who’d been a coward and run home to hide that night had been the very one to take that soul to save his own.

You just never know who will fight for themselves and who will fight to save another.

Whom you could trust and when. That was the most frightening part of life. It was ever unexpected.

Opening the door, he found Sheba waiting. Just as she’d said.

Even though she was highly agitated, he didn’t let it bother him, as that was basically her normal state of being. Rather he undressed and returned to bed. Ever the dutiful pet.

She frowned as soon as she saw the grim expression on his face. “Are you all right?”

“My brothers … they went Daimon.”

Her jaw dropped. “Did they want you to join them?”

“Not yet. It was merely a courtesy call.”

Sheba ran her hand over his chest, raising chills in the wake of her warm caress. She paused over his heart, where a dark Daimon’s mark would rest were he to convert as they had. “You know you have a choice, love. I can petition our goddess to make you one of us. You don’t have to go Daimon like them.”

Her eyes flashed that peculiar shade of amber-orange as she trailed her hand lower to cup him and toy with his sac while she slowly teased his Adam’s apple with her tongue. Urian sucked his breath in as his cock hardened in her palm.

It was a tempting offer. To become a different sort of demon. Serve another goddess.

At least he had options.

“Just say the word …”

How could he when at the moment he couldn’t think straight while she did that? He was a slave to his hormones whenever she stroked him like this. All he could feel was her.

Suddenly, a jarring scream rang out through the stillness. “Majesties!”

Well, that ruined the mood. And irritated the crap out of him.

More screams were followed by the sounds of clashing steel. Frustrated at another interruption, Urian used his powers to flash himself into the armor that his wife insisted he wear to blend in with her army, and gathered his sword and shield while Sheba scrambled from the bed with a rush of creative expletives.

Worried about her given the escalating violence that was heading for them, he used his powers to dress her in her own armor.

She met his gaze with a grim smile. “Remind me later to tell you that I love you.”

He handed her battle helm to her. “Rather remind you of that when I do something that pisses you off.”

Laughing, she rose up on her tiptoes to give him a hot kiss. “You are a sexy beast, Urian Deathbringer.” Her eyes smoldered as she scraped his chin with her fangs. “I ache for you to fill my belly with your children.”

Guilt stung him as she pulled away to grab her own sword and shield. While she never held it against him that he had yet to make her pregnant, he dreaded every month when her flow came and he saw the disappointment in her eyes that she hadn’t conceived. That was the only good thing about Apollites. Once they converted to Daimons, their women could no longer carry children and that part of nature’s cycle ceased for them. While the transition could be hard on some of the women who mourned their premature loss of fertility, others met it with joy.

Sheba craved children. So much so that she’d been a good stepmother to Thia’s. It was why he had yet to tell her the children had left without saying good-bye. He wasn’t sure how she’d handle it.

But that could wait.

Placing his helm on his head, he stepped outside and sucked his breath in sharply as he saw the chaos that awaited them.

Never had Urian seen such carnage. While he’d been on raids, those were skirmishes … such as the night they’d attacked the human village. The humans had been caught off-guard and asleep.

Likewise, over the last year while he’d lived here, Sheba and her warriors had led small raiding parties against human caravans and small groups of human travelers—which was why he hadn’t protested the loss of Xyn’s armor overly much. He hadn’t really needed it to fight against their lesser skill.

But this wasn’t a raiding party.

It was an army. Heavily armed and well trained. Their golden armor shone like the sun in Apollymi’s pool all those years ago. It was near to blinding and was marked by a sun emblem. And they were cutting through Sheba’s warriors with a bitter ease that left him gaping.

Until he saw his sister-in-law, whom Sheba had made her commander—she was under attack and about to go down. Too late, Urian remembered himself. His powers. Roaring, he summoned the strength of his grandfather Apollo and shot out an invisible sonic blast toward them.

It knocked down the first wave of humans and gave Sheba’s warriors time to pull back and regroup. He caught his wife about her waist. “We need to retreat.”

Her eyes flared indignantly. “Retreating is for cowards!”

“Sheba! Open your eyes. We’re outnumbered twenty to one. Half your people are already dead.”

“Never! I will not—” Her words were cut short as an arrow went through her throat.

Stunned, Urian couldn’t move for a second as she gurgled on her own blood. Then as Urian went to shield her, two arrows penetrated his armor and sank into his chest.

“Cut their heads off!” the humans cried. “Burn the demons’ bodies! Make sure nothing remains!”

Another human was shouting to the soldiers. “Find the kids! Whatever you do! Hunt down all children! Round them up!”

Tears of pain blinded him as more arrows rained down so thick, he could barely see the walls of their home. He didn’t even know where the archers were. All around, their people fell with screams and cries. Some with whimpers. He held on to Sheba and tried to summon his powers, but he was in too much pain.

The best he could manage was to open a portal. If he could get them to Kalosis, his father could help them.

But he was too weak even for that.

The blue shimmering doorway began to fade as soon as he opened it.

“Baba!” Urian gasped, trying to crawl toward it. If he could just make it to that …

It vanished.

Ni! He felt Sheba’s hand in his hair. Turning his head, he met her gaze.

Blood trickled from the corners of her lips as she tried to smile. “My Uri,” she breathed. “So fair.” Then the light went out of her eyes.

Two more arrows landed in his back and three in her body. She didn’t react at all.

His soul screamed out in agony that she was dead.

Furious and aching, he shouted and pulled her closer so that he could shield her. It made no sense and he knew that. She was already gone. Yet he didn’t want her hurt any worse than she already was. His Sheba was a vain woman. She would never want her beauty scarred, even in death.

I failed her.

Worse, he’d failed her people.

At least I got my children to safety. He could die in peace knowing they were safe. Thank the gods he’d let them go when he had.

And his brothers.

He heard the humans running toward them. Stabbing and slicing as they came. Beheading any body that was lying on the ground to make sure they were all dead.

“Over there! Get those!”

Urian reached for his dagger, but his numb fingers were too weak to grasp the hilt.

He felt the human grab his hair and lift his head to cut his throat. And there was nothing he could do to stop them. Nothing. He was too weak and numb to even protest.

Suddenly, a light flashed in the hallway, blinding them. With it came a loud, fierce shriek that cut through the stone like thunder. It broke loose pieces of their masonry, bringing down sections of the wall.

The humans ran for cover as a huge red dragon burst through the portal.

Urian fell forward into a pool of his own blood as he felt his father stepping past him to let loose a blast of dragon’s breath upon them. Their enemies ran, screaming. More Daimons rushed through the portal to pursue them while his father transformed into his human body so that he could rush to Urian’s side.

“What have you done, pido?”

Urian blinked up at his father. “I failed her, Baba. I failed you.”

A single tear fell down his father’s cheek. “Nay, child. You stay with me and you haven’t failed me. You hear that? You’ll only fail me if you die.” He glanced over his shoulder. “Trates! Get Bethsheba and bring her body to Kalosis.” Then he picked Urian up and cradled him in his arms the way he’d done when Urian was a boy and he used to fall asleep in his father’s lap while he told him stories of the world before they’d been banished from daylight.

Urian hated how much it comforted him to be coddled again. He was a grown man. Far too old for something like this. And yet … he wanted his father.

More than that, he wanted his mother. For the pain in his heart was so great that he feared it would make it explode. In truth, he wished he were dead. That would be easier than living with the guilt of what had happened tonight.

Knowing that he’d stood right there when Sheba had died and done nothing to protect her. Nothing to stop them from harming her. Why hadn’t he seen or heard the arrow in time to stop it? Why?

Dear gods … how would he ever get that sight of her death out of his mind?

How?

Urian didn’t realize he was sobbing until his father had him back in Kalosis and they entered his father’s palace where Paris and Davyn were waiting.

“Holy Apollymi, what happened?”

His father didn’t answer Paris’s question. “I need you to go to Apollymi and tell her Urian’s near death. Beg her for assistance. Davyn, help me ready a bed for him.”

He rushed to assist them.

Without a word, Paris did as he was ordered.

By the time they reached the bedroom, Urian was barely conscious. But he was still awake enough to know that this wasn’t over. “How will I live with this, Solren?”

“The way we all live with tragedy and injustice, m’gios. One breath at a time until the day comes when you wake up and realize that the sick lump in your stomach has finally dissolved.”

Urian winced at those words, which left him no comfort. “How long will that take?”

His father paused. “I don’t know, Uri. I’ve been choking on mine since the hour I was born.”