Page 154 of Ashes of Honor

Maybe it was the cars, perfectly parked, their chrome unblemished. Or the streetlights still glowing faintly, not yet dimmed by the crisp light of a fall morning. No. I knew where to look—the people.

The healthy, well-fed civilians, their magic glowing faintly at their fingertips, dressed in starched suits and impeccable grooming. The women crouched low, their manicured nails clutching their children, those round-bellied toddlers in perfect shoes, staring at us with wide, fearful eyes.

They gaped at us like we were monsters. Yeah, I’d start there.

Not even fifty miles from here, there were children crawling through dust and rubble, begging for scraps of food while their parents broke their backs mining coal or being exploited as human power sources to keep Richmond alight. All sothis placecould live a cushy life. Because they deserved it, right?Theblessed and the favored, as Ronan’s propaganda taunted.Fuck that.

This wasn’t just a city—it was a symbol of everything we’d been fighting against. And this revolution was where symbols must die.

Reina’s unit surged forward first, their movements swift and calculated as they ushered civilians out of the streets. Shouts of confusion mingled with the distant crack of gunfire, shaking the ground beneath us.

“Move quickly, move together!” Millie’s voice carried above the noise, the cavalry forming a protective barrier around the civilians while the tactical team worked to secure the city center. Children cried as they clung to their mothers.

I watched it all unfold and felt the weight of the choice ahead, a question that had haunted leaders throughout history. A choice that would define the type of leader I had been years into the future:

Do I let the children live and grow with the hatred in their hearts for who they would now deem their oppressor? Allow them to simmer at the hopes of rebelling in the name of their fathers and mothers that we had slain?

Or kill the weeds before they have the chance to grow.

I wanted to believe in the former, because hatred was taught—that did not mean it couldn’t be nurtured away. It was a choice I trusted those around me to make in my stead.

“Ready?” Lola’s voice pulled me from my thoughts.

I gave her a curt nod, my heart pounding. “They’ll follow the plan.” My words were steady, even though they weighed heavily on my chest.

I felt him before I saw him. The air shifted with electricity and I knew Alexiares had found me. He turned, his head snapping toward me with the precision ofthe Bloodhoundhe was. His eyes locked onto mine, reading every intention I had as though I’d laid it all out.

Shock. Betrayal. The question I couldn’t bear to hear,Why?, etched itself across his face. His steps faltered, only for a heartbeat. I could see it—the fight in him, the relentless drive that wouldn’t let me go without an answer, without a reason.

I tore my gaze away before he could close the distance, before he could speak, beforeIcould break. If I let him reach me, if I let him ask, I knew I’d stay. For him. For us. For the selfishness of one more moment.

But war didn’t wait for goodbyes. And love couldn’t save what I had to do.

Soldiers poured from alleys and rooftops and we were forced to prepare for a fight, their armor gleaming in the dim light of the burning horizon. They came like a wave, relentless and unyielding, their shouts ringing out in unison.

“Hold them back!” Lola’s magic crackling to life. A shield of shimmering dark energy rippled around us, deflecting the first volley of attacks.

I twirled the twin swords. “Keep pushing!”

Lola’s magic-carved a path through the chaos, and I followed, slashing and weaving through the fray. The soldiers were skilled, but they lacked our desperation.

We broke through the line, though not without cost. One of Lola’s coven stumbled, blood streaming from a wound at her side. Lola caught her, her face set with grim determination.

“Go,” she urged me, her voice taut with urgency.

I hesitated, my gaze flickering to Alexiares, stuck in a fight where he was outnumbered but still in control. His vines wrapped around the necks of three soldiers. He snapped them without remorse, their bodies crumpling to the ground in broken heaps.

“Lola—”

“I’ve got this, I have enough energy for another to get out,” she said firmly, her eyes locking with mine. “You know what you need to do.”

The second portal ignited.

“Where are you sending me?” I asked, though I already knew she wouldn’t answer.

“You’ll know when you get there,” she said softly. “And he won’t follow you until it’s done.”

I clenched my fists, forcing myself to let go of everything tethering me to this moment. The others would fight. They would survive.

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