Chapter 39

The Imperial Guard high command sat around the heavy stone table near the villa, a gathering of the city’s most dangerous shadows. Maximus Thorne sat at the head, his ivory skin and golden laurel crown catching the light, radiating an aura of dread that seemed to lower the temperature of the morning air. Beside him, Urban Outlaw remained uncharacteristically silent, her encrypted mask a blank slate. Julia Bell sat with her usual apathetic grace, her eyes tracing lines no one else could see....