[POV: Sofia Lanka]

"Do you hear them outside the gates, Lyon? They aren't calling for peace anymore. They are chanting for the 'Golden Dawn.' They’ve found out about the boy in the Wastes, and they’ve turned my own face into a symbol of betrayal. They’re calling me a traitor to the very blood that nearly ended the world. I spent ten years trying to be just Sofia, and now they want a Goddess or a corpse. I’m not sure which one they’d prefer at this point."

Sofia’s voice was a low, brittle whisper that barely carried across the darkened expanse of the Presidential bedroom. She sat on the edge of...