No matter how much money the Republic throws at me, I will forever be the boy from the streets.

And I’d forgotten that a boy from the streets is no match for the future Princeps.

“You’re wrong,” I say sadly. “It makes perfect sense.”

“Why?”

“Because Day chose to walk in the light.” I turn my back on him for the last time. The door opens; the cell’s bars make way for the hall, a new rotation of prison guards, freedom. “And so did Metias.”

My heartbeat slows to a stop. Everything stops. This can’t be real.

How can the boy who stirred an entire nation be dying?