My choice is made on how to move forward after saying goodbye to the four men that each own a piece of my heart, but the earth doesn’t agree.

My connection with the planet and the threads of fate I was created to wield are gone. Only deafening silence remains.

So I do the only thing I can: I forge my own path, alone and determined.

A human stronghold waits at the edge of that path, a city the kings swore would never be worthy of me. There, in the shadows of their war, I hunt for answers and find ugly truths buried under patriotic oaths, whispered orders that stink of evil, and a human who ruins my careful resolve just by existing.

Colonel Ryoden Kane arrests me as a possible enemy, yet guards me like a treasure and believes in me even with the earth’s back turned. We strike a fake engagement—a careful lie we wear like armor so I can walk beside him into the heart of human power—but with every step we take hand in hand, pretending feels a little less simple. Somewhere between duty and desire, I forget this love is a lie.

Together we hunt for a way to save this world, but what we uncover is far worse than I imagined. The deeper we go, the clearer it becomes: If I want to save this world, I’ll have to put my faith in those I love more than ever.

Time is ticking and a choice must be made, yet I don’t know if I’ll be able to live with it.