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Avery shakes his head, then turns to face the others nearby. His gaze sweeps over their feet, assessing, before he lands on one particular man. “You there. Small feet. Give her your boots.”

The man blinks. “Uh, what?”

Avery’s voice drops to a tone that brooks no argument. “Now.”

The man grumbles, but he pulls off his scuffed but better-fitting boots and tosses them to me. I swap them out and lace up my new perfectly snug pair and grin up at Avery. “Satisfied?”

“Much.”

A sudden boom shakes the walls, and I stumble. Avery catches me and pushes me to stand under the nearest doorframe, using his body to shield me. I twist my fingers into his shirt and hold him close. “Was that an earthquake?”

“No. That was something else.” The air trembles with the aftershock. Dust rains from the ceiling. Everyone freezes, but Avery is already moving, reaching for one of the guns on the table. “That came from outside.”

Max grips his gun. “We need eyes on that.”

We race up the stairwell, our boots pounding against the steps. I reach the rooftop first, followed by Emily, Avery, Max, and Jace hot on my heels. The storm clouds have broken and the rainy haze has lifted to reveal a massive fire in the distance. Thick billows of smoke twist into the air.

“No, no, no. Not again.” Memories of my old colony going up in flames flick through my mind like a grotesque movie and slam into me like a sledgehammer. Emily loops her arm through mine, pressing close. She’s thinking the same thing. My fingers ghost over the scar tissue on my side, hidden beneath my clothing.

Dark, thick smoke curls into the sky, mesmerizing me.

Jace hands me a pair of binoculars. “You might want to see this, boss.”

I lift them to my eyes and scan the area, then I see what he means. A woman with vivid purple hair moves near the flames.

Autumn.

I lower the binoculars and shove them into Emily’s hands. “Tell me I’m seeing things.”

Emily lifts them, then lets out a breath. “It’s her. Autumn.”

“We have to check it out,” I say, and Emily nods. “I can’t leave Cole.”

Emily grips my arm. “I’m not leaving you again.”

Jace steps forward. “Then let me go.”

I hesitate. “Jace?—”

He gives me a confident grin. “Relax. I’ll take a few good men with me. We’ll find out what she’s up to, and what that explosion was about. Besides, if it has anything to do with Eugene’s warning to you, then we need to investigate it as soon as possible.”

I chew my lower lip, then give in and nod. “Be careful.”

Avery turns me to face him and places a kiss on my lips.His touch on my jaw is soft and gentle. “You’re going to make a wonderful queen.”

I wrap my arms around his waist and lift my chin to kiss him before looking up. “What about my home?”

His dark hair falls into his pale blue eyes when he grins down at me, and heat curls low in my belly. “Oh, firecracker. Who says you can only have one?”

EPILOGUE

Zoey

The sun dips low on the horizon, spilling golden light over the rolling hills beyond the dreg colony’s walls. There are no longer any dregs here, so I guess this is colony number two. The air is warm, filled with the scent of fresh earth, pine, and the lingering smoke of tonight’s cookfire.

I stand on the edge of the makeshift watchtower, looking out beyond the fence at the world that had once been my prison, but not anymore. I’m free, and so are they.

After sneaking off to the roof every single day since the day we overthrew Eugene, Avery tasked all the men with building me a watchtower. He was afraid I might fall off the roof, especially after I told him the story about my first colony. I tried to reassure him I don’t go running around rooftops while they’re on fire, but he was cautious anyway. Now I have something much more sturdy to spend my time on. It’s twice three stories high, with three different levels to look out from.