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Lord stepped forward. “Do you believe Phantom is a waste? That fighting against the blood-sucking creatures is below you?”

I shook my head, biting the inside of my cheek.Of course I didn’t think that.I, too, had given everything to become the best vampyre killer in Midgrave—aside from Lord.

Lord’s gaze shifted from us to the shadows of the underground den. I felt the weight of his golden, piercing eyes physically lift away from me.

“When I started Phantom after the war, I saw it as the only way fae in Midgrave would survive. Many of the surrounding fae kingdoms had already been ravished by the fall of the vampyre kingdom. Nobody stood a chance.” He paused for a few seconds. My chest tightened. “But I was not going to back down like the others. This place was myhome. I decided to stay and fight against the depraved beasts, and I trained as many as I could to stand and fight with me.

“Phantom was not created with weak attempts at fighting and ill-prepared assassins. Phantom was forged out of perfection, crafted with a desperate desire to survive, to kill asmany vampyres as possible and to remind those blood-thirsty monsters who was in charge here. I did not become the master of vampyre killers by allowing my fighters to make mistakes and train with sloppy punches. When I tell you to kill, you damn well better be prepared to kill. When I tell you to fight, it better be the best damn fight I have ever seen. Do you understand what I am saying?”

“Yes, Lord.” I knew what Lord had done to protect Midgrave, what he had done to protect me. Hearing him say the words himself, however, pulled the air from my lungs.

He was the only reason Midgrave survived. He was the only reasonIsurvived. When my parents were killed during the war, Lord found me. He took me in, protected me. He did not raise me to be soft. He did not raise me to be just another victim the vampyres could drain of blood.

No, he raised me to be unstoppable.

I flinched as his eyes slid back to us.

“You both may go,” he said, sounding nothing but bored.

That was it. No second chances. No do-overs. I had one chance at showing Lord how strong I was every week, and this week? I let that male get multiple blows in. Hells, he almostwon. Lord did not expect me to fight like all the other Phantoms. No, I was supposed to be the best. I was supposed to be his mirror, fighting like the goddess herself and making not asinglemistake.

My instinct was to stand up for myself, to tell Lord I could be better. Couldfightbetter. But arguing with him only made him angrier.

Words won’t help you,he would say. And he was right.

My fighting would help me. Getting better, stronger, faster would save me from his punishments.

Not my words.

I dipped my head and followed the male out of the den, walking in silence through the small, tunneled entrance of the underground cave until the cool night air hit my face.

The male did not hesitate before bolting down the alleyway, away from Phantom, away from me. I turned on my heel, running into the night, through the dark alleyways and covered entrances.

It was one of Lord’s first rules. Nobody knew the other Phantoms. Nobody revealed their identity. We fought for training purposes, but we never uncovered our faces.

We all remained safe that way. Becoming friends with the others, building relationships with them, it would only distract us. It would take away from our true purpose of killing the enemy.

I continued running from my opponent, my black combat boots guiding me through the damp alleyways set out before me. The route was so familiar now, and I loved being outside at night after the streets emptied and the moon rose.

Midgrave wasn’t nearly as hideous when the shadows took over, hiding the harsh reality of what really remained in these streets.

The homeless children, the starving animals, the mounds of rubbish. They barely stood out now, when the only thing to be seen was darkness.

I trudged past a building that used to be a school, now with only two walls still standing and a pile of rubble where fae children used to learn. Beyond that were a few newly built homes, each with four walls and a roof. It wasn’t much, but around here, it was practically a luxury. A few of the older residents lived there now—ones that had survived long enough to earn those new homes.

A few voices and a fit of laughter rang out in the alleyway next to me, but I lowered my head and continued walking. Makingfriends was not a skill of mine, and I found that keeping to myself was the best way to stay focused. The smell of burning wood and cooked meat wafted through the wind, making my stomach flip.

Midgrave was not small by any means, but it felt that way to me. It felt constrained. Those walls surrounding the perimeter that were once built to keep the vampyres out sometimes felt like my personal boundary in the world—a boundary I could never escape.

I neared the familiar brick building at the edge of our run-down city, the same brick building that had been a beacon for me for over two decades. It was the tallest building left in Midgrave, nearly three stories high. I enjoyed the vantage point; it made me feel protected. Prepared.

This was home. As shitty and rugged as it was, this crumbling space still brought me comfort.

Almost as much comfort as the familiar figure I saw in the shadows, already lounging on the roof with her booted foot dangling off.

Rummy.

A smile spread across my face as I slowed my jog, ducking into the hidden doorway at the bottom of the building and striding up the stone stairs two at a time until I reached the top. The shattered window that led to the roof remained open, and I ducked my head to step through.