Aurelia felt the blood drain from her face. The memory of Iris, the hollowed-out, haunted look in the girl's eyes weeks prior, flashed through her mind.
She had thought it was grief. She had thought the girl was simply mourning.
But now, looking at the cold calculation in Rex's expression, the truth settled in her gut like molten lead.
The horror of it began to dawn on her. Theo's mistakes weren't just political blunders; they were debts owed to a monster.
And Rex wasn't here to help her fix them; he was here to collect.
The realization hit her with the force of a physical blow: Theo was telling the truth.
Everything the boy warned her about—every terrifying implication of Rex's true nature—was real. And now, she had just volunteered to pay the bill.
