Chapter 1
Thou Shalt Not Hope the World Implodes
Arwen
The heat clings to my skin like punishment.
Sweaty bodies in ripped and dirty clothing move forward in front of me as I step to follow them.
That’s Wrath for you — scorching, suffocating, harsh.
My best friend Sadie stands beside me, sweating through her jeans and glaring at the sun through her frizzy auburn curls.
“It seems hotter than usual today… why aren’t you melting like me?” she whines.
I stare at her, half horrified, half amused. “Sadie. It’s Wrath. It’s always hot. Why would you wear jeans?”
I pull at the holes in her worn pants, ripping the fabric. The line outside Apex Arena snakes across the burning sand, everybody pressed shoulder to shoulder, every breath sticky with heat. Sweat stings my eyes, but it’s not the sun that twists my stomach into knots.
Everyone else here is waiting to be claimed. Me? I’m waiting to be erased.
She doesn’t have to say she’s scared; I can feel it in the way she won’t meet my gaze. We’re all trembling under the surface, waiting. Waiting for our names. For our fates.
Normally, I’d make some smart remark to get her to laugh, but my throat is rough, like it’s stuffed with sand. I don’t have room for her nerves when mine are already clawing me apart.
We shuffle forward with the line, one blistering step closer to destiny… or whatever particular cruel joke the universe has waiting for me.
Sadie’s nails worry at the frays on her jeans, pulling at the soft denim threads. "I kept telling myself all summer I was ready for this,” she says, eyes darting toward the arena doors. “But the second that summons showed up… it’s like all my confidence just vanished.”
We watch the steady flow of bodies leaving the arena after their test, carrying their secondhand uniforms and scratched helmets. I sigh, putting my arm around her. “You’ve seen how this goes Sade, High-power kids go to ‘Academy greatness.’ The rest of us get a secondhand uniform and a gun…”
Most die a premature death in an unmarked grave, but I don’t need to say that out loud and make things more difficult for her. Sadie has never had much of a Wrath personality… or stomach.
For the very few lucky Wrath prodigies, this will be the road to the prestigious SinVail Academy, where they will continue their studies and increase their prestige and power.
A shout blasts through the arena door as cheers erupt from the fence behind us. A man, smiling, glowing, triumphant, runs toward a cluster of people waiting just beyond the gates.
“Looks like he got into the Academy," I tug at Sadie’s sleeve and point towards him.
That must be his friends and his family, screaming his name, clapping, hugging. He looks so… happy. Free. Surrounded by people who love him.
I can’t look away. I swallow hard, a hollow ache curling in my chest. A pang of jealousy.
Sadie’s face lights up as she looks across the sand. “Oh yeah! That’s Lucas,” she says with a grin.
I arch a brow at her.
“You’ve heard of him,” she says, nudging me. “He’s always near the top of the Gauntlet scoreboard.”
“The scoreboard?” I echo, pressing a hand to my chest in mock offense. “You actually watch the scoreboard? I go to the Gauntlet to stare at the hot, sweaty bodies.” I bump her shoulder, and she bursts into laughter.
“Okay, fair,” she admits. “But the scores matter. Everyone already knows who’s getting into the Academy. This whole thing is just a formality, right?”
“Right,” I say. “And you’ll get your work assignment too. That will be fun to find out.”
Her smile falters. She goes still. That’s what she’s dreading. Not the test. The assignment. She knows she’s not Academy-bound.
“Sadie…” I lower my voice, gentling it. “You’re near the top of our class, and your sin power isn’t dangerous. There’s no way they’ll send you to the front lines. You’ll probably get cushy guard duty where you can come home to visit every month. Perhaps even get stationed in Port Lion with Peter.”
She wrinkles her nose. “Okay, I don’t need to be that close to my brother.” The tension eases a little with the joke, but not enough.
Her eyes drop, her voice quieting. “But… this is ridiculous. I’m sorry, Arwen. I feel so selfish. Here I am worrying, when we know what’s likely going to happen to me. But with you…” She trails off, unable to finish.
She doesn’t need to. We don’t talk about it. Ever. She knows I’m doomed. No need to drag the obvious into the light. The silence between us is already heavy enough.
A girl I recognize from school walks through the exit, and instead of carrying a uniform, her hands are empty, face covered in snot and tears.
She’s hysterical, her breath coming in ragged bursts.
Her steps falter, unsteady, until her knee buckles beneath her.
She crashes down, crumpling into a broken heap on the ground.
“Chelsea must be relocating…” Sadie whispers, her eyes following the girl with a pitiful softness.
“It seems a little extra, if you ask me,” I mumble, folding my arms tight across my chest as we take another step forward.
Sadie cuts me a scathing look.
“What?” I say under my breath. “She had to have known this was coming, Sadie. Destructive magic, heightened senses, superior strength — these are Wrath powers. She could read dreams through touch. Clearly not Wrath. She knew they would reassign her… she was just in denial.”
In denial, like me... The thought, like glass, twists in my chest. Takes one to know one and all that…
Sadie’s expression doesn’t budge. If anything, her pity deepens. “But… imagine being sent somewhere new. No friends, no home. Nothing…”
“This place also made us battle-hardened,” I push on. “Superior combat skills, fighting for other factions to get the resources we need to live. That’s all Wrath has ever cared about. She wouldn’t have made it here. She wouldn’t have been… useful.” The word scrapes out, choked and fragile.
Sadie turns that soft, un-Wrath-like pity on me now.
“Nevermind, I regret opening my mouth.” I roll my eyes, trying to armor myself. Pity makes me squirm.
Snide remarks, people pretending I don’t exist — those I can handle. But this? No.
“She’ll be fine, Sadie,” I say, though my voice comes out a little too quick, a little too firm.
My gaze drifts past the main heart of our city, Furycliff, where the so-called wealthy get to live behind fortified walls and sharp stone spires.
The stucco houses of our elite are even falling apart.
Most of our population is well below the welfare line.
It’s hard to bring home the bacon when your territory’s lifespan has an average of 35.
Beyond that, my eyes catch on the barren wastes, a stretch of emptiness that swallows everything whole. “She’s not exiled,” I continue. “It won’t be easy, but she can build a life where she’s going. She can find her place. She can be happy.”
The words taste hollow. My chest tightens, sinking with the weight of a truth I can’t shake. Universe, I hope I get even half as much.
Sadie tugs at my sleeve again, still looking at the upset girl. Two soldiers walk up and lift her to her feet. Walking her along. “It’s too bad she didn’t get into the Academy. At least she’d meet people from her faction… maybe find her bond.”
I roll my eyes. “That’s wishful thinking, Sadie. This isn’t a fairy tale. Look around.”
“I know I’m being a jerk, but we’ve known what happens during testing since we were children. Each faction has its own criteria for entering the Academy, and for Wrath, it’s solely based on your power level. That’s it. That’s all you’ve got.”
The line inches forward. My stomach twists again. Each step drags me closer to the door, the unknown, the test. Life or death.
“What if you get lucky?” Sadie whispers, almost as if saying it louder might shatter the fragile hope in her words. “Since you don’t have a sin power, what if you won’t have to fight either?”
It’s the first time she’s brought up my lack of a sin power in weeks, and the words almost stop me in my tracks. I glance at her, at the sadness pooling in her eyes, and my chest aches.
Sweet, na?ve Sadie. My best friend. The girl whose family opened their door to me when my mother died five years ago, even though they barely had enough to feed themselves. She’s always tried to shield me with hope, even when reality bites harder.
“I doubt it,” I murmur, my voice heavier than hers.
“They’ve never had someone like me, have they?
Sure, a rare few blossom late, over the age of sixteen…
but twenty? With nothing?” I shake my head, the word sinless echoing in my mind like a death sentence.
“What use could I be to them?” I squeeze her hand, grounding us both.
Her grip tightens, and I steady my voice. “Sadie, I just want you to be ready for what happens. I’ve accepted it, and I’m ready.”
I force a small soft smile, offering comfort I don’t quite believe in myself.
As we near the arena entrance, my eyes snag on another familiar face slipping out of the building. “Hey, Johnson! Where are they sending you?” I call out, waving to catch his attention.
“Arvon—heyyy.” He butchers my name, but I let it slide. I’m used to being overlooked.
"They assigned us to Western Pride. Guess the rebels are stirring up trouble along the border.”
“Interesting. Okay. Well, good luck Johnson.”
“Erm… yeah, you too.” He shuffles off. I'm sure he thinks I'm moments from death. I'd feel awkward too.
“Weird,” Sadie mutters beside me. “You’d think Pride, of all places, would have the rebel problem under control.”
“I’m sure they have it under control more than most, but Pride’s the one with the means to pay for extra bodies.”
“Arwen!” Sadie hisses, her voice sharp with worry. “Not so loud..”
“But can you imagine if we had their resources?” I lower my voice, leaning in. “The other factions, the other territories—they need us. We’re the muscle. If we didn’t live in this barren wasteland, we’d be in charge.”
“Arwen, stop.” Sadie’s voice sharpens with fear. “Someone could hear you.”
I laugh, shrugging. “And what? Exile me? Pretty sure that’s already on the menu. It’d just save me this SUPER LONG WAIT IN LINE.” I shout toward the front.
Sadie’s head shakes, her eyes red. “How can you joke about this, Arwen?”
“Sadie… it’s okay.” I step forward, pulling her into a quick hug.
“I just don’t know what to say,” she whispers. “What if this is goodbye?”
I force a smile. “Hey, remember when I helped Peter steal the tap-out flag from the gauntlet and you were on lookout?”
Her lips twitch, but she tries to hold on to her frown.
“Come on,” I nudge, “you remember. That guard with the mustache almost caught us, and you—”
“Mooned him. Yes, Arwen, I remember. It was the best distraction I could think of.” Sadie cuts me off, half exasperated, half amused.
That does it. She bursts into laughter, and I can’t help laughing with her. The sound feels like sunlight breaking through storm clouds. By the time we reach the door, she’s still smiling, though her breath trembles.
“Sadie,” I say, slowing down, “I am so lucky to have had you as a friend. You stuck by me through everything — when I was at my lowest, when people should have pushed me out long ago. You and Peter gave me some of the best memories I’ll ever have.
Even if things go… badly, they can’t take that from us. ”
I swallow hard; the words tumble out in a rush.
“We’ll always have our memories, witches’ brew in your backyard, those endless nights at your place talking about boys we thought were cute…
and how we couldn’t stand any of them.” I chuckle out.
“Sneaking into the gauntlet just to stir up trouble. That’s ours.
They can’t take that away from us. Don’t lose that, Sadie.
And when you think of me wherever I am… don’t remember the sinless loser.
Don’t remember this shitty line in this shitty hot weather. Remember us.”
Her tears trickle, but she finally has a soft smile. “I’ll remember, Arwen.”
She pulls me into one last hug, and we step inside.