"What did you say?! Say it again?!" Aloysius Willard shot up from his study chair, utterly staggered. His eyes went wide with fright, heart plunging as if he'd just fallen from the greatest height.
His sense of reason was shaken to the core. He hadn't expected the deputy commander of the Shades, Kiernan Hawke, to suddenly appear at his estate in the dead of night—unannounced and cloaked in secrecy.
The news Kiernan brought was nothing short of catastrophic. For years, Kiernan had served as a double knight, a secret emissary Aloysius trusted above all others, assigned to discreetly observe Ares within Atticus Ledger's ranks.
Aloysius couldn't always keep a close eye on Ares himself. That's why he had entrusted Kiernan with a covert mission—to guard and shadow Ares from afar, as per the late Raziel and Viridian's command.
Aloysius still clung tightly to his vow: to protect Ares Halvard, even from a distance.
