Xavier King was never supposed to fall. Especially not for me.
But now the king is silent—trapped in a coma—and the Raiders expect me to rule in his place. I never wanted a throne. I never wanted their empire of steel, blood, and whispered fear.
Yet the city listens when I speak. Deals move when I give orders. Men twice my size bow their heads when I walk past.
And the worst part? I’m starting to like it.
Asher’s cold calculations steady me. Isaiah’s unholy loyalty shields me. Together, they push me into a power I was never meant to touch.
And I rise faster than any of us expected. But power has a memory. As we dig into the past—into the night the Raiders lost their former king—something inside me fractures.
An alley. Cold metal in my hands. A choice I made to survive.
The truth comes back all at once. I didn’t just survive the king. I killed him.
And when the Raiders realize I beat them to it… they won’t see me as a victim.
They’ll see me as a rival.
