The sun had barely crested over the horizon, spilling a soft gold haze across the scorched grass, but the Devil's Playground didn't wake slow. No. If I had to be awake for all this, everyone else did.
As if feeling my intentions, the world around me seemed to hold its breath. Every house, every jungle outpost, every flooded city and smoking ruin—the people inside felt it, and I felt them. Even the air had a certain stillness to it, like every living thing was bracing for a command.
And then the command came.
I stood at the edge of the stone path in front of Hallow, dressed in the way I wanted to dress. I was sure that others might have had an opinion about how a Queen should look, but I wasn't one of those Queens. I didn't give a damn what others thought about me, or my sense of style.
