Solara is a literal dumpster fire, and I’m just the guy holding the matches.

Down here in the Sump, the air tastes like industrial regret, and the rain is basically battery acid. My life is a cycle of hunting cyber-beasts for spare change and making sure my sister, Lily, doesn't shake herself apart from a disease the rich people up in the Spire created for fun. It’s not a vibe. It’s a funeral in slow motion.

Then there’s Lucius. My best friend. My literal soulmate. He’s a Spire prince with a "pureblood" father who hates him, and I’m the Sump-rat who taught him how to breathe in the dirt. We had a pact: enter the Selection, win the Elite Guard commissions, and burn the system from the top down. Together. Back-to-back. Always.

But in Solara, "always" has an expiration date.

I thought we were the main characters. I thought we were untouchable. I didn't realize Lucius was better at acting than I was at surviving. In front of the whole city, he didn't just break our vow, he branded me a cheater and signed my death warrant with a straight face.

Now, I’m marked with a "V" for the Vanguard. It’s a one-way ticket to the Rust, a toxic wasteland where people go to be forgotten. Lucius thinks he saved my life by betraying me. I think he just gave me a reason to crawl back out of the mud.

He wears the gold now. He wears the "Hollow Badge." But he’s about to find out that when you throw away a Crow, it eventually comes back to pick the carcass clean.

Lucius was my home. Now, he’s just the first name on my list.

Best friends to enemies, mutual yearning, Ice Prince VS The Ghost, dystopian, slow-burn