Four years ago...
...
"Have you heard the latest news from Midworld?"
Stella approached Jamie as he washed up, his body aching after getting his ass handed to him by the lieutenant in the desert.
"What news?"
"You clueless son of a bitch—Bray has gone back to the world of the living."
"Huh?"
Jamie gasped, his eyes widening as his heart began thumping wildly in his chest. Questions crashed through his mind like a sudden storm. When he had left Midworld, the third game had been put on hold—so how did he escape without finishing the trials?
"It seems Alexander made some sort of deal with the goddess to let him go... I assume you know what that deal might be."
The implication struck almost immediately.
"He promised to hunt me down, didn't he?"
"You got that right. Sorry, kid."
Suddenly—
A smirk crept across Jamie's face, so misplaced it almost looked ironic. A man marked for death by his best friend should have recoiled, yet Jamie looked strangely relieved.
