Baird’s POV

I felt my strength returning with every step I took. I was still weaker than was normal for me, but my willpower was pushing me onward, and I would not fail. I couldn’t. Serena’s life hung in the balance. When I arrived onto the execution grounds, I discovered my thoughts about Serena’s life were quite literally true.

The first thing I saw when I entered the grounds wasn’t the crowd pushing in around the platform, but rather ...