Five years ago, Sebastian Grayson, Lexingtons’s beloved Mayor, caught word of my rare ability and lured me off the streets with a job offer I couldn’t refuse.

Literally could not refuse, because when he’s not kissing babies or approving city planning budgets, Sebastian is ruling the criminal underworld as the universally feared and revered gang lord, The Gray Man.

Now, war is brewing, and my Crew and I are charged with planning and executing the next stage of our empire’s expansion – a recruitment drive involving the next generation of local graduating students.

The mission is clear: Bring as many new grads into the fold as possible…and don’t bother coming home without the group of budding young gang leaders known as the Rox Boys.

I don’t have many memories of my life before Sebastian ‘adopted’ me, only a ragged scar, and a spiraling lack of self control. Now I find myself playing the part of a senior upperclassman in Roxborough, my supposed hometown.

There’s something about these eye-catching Rox Boys — one of the reasons why I’ve personally dubbed them The Pantheon.

I just can’t remember what it is.

Okay, so, my whole Academy “mission” slash “punishment” was nothing but a smokescreen for more of Sebastian’s dangerous reindeer games. A fact I probably should have seen coming, considering his track record.

The true reason for sending me into the Aces’ viper’s nest?

His legacy.

Now, that? That was the real surprise. A quintessential Grayson blindsiding, if you will. We thought we’d done our due diligence—so how the f*** did we miss this? All I know is our slip up may just cost me one of the only people that my rusty, sluggish heart beats for.

The Gray Man will still be counting on a bunch of new souls to be added to the ranks of his empire; he’s nothing if not ruthless and wickedly ambitious. I’m definitely not off the hook there.

No time to stop and take a breath, however, because not only has the Underworld’s Symposium arrived, but the South’s time to crown a new Sovereign has just run out.

It’s time for the Labors to begin.