An Ember in the Ashes Tome 2
A Torch Against the Night

Soldiers hunt Laia and Elias ss they Bee the city of Serra and begin their journey through the heart of the Empire. Laia is determined to-breac into Kauf, the Empire's most secure and dangerous prison, to save her brotlier Darin. Elias is determined to help Laia succeed - even if it means giving up his very last chance at freedom. But dark forces, human and otherworldly, move against them. The pair must fight at every turn to outmanoeuvre the bloodthirsty Emperot Marcus, the merciless Commandant, and, most heartbreaking of alli Helene - formerly Elias's closest friend but now the Empire's newest Blood Shrike.
Bound to the Emperor's will, Helene faces a torturous mission : find the traitotElias Veturius and the Scholar slave who helped him escape ... and kill them before they set empire on fire.