Page 149 of Grave Situation

“What is it? Did you hurt yourself?” He’s off the bed in an instant.

“Master wants to talk to you.”

Paling, he sits—or rather, his knees give out, and it’s just lucky that the bed is right behind him. “He found something.”

I shake my head and clamber out of the tub. I don’t know what Master Samoine is going to say, but I doubt the bath will still bring me the same pleasure after. And I don’t want to be wet and naked while I hear this. “All he told me was that he must speak with you and nobody can be allowed to overhear.” With that in mind, I do a quick telepathic sweep. Coryn and Arimen are two rooms over, Peiris in the room beside them, but nobody else is on this floor at the moment. The inn wasn’t that busy, and it’s dinnertime.

I blot most of the water off with a soft towel and yank on my clothes, then sit on the bed beside Jaimin and take his hand. “Are you ready?”

He nods.

“Okay, Master.”I reach out, and grimace when we merge.

“I’ve found the information you need,” Master says without preamble. “And confirmed your theory, Jaimin.”

“I didn’t tell you my theory,” Jaimin replies, the words lacking the sharpness implied.

“True, but I know it anyway.”

There’s a tense little silence until I can’t stand it anymore. “Is anybody going to tellmethe theory?”

“Not yet.”

“No.”

“Delightful,” I mutter, and then Master takes over my mouth again.

“The exceptional, once-in-a-lifetime Talent is there, and the ability that led you to your conclusion, but there are some elements missing. Awareness, for one. All the godsborn are bornwith the knowledge of who they are. Once they learn to speak, they communicate that very clearly.”

“So something went wrong,” Jaimin says heavily.

“Perhaps. It’s hard to say.”

What can they possibly be talking about? Master was supposed to be looking for information about the godsborn who’ll stop the zombies, not random godsborn facts. Who cares if they’re born knowing who they are, or that they have exceptional Ta?—

Exceptional Talent.

Exceptional.

An outlier.

“Jaimin,” I whisper, and when his gaze lands on my face, he winces. “You’re the godsborn?”

He swallows hard, and I feel Master withdraw slightly—not completely, but just enough to give the illusion that he’s turned away for a moment.

“No, Talon. You are.”

PART THREE

CHAPTER FORTY-TWO

I cough,sure I’ve heard him incorrectly. “Huh? I’m… what?” Maybe the two sentences were unconnected. Maybe the “No, Talon” was a response to me, and then “You are” was the beginning of another sentence. He was going to tell me something else.

That has to be it, because there’s no way he means what it sounded like.

Although, the tragic expression on his face right now would indicate otherwise. And he still hasn’t said anything.

Desperately, I reach out to Leicht.“You’d know if I was godsborn, wouldn’t you? This is just a misunderstanding.”

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