Page 148 of The War of Wings
“They do belong here. With you,” she said quietly, her smile falling as she watched my face.
“I don’t understand,” I replied, shaking my head.
“Oh, please let me show her,” a woman begged, stepping out from the group. She was dressed completely in black leather, her perky tone very much contrasted with her dark appearance. “Hi, Petra. I’m Liara,” she said with a dazzlingly white smile. She pulled me against her in a hug so surprising, my arms didn’t even loop around her before she pulled away again.
“What do you want to show me?” I asked, an awkward tension rising in my shoulders that wasn’t completely unpleasant.
Liara snapped, and a piece of parchment appeared in her hands. I blinked in surprise, my eyes skimming over the text at the top.The Canon of the New World.
“The Canon?” I asked, brows furrowed.
“Mhm. Consider this your official welcome. You’ll learn all the rules soon, don’t worry. But for now, this is the most important one.” She pointed to a rule about two-thirds of the way down the list.
I leaned in to read the small script out loud. “When a Saint is cursed to the Human Realm, they must designate an heir to their position by the day their human life ends. This is done by passing on their relic. The title will be granted upon the successor’s death, so long as the predecessor perishes first.” I stared up at Onera. “I don’t understand.
The Saint of Miracles looked back at me expectantly, nodding toward what I held in my hands. “Those look like two relics to me.”
“I-I… No,” I stuttered, my head shaking as I stared back and forth between the two crowns. “Rhedros was an Extos, which means I’m an Extos. I’m not a Saint.”
“Technically,” Tolar started, stepping forward. “You’re both now. And you can follow in your father’s footsteps andrenounce your title as Extos, or you can hold both. But you have plenty of time to decide.”
I…was a Saint? I was a Saint. I was a fucking Saint. Holy shit. My hands tore through my hair, my head shaking. “This isn’t happening.”
“You’re right,” Liara said. “It isn’t happening. It already happened.”
“Shouldn’t you all be furious at me?” I asked, staring between the faces all looking at me. I recognized some, but knew the unfamiliar ones belonged to the Blood Saints I’d yet to meet. “I’m the reason Katia and Rhedros are gone. I’m the reason Noros is gone.”
“No. You’re the reason Malosym is gone,” Liara continued. “You’re the reason balance has been restored in the world. Katia and Rhedros may have broken the rules of the Canon by creating you, but you are the sole reason the rest of us can continue on. Had there been no Daughter of Katia, Malosym would have succeeded in decimating the realm.”
“Did… Is that why they had me?”
Onera squeezed my shoulder, a sympathetic smile on her face. “They had you, Petra, because they were in love. They loved each other furiously, and they would rather the world have burned to ash than place a burden on your shoulders. We will mourn their loss, and the loss of Noros, too. We will mourn them for eternity. But Katia and Rhedros knew the implications of having a child, and Noros the consequences of asking to be cursed.”
I blinked slowly. “Oh my fucking Saints,” I whispered, and every face before me broke into a smile at my words. “I’m a fucking Saint.”
Onera’s smile was blinding again. “You are. Petra, Keeper of BenevolenceandBlood.” My mouth dropped open hearing the words strung together. “And we have some introductions to make.” She gestured me forward, to the few unfamiliar faces in the group.
One by one, Idros, Cyen, and Faldyr stepped forward, each of them folding me into hugs and telling me they were happy to have me with them. I was overwhelmed, completely beside myself as they chatted and laughed and rejoiced. I tried to keep up as stories were exchanged, the Benevolent Saints and the Blood Saints catching up with each other after spending years locked away from each other.
I had so many questions to ask them, so many answers I needed, but I was so overwhelmed I was rendered all but speechless. I managed to answer their questions of me, though, usually in bumbling, awkward sentences that made hardly a lick of sense. But it was as if they understood what I was feeling, never batting an eye at my misspoken words and confused expression.
Onera pulled me to the side after a while, that same warmth on her face. “How are you doing?”
“I’m… Wow. This is a lot.”
“We wanted you to get your bearings a bit before I made one last introduction.”
“One last introduction?” I furrowed my brows, scanning the group of Saints who’d suddenly gone quiet. What…
“Noros,” I heard from behind me, and I whirled to see the most beautiful man I’d ever laid eyes on, his gemstone eyes meeting mine. “Saint of Pain.”
Chapter 60
Cal
“Back so soon?” That grating, velvet-smooth voice echoed through me. I’d gone down hard on the sand on the shore of the Widow’s Sea only to open my eyes in the eerie dimness of the Sanguilite’s Realm.
I swallowed hard, straightening my spine as I beheld her. “A deal is a deal,” I said, my voice even.
