Page 95 of The Bones of Benevolence

I felt myself land in my body once again. We were still just outside the Vacants’ barracks. Raindrops dripped from roofs and gutters.

My eyes flashed to Miles, the truth suddenly front and center in my mind. “You were right. It’s him. He’s the Saint of Pain.”

Belin’s hand found my shoulder, but I pushed it away, shooting him a warning look that I know everybody saw. “Noros? What do you mean?”

“Castemont…” I knew when I said the words, everything was going to change. “He’s really Noros, Saint of Pain.”

Silence fell, wide eyes staring at me. “How do you know this?” Whit asked, his tone apprehensive.

“Because I–” I stopped myself. Do I tell them? “I spoke with Katia.”

Eyes flew even wider and mouths dropped open. “Youspokewith Katia?” Nell whispered.

“And Rhedros.” I had to tell them, needed help to make sense of all of this. “Because he’s… Rhedros is my father.”

I let them take the words in, could almost see the words sink into each of their brains from where I sat on the cobblestones. Whit’s voice broke the silence. “Oh.”

Belin’s stare was heavy on me but I couldn’t bring myself to meet his gaze, to meet the disbelief I knew would be there.

“I don’t know what that means, the fact that he’s my father. But we need to free them from the Darkness Beyond, wherever that is.” My voice was low as I tried to sort through what I’d heard. “They said in order to do that, we need to eliminate as much evil as possible. If we don’t, the world is going to burn.”

Solise let out a quiet gasp. “The world is going toburn?”

“They told me that Noros, Saint of Pain, walks among us, and I need to find him. That’s all I know.”

Solise stirred, and Miles’ body tensed as let out an apprehensive breath. “The Darkness Beyond,” he murmured.

“What is that? Where is that?” I asked.

Belin had tensed, too, his jaw clenched so tight that I listened for the sound of cracking bones. “It’s nowhere. It’s… I don’t know. It’s justbeyond. Beyond this realm.”

Shivers ran up my spine at his tone. “That’s where they are, and they need me to save them.”

Miles shifted where he stood. “So the rest of the prophecy was right?” Everyone turned to him. He looked around to see questioning eyes. “There’s a lesser known part of the prophecy.Her bloodline exposed by he who exacts pain, cursed to walk the realm when evil comes again.”

All eyes landed on me. “Miles thought that maybe Castemont was Noros, Saint of Pain, considering he knew my true identity, and the fact that he has an affinity for inflicting pain. Now it’s confirmed.” I swallowed hard, unsure of what exactly this meant as I looked around at the faces staring down at me. “I don’t expect anyone to follow me on this quest. I’m going to guess it’s a suicide mission.”

“I’ll follow you,” Nell answered immediately. “No question.”

“I will, too,” Whit added. “Of course I will.”

Miles gave a grunt. “I’m in.”

“Look at that,” Nell crooned. “All Lieutenant Sunshine needed was a little rain.”

Miles rolled his eyes. “Yeah, yeah. The Penumbra, or whatever. Cal?”

“I can’t think of anything else I’d rather do.” I fought the rising blush in my cheeks, the humiliation that came with his words. I felt like everyone was staring at me for the wrong reason.

“I’ll help wherever I can, dear,” Solise added, a warm smile on her face.

I returned the smile, but it only lasted a moment before I felt the weight of the world pressing in on my chest. “I suppose I’ll be needing that army, then.”

“Well between all able-bodied men and women of Aera and the Vacants in Taitha,” Miles started, “your army is already at least forty-thousand strong.”

My eyes narrowed on his. He looked past me and nodded, and that’s when I turned. The dull murmur of a crowd had been just that — a crowd,thecrowd of former Vacants who were human once again, their faces illuminated by torchlight, every one of their eyes on me as their murmuring fell silent.

I pushed myself to my feet, staring at the thousands of people who could fit on this section of the street. “Forty thousand?” I whispered to Nell who had taken up a spot beside me.

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