Page 171 of The Secrets of Jane: Reborn

“I misshome,” I say, thinking of whereIgrew up.“I love it here, but I keep thinking of the Silver District... I’m just nostalgic, I guess.”

“We can visit the Silver District, soon.”

“I’ll probably be wanted, after killing Matthias.”

He chuckles, and I close my eyes as I lean against the thick muscles of his abdomen. “Corvus is said to take over. We could even have a home there, too.”

My eyes flash open. “For the Zenith stuff?” That would be perfect. He could tend to the things he’s obligated toward, and I get to put my heart back together after shattering all those years ago.

“I think I’m done with those cunts. I’ll keep the mask though.” Soren steps away, and I want him to immediately come back.“We can get one just to have one.”

“Corvus will be fine with that?” I ask.

“If he wants to keep using my ports and maintain an alliance, he will be,” Soren says, moving to a dresser where he grabs a thicker tunic to slide on, his back and shoulders flexing with the movement. “Speaking of home, there’s someone here for you that you should see.”

“Who?”

“Bones immediately reclaimed Kathleen,” he says with a partial grin, tucking the tunic into his pants before fastening them. “It would be good for you to see her.”

I lower my gaze to my hands, to the mark on my arm where Soren’s mask still sits underneath my skin. I havesomuch to share with her. “I’d love that.”

“I’ll take you to her.”

Soren’s manoris nothing like a castle, and I’m completely happy with it. It’s a large estate; formal with long halls, sitting areas, lots of hearths, and even a courtyard with an ancient oak tree casting the widest shadows. His mother lives in a beautiful cottage right on the property, with a pond, something I visited once when acquiring more of that salve.

Soren takes me to a room at the end of a hall, every piece of wood stained dark. When I enter, a pretty blonde presents herself as she stands from a chair. Kathleen wears a black cotton dress that’s cinched with a corset, reaching under her breasts without binding them. It’s too uncomfortable for her, otherwise.

“You two will have privacy for as long as you need,” Soren says, connecting his gaze with mine before the doors shut.

While I’m ready to pounce on Kathleen in a long embrace, I hesitate when apology stains her green eyes. Bright lighting from the many windows means no expression left hidden, the silence deafening.

I can’t tell if she’s happy to see me or not.

“You’re alive,” I say, taking a step near, testing the waters.

“Jane, I have to tell you something. Or else I’ll feel like a right asshole if I don’t.”

Dipping my head low, I nod a few times. “Okay. Yeah, go ahead, Kathleen.”

Her jaw is slack as she cants her head. “Jane. You know you’reactuallymy friend, right?”

Oh, I don’t like this direction. “That’s the impression I was under.”

Her lips part before she looks around the room, returning to the chair she was in before I entered, leaning her elbows on her knees, her hands moving as she speaks. “I couldn’t say a word.” Familiar eyes flit to mine. “I swore him an oath.”

An oath? She sworewhoan oath?“What is it, Kathleen?”

“I knew who Ern was this whole time,” she confesses, unable to look at me.

The words mean nothing for a while, like my brain doesn’t know what to do with that information. But the longer she sits in silence, her hands clasped like she’s trying to squish away the guilt, I realize what she’ssaying.

My hands become fidgety, like I need to do something with them to alleviate the way my head spins. For a moment, I release my surroundings and get lost in my own mind as I deconstruct that, and honestly… there’s a part of me that just doesn’t care. Or maybe I do, but my desire to worry is completely gone. I’ve survived too much, reclaimed too much, to be angry at something like this.

Facing Kathleen, I steel my nerves and ask, “Can you just explain it all from the start?”

“You’re not angry?”

“I don’t know… maybe just explain it to me first,” I press, sitting down, touching my arm where the mask is, comforted that Soren is always with me.