Page 173 of The Secrets of Jane: Reborn

“Hisfamily?”

“She’s the nosiest shit I’ve ever met, but damn if she didn’t get word of something suspicious if it was over ten miles away.Once, we even left for a town over to run some errands for the village when she caught wind of people from Skull’s Row checking out the village.” She looks me over, at my arms and then the wound at my chest that’s no longer bandaged but is clearly going to scar. “Jane, howareyou?”

It’s so much. I want to blurt out that Anya died, but then I’d have to talk about the entirety of being taken. “We definitely need to have a few days’ worth of talking about it. Just… maybe not right now.”

“Anya’sfuneralis later,” she presses, as if she can’t believe it.

It makes me want Soren. There’s still something about Anya’s death that gets to me in the middle of the night, even if we’ve been here for a week. Kathleen places a hand on my shoulder. “Hey, one day at a time, okay?”

I nod. “Yeah… yeah, how’s your gran, by the way?”

My transition is not very elegant, but she goes with it because she’s a good friend.

“Relieved to see me. Still upset about my dad being a dick, but she was happy to be with me. She wouldn’t stop pestering me about Bones.”

Yes, let’s talk about him.“Did you know Bones is known as someone people actually pay good money to have him train them?”

“Yes.” Pride overtakes her expression. “He flexed that once or twice.”

My eyes narrow slightly from how big I grin. “Okay, well did you know he and Soren met because Bones was hired to kill him?”

Her lips part in surprise. “No.”

“Bones couldn't hit Soren because he could feel Bones’s intention, and apparently Bones is damn near impossible to hit. Then, Soren offered Bones more money to not kill him.Apparently, Bones justlovedthat and was Soren’s man ever since.”

Her chuckle that rolls into a slight giggle is a sound I missed more than I realized. “How’d you learn that?”

My smile falters drastically. “Anya told me.”

There’s that pause again, as if someone feels sorry for me. “What happened to her?”

I should probably fill her in a little, even if I’m genuinely struggling to speak on it.

“She got taken with me. And there was a whole fiasco in the castle, with Jesper—the leader of the Order of Ash.” I pause, uncertain as to why this feels soprivate. “They were going to bebrutalwith me, but Anya took the fall for it all, and they killed her.” I step away, my body heating up as if I drank molten hot soup. “It’s actually hard to talk about.”

The moment between Anya and me feels so personal. We both were locked away, and she wastortured;I even healed one of her wounds. We plotted desperate plans for freedom, and I have the necklace she gave me, her deathbed confession. No one, except maybe Soren, will be able tofeelwhat it was like to live that.

“I hear the funeral today will be impressive,” Kathleen says, as if to make me feel better. “Probably the safest we’ll be with over half of Death’s Wing here.”

“The safest I felt was when I heard Tempest approaching with bloody flags,” I blurt out, recalling the profound relief and gratitude. “I knew sirens were in the waters, then.”

Staring at the ocean from this window… I actually wished it faced the forest.

“Godsthat must have been wild, Jane. I heard that the Sea Wolf was lost at sea.”

My breathing feels constricted, my lung even slightly burning as I never got to see that. I just remember Soren…

“It was bizarre,” I force out, trying to divert my mind. “Misery eventouchedme.”

It’s easier to talk about that dumb god. Ruining him is my onlytruetriumph.

“I feel like such a bad friend for just sitting casually in a village while you lived all ofthat,” she says, and I can tell she means it.“I couldn’t do anything for you. I didn’t even know you weresuffering.”

“Are you kidding?” I ask, turning to face her. “I actually thought of you once, right when I wanted to give up. I kept thinking about how we promised we’d talk about this when we were older. Thought of you got me through it.”

Kathleen gives a partial smile. “Alright, well, give me a bit to gain some grand tales to tell, too.” Her face blanches. “I don't mean it like that because, you know, a lot of people died.”

I’m just so ready to not have to talk about any of this withanyone. “It’s okay, Kathleen. I know you don’t mean it like that. And it’s also okay that you knew all of that about my dad. I get it. Some things you can’t share without hurting someone else.” I think of Soren and knowing of his god before him. “Thank you for being my friend, even if that must have been hard to navigate.”