He narrowed his eyes then stood, moving slowly. He was dark-haired and graceful, though thinner than she remembered. His face was gaunt. She watched him, noticing his right hand for the first time. It was gloved.

“The last I saw of you,” she said, “you were chopping that arm off to avoid being used as a vessel for the Faceless Ones. Did it grow back?”

“This? No, this isn’t mine. It belonged to a donor.”

“Willing or otherwise?”

“Otherwise.”

“What do you want, Jaron?”

“I can only imagine what Eliza Scorn has over you. That’s why she called you, right? To force you to do something? It must be pretty substantial, whatever it is.”

“I can’t tell if you’re circling a point or just boring me on purpose.”

“I know what their plans are. I know they want to build up the Church of the Faceless all around the world. I’m pretty sure that Eliza views herself as some kind of Pope figure, thinks she can lead the faithful into a world where the strong are rewarded and the weak are discarded.”

“The same kind of world you’re looking for,” China reminded him.

He shook his head. “Not any more. People change, China. You know that better than anyone. You led the Diablerie before me, you taught me everything I know. You were a zealot, through and through. And now look at you. Is it so hard to believe that I could have gone through the same transformation? That day, at the farm, when we opened the portal and the Faceless Ones came back… I saw them for what they really were. They’re not gods. They’re things. Creatures. Monsters. As powerful as gods, perhaps, but they certainly don’t deserve to be worshipped.”

“Blasphemy,” China said with a smile.

“Indeed it is. I’ve lost my faith, China. There is no hope of a beautiful world if they return, and that’s been the big lie, right from the start. The idea that we disciples would be spared, that we’d be welcomed while everyone else perished… Ridiculous. Those things don’t care about us.”

“All right,” China said. “So you’ve had a change of heart. You have seen the light and you have turned away from wickedness. That’s all wonderful. But why should I be at all interested?”

“I’m here to stop them.”

“Eliza?”

“Eliza, Prave, any and everyone else. I’m here to shut down the Church of the Faceless, but I need your help to do it. I’ve already wandered in from the wilderness and rejoined them. It’ll be like the good old days. They’re not going to trust you, but they do trust me.”

“So you have infiltrated their ranks – now what?”