‘Of course not.’ She looks at me like I just insulted her. ‘Those people are all nuts. They’ll regret having sold you out. I made sure of that. If Paige eats someone, it’ll be someone outside their cult. It’s the worst punishment they can imagine.’

Chapter 45

45

A groan reaches us from the passenger seat of the truck. We walk back toward Beliel and open the passenger door.

He’s in bad shape. There’s blood everywhere.

He opens his eyes sluggishly and looks at me. It’s a relief to see him with eyes in his sockets. I wonder how long it took to grow them back?

‘I knew I recognized your voice from somewhere.’ He coughs. Blood bubbles out of his mouth. ‘Been a long time. So long I thought it was a torture dream.’

How long did he spend down in the Pit, taking the punishment for an entire squad of newly Fallen?

‘I actually thought . . . I actually thought, once, that there might be hope,’ says Beliel. ‘That you might come back and figure out a way to take me with you too.’

Watchers gather around behind me.

Beliel’s eyes lift to look at them. ‘You’re all just like I remember. You haven’t changed at all. As if it just happened this morning.’ He coughs again, and his face scrunches in pain. ‘I should have made you all wait with me in the Pit.’

His eyes drift closed.

He takes a shuddering breath and lets it out. He doesn’t take another.

I look up at Raffe, then at Josiah.

Josiah shakes his head at me. ‘It was too much for him. He wasn’t doing well after you guys went through him. His healing slowed down, almost stopped. He was in no condition to handle so many coming through. I don’t think biological beings were really meant to be gateways.’

Josiah sighs. ‘But if it had to happen to someone, it might as well have been Beliel.’ He turns and walks away from Beliel’s ravaged body. ‘No one will miss him. He didn’t have a friend in the world.’

Chapter 46

46

The Watchers decide to do a proper ceremony for Beliel. We drive until the aerie is long out of sight before we stop to bury him.

‘Do we even have shovels?’ I ask.

‘He’s not an animal,’ says Hawk. ‘We won’t bury him.’

There’s an uncomfortable silence as the Watchers gently pull Beliel’s body out from the car. None of the guys will look at each other, as though stubbornly and silently insisting on something that each thinks the other might object to.

Finally, Cyclone speaks up. ‘I’ll be a bearer.’

‘Me too,’ says Howler.

The floodgates open, and all the other Watchers speak out, volunteering to be bearers.

They all look at Raffe, waiting for his approval. Raffe nods.