Page 89 of Song of Scent and Magic

"No, we're not. We live long enough to have a greater range of experiences than the average human. We've seen and done things you couldn't even imagine."

He didn't need to say I’d also live long enough to see or do things I couldn't have imagined as a human. We all knew it. Zared would be gone before…

I pushed the thought away. If I was to dwell on that too much, I'd tear my own heart out.

"So you keep saying," Zared said coldly. "You act as if humans are children. We're not. We have experiences and learn things. We keep doing that until we die."

"As far as we're concerned, you might as well be children," Ryze told him. "We’ll keep having experiences long past your death. I've lived about fourteen of your lifetimes. Trust me when I tell you you've only just begun."

There was a weariness in his eyes I hadn't seen before. It contrasted with the comforting scent of leather and wood smoke and the reassurance he sent through the bond. How much was an act and how much was real? I'd barely begun to know the man. In a couple of hundred years, I'd probably still be learning things about him. And vice versa.

"I trust you as far as I can throw you," Zared told him. He gave him a filthy look before stalking to the other side of the small room and looking out the window.

I exhaled heavily and offered Ryze an apologetic look.

"You certainly keep some interesting company," Wornar said. "Would you like me to make a portal back to Fraxius for him?"

"He's scared," Ryze said. "Everything here is new to him. It must feel like he stepped into another world. For Khala too. She'll get used to it. Zared will if he lets himself. Right now, I don't have time to worry about it. We have bigger priorities than the ego of one human. Even one Fae."

"Bigger than your ego?" Wornar teased.

Ryze grinned. "I wouldn't have thought it was possible either, but here we are."

Wornar chuckled. "Will wonders never cease?"

"Probably not," Ryze said. "I don't want to be around for the day they do. What's life without wonder here or there?"

"No life at all," Wornar agreed. "No life at all."

34

Khala

While the two Fae made plans for the audience with the Lord of Summer, I stepped over to put a hand on Zared's shoulder.

"I know this is all—" I started.

"Fucked up?" he suggested. "Just when I think I understand everything and accept it, something else happens. Now he's suggesting he'd use you to kill people? As if you're a weapon like a sword or a knife?" He shook his head in a mixture of disbelief and disgust.

"I'm sure it's nothing he wouldn't do himself," I said. He made that clear a couple of times. Of course it was easy to say that. The reality might be a completely different story.

"He'd probably do it in a heartbeat." Zared's mouth pressed into a tight line, but he didn't look away from the window. "I'm not saying humans are perfect, but Fae…"

"What are we?" I tried to keep the annoyance out of my voice, but failed. At some point, he was going to have to accept the fact of what I was. He couldn't tell me he found me more beautiful, then suggest every other Fae was some kind of demon. It was hypocritical. Like it or not, I was one of them. One ofus.

He turned to me and started to speak, but then saw the expression on my face.

"Don't tell me I'm different," I said.

"Youaredifferent," he said. "You didn't grow up with them."

"No, I grew up with priestesses who used the strap on us if we stepped out of line," I said bitterly. "Who kept the truth about who we were from us. Who kept us from speaking for ten years because of their suspicion about what we were. How many Silent Maidens aren't omegas? How many went through that when they didn't need to? How many went through it so the rest of us didn't come under suspicion? You think the Fae are fucked up, what about all of that?"

"According to Ryze, it was the Fae who set that up in the first place," Zared pointed out.

"With full agreement from the Temple," I said bitterly. "A temple of humans. Women who went through the exact same thing and then did it to another group of girls. And another. And another. Did they even believe in the gods, or are they only there to do whatever the Fae tell them to?" My voice got higher and higher with each word.

"I can't believe all of them knew what was going on," Zared said slowly. "Blame the high priestess and priest. I don't think the rest of them had a clue. I certainly didn't."

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