Page 15 of Unlikely Omega

I lock my knees, lift my chin. “Of course, Eminence.”

“Say it.”

“The Lost Race is gone, Eminence. And good riddance.”

“Would you kill to keep them gone?”

My throat clicks, it’s so dry. “I would.”

“Would you kill to keep us safe?”

“I would.”

“A priest of Briareus and Nyx is a warrior priest. A warrior in our war against the unnatural forces that try to destroy us.”

“Yes, Eminence.”

“Hm.” More pages rustling. “And a Denagan, to boot. Of course the Temple wanted you.”

Belated reaction is setting in, rattling my bones, but my training is kicking in, keeping me still as a statue, making me regulate my breathing, smooth out my face. I can stand here forever until I am dismissed.

Never show fear. Never show regret. Never show guilt.

My hood has slipped back but I don’t reach up to pull it over my hair. Let him look, if he wants, let him see me. I’m made of the same marble as the deities’ effigies. I’m made of cold stone. I’m—

“You do look a little like a Fae yourself,” the prelate remarks and I take the blow with a faint huff as it lands. “You do know that.”

“I can hardly see myself in the mirror,” I mutter, annoyed when my voice comes out a little choked. “I’m blind.”

“Your parents should have found another way to get rid of you instead of sending you to the Temple,” the prelate goes on, dismissively, voice growing bored. “No wonder they became sympathizers. Do you have siblings?”

My body aches with tension. “No, Eminence.”

“A blessing. Let your bloodline die with you. And make no mistake, priest, I’ll be sending you away from the Temple first chance I get. Can’t have anything linking us to the Fae here, not with the unrest in the Empire.”

I hiss. “But Eminence—”

“Dismissed.”

5

ARIADNE

“All good now?” Ismere asks, giving me a bright smile.

Over the top bright, showing too many teeth.

“Yeah, all good.” I’m packed with absorbent towels between my legs and the blood has almost stopped now. I’m sitting on my bed, trying to remember when I last polished my ritual blades, but all I can think about is this.

This blood.

It’s the awakening, the opening—of my body and of a new chapter of my life, one I had hoped never to read. Like the opening of a Temple play, it preludes something bad about to happen.

Which is why Ismere is shooting me those fake, reassuring smiles while giving off an aura of fear.

Right?

“It’s not what you think,” I tell her, fighting to keep my voice steady.

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