I watched her for a moment, then said, “You know what scares me? How rough this fight was, and all we did was fight back a band of vrykos. What happens when they really hit hard? What do we do then?”
“That’s why it’s so important to bring in the Fae and shifter militias,” Herne said. “We need them for backup. They’re used to taking orders and fighting on the front lines.” He paused. “I happen to know that a number of officers in the Fae militia were brought over from Annwn when Saílle and Névé first started up the militia. There, the Fae wars are real, not petty hissy fits. When Saílle and Névé decided to call a truce last year and pull together a militia, they didn’t just recruit from their cities here. They called in reinforcements from the older city-states.”
Something about his tone of voice sent shivers down my back. I mostly knew the Fae as petty and vindictive. But whenever Herne talked about TirNaNog and Navane in Annwn, I could feel the massive energy that surrounded the ancient cities, and their equally ancient wars. Some of the soldiers had to be walking weapons in their own right.
“That scares me almost as much as the dragons,” I said.
“It should. While I don’t think any of the mortals can take on Typhon, the Fae and shifter militias shouldn’t have a hard time taking on his children. We also need to explore another avenue—Raven’s people. The Ante-Fae. Granted, they tend to be solitary, but the Morrígan has enlisted her Bean Sidhe in the fight, and they’re all Ante-Fae.”
“Like Raven’s mother, Phasmoria,” I said. “She’s freakshow scary, and I’m sincerely grateful she’s on our side.”
Phasmoria, Raven’s mother, was Queen of the Bean Sidhe, directly in service to the Morrígan. She was no-nonsense, kick-your-ass strong and she seemed fearless. That appealed to me. I didn’t like running scared.
“I wish I could be more like Phasmoria,” I muttered.
Herne stared at me. “What? Why?”
“She’s not afraid of anything. Remember? She went against the Lykren with us and we saw how she fought. I wouldn’t ever want to be on her bad side.” I shrugged. “I just envy her sense of sureness and the way she dives into things without worrying about the end result.”
Herne frowned, stepping back. He placed his hands on my shoulders and gazed into my eyes. “Ember, for one thing, Phasmoria’s a queen. Of the Bean Sidhe, no less. She’s practically one of the Immortals. For another, Raven takes after her and you’ve seen the mishaps that can happen. Raven tackles challenges with the same savoir-faire attitude that her mother possesses and she lands herself in hot water almost every time.”
“True,” I said, feeling like I should stand up for my friend.
“I really do like Raven and I’m grateful she works with us on occasion, but the girl’s managed to almost get herself killed a dozen times. She doesn’t have her mother’s experience. Phasmoria can get away with being fearless because she knows exactly what she’s doing. Raven can’t, and you can’t either. Not yet.”
I didn’t want to admit that he was right, but the fact was he was right and I grudgingly acknowledged it. Like Raven, it was easy for me to get myself in scrapes I couldn’t resolve.
“I suppose you’re right. It’s just that you and Viktor and Yutani…even Talia…you’re all so experienced and I feel like I need to catch up, to prove myself around you.”
“You’re thirty-one years old. You’ve been with the Wild Hunt for about a year and a half. I’m a god, Viktor’s over two hundred, Talia’s close to a couple thousand years old. Yutani is over two hundred years old. Give yourself some leeway. You’ll catch up as you gain more experience and as you become accustomed to the work. Right now, you and Angel have barely scratched the surface of what we do here.” He paused, glancing over his shoulder to make sure she couldn’t hear. “But Angel’s human and that—”
“Don’t say it. I don’t want to think about it.” I was all too aware that Angel was on a tight timeline because she was human. I was also determined to figure out a way to extend her life because the thought of losing my best friend when I had barely even begun to explore my own options hurt so much I could barely even acknowledge the feeling.
“Someday you’re…” Herne stopped. “Never mind. Leave that for another time. Right now, you