Persie Merlin and the Witch Hunters - Bella Forrest Page 0,49

Something to keep a lazy eye on, which now called for their full focus. I could understand that. Why worry everyone needlessly? And he’d only targeted me; he hadn’t made a threat to the Institute as a whole.

At last, Victoria cleared her throat. “Thank you for going through all of that again. I know it could not have been easy, and I am, once again, truly sorry for what you have endured.” She sat up straighter and steepled her fingers. I noticed them trembling slightly—another sign that not all was as well as she wanted me to believe. “My most elite hunters and myself will take care of everything, and I will continue to make inquiries. In the meantime, I think it best for your welfare and your recovery if you stay inside the Institute. I must insist that you do not venture out on your own again.”

I’d already expected her to hand me a not-so-veiled order like this, but I hadn’t dragged myself into daytime clothes and wrangled my hair into a ponytail just to hear that. I’d come for answers to my questions, too—AKA her end of the honesty bargain. But I had to be subtle about it.

“Are the witch hunters Nathan mentioned the same as the Veritas, maybe?” I took a gulp of water to stop my voice from cracking. “Do you think they might be linked to what’s happening in the States? The guy who captured me didn’t seem like an expert in torture, but he had the basic idea and equipment. And the missing magicals that my mom is looking into have been tortured.”

Victoria fixed me with one of her most intense, obsidian stares. “Everything will be investigated. It’s in the right hands now.”

“Has something like this happened before?”

“No,” she said simply.

Frustration bristled up the back of my neck. “Okay, so this might be a new turn of events here, but they might’ve done it before in other countries. They could even be the ones who took Charles Burniston. It could all be linked.”

“We will be thorough in our investigation, Persie.” There was a curt note in her voice, warning me not to keep flogging this particular horse. “I have heard your account, and it will be correlated with other evidence. We are hunters. Tracking things down is what we do, whether that be a monster or an answer.”

I leaned forward, scooting toward the edge of the armchair. “Are witch hunters a commonly known problem, or are they more of a local thing?”

“Nathan was theorizing, using a term that encompasses many things.” She brushed the question off. “You shouldn’t trouble yourself any further. We will look into every possible angle. Leave it in our capable hands.” Part of me itched to keep fighting until she relented, but that would’ve been like chipping away at a boulder of solid diamond with a toothpick. It was clear that she had divulged all she was willing to.

Still, it felt wrong to just bow my head and accept her word on the matter. I was the one he’d captured. Didn’t I deserve to know more? Apparently not. At the same time, I knew if this had happened in the outside world, I would’ve left it to detectives to figure out the truth, because that was their job and not mine. This was no different. I lacked the experience and the skillset to be useful on this. I was a trainee, not a seasoned hunter.

I was still trying to figure out my place in the magical world, and right now, my mind was a blur of burning eyes, car batteries, and the fuzzy warmth of a clean blanket. That made me even less useful to Victoria and her hunters. The best thing I could do was follow her orders, leave it to the pros, and wait patiently for news.

Fifteen

Persie

“Will it help them?” I cradled the pasty pixies in my arms like tiny triplets. After leaving Victoria’s office, there had only been one place my recovering self wanted to go: the Repository. I knew I’d be back to full health soon, but I had no idea how things might pan out for my beloved creations. I mean, I knew they were capable of dying—I’d seen enough of their kind fall, protecting me from the Wisps—but it was impossible to think of losing these three. They’d become such a huge part of my life. That didn’t take away from the other losses I’d experienced, but it was different after a strong bond