Persie Merlin and the Witch Hunters - Bella Forrest Page 0,62

skimmed past their banter. As far as I was concerned, that was a huge victory for me. The head huntswoman had heeded my suggestion after all and gone straight to my parents. I wasn’t sure I liked her giving them the lowdown on my Institute exploits, but it seemed like I was safe regarding the kidnapping. “Did she want to talk about… witch hunters? Or something called the Veritas?” I lowered my voice, though I had no idea why. It wasn’t as though anyone outside of our trio was listening.

“Witch hunters?” Mom’s expression hardened into maternal seriousness. “No. She said there’d been a report of a member of staff going missing a while ago, and he had yet to resurface. She hoped we might be able to help, after you told her we might have some related information. She didn’t mention any Veritas, either.”

So… Victoria saved my butt. I was grateful to her for that. She easily could have told them everything, but that wouldn’t have done anyone any favors. It certainly wasn’t what I wanted. Don’t get me wrong, I didn’t want to lie to my parents, but they had enough to deal with between their missing magicals and a daughter who Purged monsters week in, week out. Besides, if they thought my mom’s surname had caused me to be captured by someone, they’d have lost their minds and dragged me back to the SDC, regardless of O’Halloran’s continued ban on my presence. Mom had been freaking out about that possibility for years. She’d surely have locked me up for my own safety, and not because of my ability. If she learned it had happened once, she’d live in constant fear of it happening again. I couldn’t put her through that.

“So, you don’t know anything about witch hunters or the Veritas?” I pressed, determined to get a concise answer from someone.

Mom shook her head. “I’ve never heard the term ‘witch hunters’ used in a modern context before. And Veritas doesn’t ring any bells. Why, is there something we should know?”

“It’s just a theory—they might be the people behind all the missing magicals.” I tried to avoid Mom’s prying gaze. “Do you think you’ll be able to help Victoria’s investigation?”

Dad nodded. “We’ve already promised to inform O’Halloran and the SDC Security Magicals. They’re going to check whether the scientist’s description matches any of the recently resurfaced victims.”

I nodded, saying nothing. It surprised me that my parents had never heard the terms “witch hunters” or “Veritas” before. There was a good chance that these people were keeping themselves under wraps, for obvious reasons, or maybe they went by a different name in the States. The guy who took me had said that “they” knew more about us magicals than we knew about “them.” So, there were plenty of possibilities as to why my parents had never heard of them before, but it was a little disappointing that I wouldn’t get the clear-cut answer I’d been hoping for.

“Go easy,” Dad warned suddenly, coaxing another confused expression out of me. Clearly, I was in trouble. A moment later, I found out why.

“You nearly revealed classified information, Persie.” Mom sighed. “I don’t know if you told Victoria more than she let on, and she was very careful not to throw you under the bus, but there’s a reason why our work is secret. I understand that you wanted to help in the case of this missing scientist, and this theory you mentioned, but they may not be related at all. That means you could’ve caused a breach. Obviously, I want to do everything I can if there’s some kind of danger near you, but there are rules and regulations in place. You should have come to me first, so I could have reached out to Victoria myself after checking with the necessary authorities that I had the green light to do so.”

I lowered my head, realizing that I’d been right not to tell them more. Their hands were clearly tied if they weren’t going beyond the SDC with this. After all, they’d only mentioned informing O’Halloran and the SDC’s Security Magicals. In the space of two phone calls—mine and Victoria’s—this had become a secret, secret mission. One they couldn’t even reveal to the wider US magical secret defenses without causing all kinds of legal upset.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t know what else to do. These witch hunters are a potential threat, and what happened to the scientist seemed too coincidental not to be related to