Persie Merlin and the Witch Hunters - Bella Forrest Page 0,91
chair. “It’s sweet.”
“Very sweet,” I agreed, though I couldn’t enjoy it as much as I might’ve liked. “Although, we should really talk about the sour. AKA, this Reid Darcy. If we intend to help him, then we need to go over our options. Whichever way you look at it, this is going to be a difficult investigation. As I’ve said before, this would be far simpler if we knew who the curse caster was, but as he’s blown that out of the water, we’re really starting with nothing.”
Persie nodded, scratching at her neck in thought. “First, we need to decide how far up the chain of command we go with this. Do we keep it between us, or do we alert Victoria and the hunters to Reid’s return?” Her brow furrowed. “I’ve been going back and forth since I left him at the market, and I think I know which way I want to go with it, but I need to hear someone else’s opinion.”
I laced my fingers together and cracked my knuckles. “I don’t know anything about the organization he belongs to, but if they’re watching magicals and potentially hunting us, then their creed alone makes them incredibly dangerous.” I couldn’t believe what I was about to say, knowing we’d be putting ourselves in a tight spot. “However, that would be reason enough for the magical world to consider them a deadly threat. And I’m sure I don’t need to tell you, but the magical world might decide, because of that, that all of these witch hunters would be better off dead. Or mass mindwiped, at the very least. Maybe even incarcerated for crimes against magicals. The Institute would certainly approach the problem as a code red, meaning permission to use lethal force. It’s how they approach most threats, really: they identify it, they analyze it, they eliminate it.”
“Even though they’re human?” Persie shifted uncomfortably in her chair.
I shrugged. “I suppose that would depend on their analysis of how ‘human’ they are when they’re under the curse. If the Institute decided that they veered more toward the monster side of things, it would be a free for all.”
“Then… maybe we don’t go to Victoria or any authorities until we can alter their perspectives a bit,” Persie offered. “If we could first figure out a way to make the Veritas understand that magicals aren’t a threat, then we could go to the higher-ups and potentially circumvent any lethal-force orders that might come into play. I mean, they’re humans. They’re probably just freaked out because they’ve only just found out that magic is real, and so are the monsters living under the bed. Who wouldn’t be a bit trigger-happy after that?”
I gave her what I hoped wasn’t a condescending smile. “It’s a nice thought, Persie, but it’s a little idealistic.”
“You’ll have us all singing our kumbayas next.” Genie chuckled through a fresh mouthful of noodles. “I like peace, love, and unity as much as the next gal, but utopias are a fantasy. I lived in one, so I’ve got the scoop. To put it in Atlantean terms, there’s always a bigger fish. And the smaller fish hate the bigger fish because it can eat them. This is the same thing: these witch hunters think we’re going to eat them. It’s why magicals have a thing against Atlanteans. To them, we’re bigger fish. Sharks, maybe, or those massive groupers that can swallow a diver whole.” Her rambles were making a lot of sense in a weird way, though I couldn’t stop looking at the slice of carrot she had wedged between her chopsticks as she gesticulated wildly. It would surely go flying at any moment.
I nodded, relieved when she finally ate it. “To achieve what you’re suggesting, we’d need to know more about Veritas and their methods. If they really are the ones abducting magicals, torturing them and then dumping them, trying to convince anyone they aren’t dangerous will be an impossible sell.”
“So… we have to do this alone?” Persie dropped her chin to her chest, wringing her hands anxiously. “I didn’t want that to be the case, but this curse might be more of a threat than the witch hunters themselves. If we think of Reid as ‘patient zero’ and the curse has already started spreading and turning other people into Fear Deargs, then it’s not a huge leap to think that they’ll probably spread it, too. And I will never be down with the idea of culling a group of