Persie Merlin and the Witch Hunters - Bella Forrest Page 0,92
people, no matter who they are. We have to act while the numbers are still small.”
“Did he say they were small?” I pressed. Knowing what we were dealing with would determine how we proceeded. If too many people were already infected, it might cement the stark truth that there was actually nothing we could do. If the group of hybrid Fear Deargs was still manageable, then there’d be hope.
Persie lifted her shoulders in a hesitant shrug. “It sounded like it. He said it had infected the people who were close to him, which suggests it hasn’t gotten out of hand yet. Plus, if it was a large number, he’d have told me. He needs us, after all, so he has no reason to cover up the facts.”
You’re putting a lot of faith in a stranger, here. I held my tongue, though she could probably read every neon doubt blinking across my face. Still, part of me did agree with her analysis of his words. If he belonged to some kind of splinter cell of this Veritas organization, then that had to be a fairly select group. I hoped, anyway.
She took out her phone. “I’ll ask him, so we’re sure.” She typed a quick text and waited, staring at the blue screen. It pinged a moment later, and she looked up at me. “It’s isolated to his ‘people.’ He thinks upward of fifty, but the number is rising, and more are being seen by their doctors due to adverse effects. I’m paraphrasing.”
How many people are in this organization? I supposed it didn’t matter right now, since we were going ahead with this regardless. But there was every chance it could matter later.
“Okay, then,” I said dumbly.
“Woo! The three amigos ride again!” Genie whooped, brandishing her chopsticks like swords. I wanted to laugh, but my heart felt heavy with the seriousness of the situation. This would mean going against Victoria and working in secret. I didn’t like that any more than Persie obviously did, but nor did I like the idea of people being rounded up and punished due to a lack of understanding. Victoria wasn’t heartless, by any means. For starters, she’d made it her life’s work to defend the non-magical world from monsters and the havoc they caused. On the other hand, if she had to pick sides, I knew which one it would be. When push came to shove, she’d prioritize the safety of the Institute and magical kind, just as non-magicals would prioritize themselves if the roles were reversed. And it wasn’t just her—that went for every echelon of the magical authorities and magical security.
Persie turned to me, her expression full of newfound grit. “Innocent people will get hurt unless we find a way to stop the curse. Sure, it’s currently isolated to these witch hunters, but what if it goes beyond that and starts infecting people who have nothing to do with Veritas? What if it already has, and Reid just isn’t aware of it outside of his group? It could have infected anyone and everyone that they’ve come into contact with, even someone they’ve just passed in the street. We don’t know how this transmits.”
I grimaced. “I was literally just thinking the same thing. If we haven’t been affected, we can assume that magicals are immune. But I highly doubt there’ll be selective immunity in non-magicals.”
“Right.” Persie propped her chin on her palm, her mood gloomy. After the promise she’d made to give full honesty to Victoria, this would be a heck of a knock for her. And, though I hated to admit it, I knew it was the best course of action.
“Get your olive branches out—it’s temporary truce time, baby!” Genie punched the air with her fist and stayed frozen in that position for a while. It wasn’t the solemn agreement I’d anticipated to kick this investigation off, but it served the same purpose. Our decision was made. We had to help the witch hunters. And I knew exactly where to begin.
Twenty-Six
Nathan
With a quickly hashed-out plan at the ready, I hurried through the corridors toward Victoria’s office. Ordinarily, I preferred to have things organized down to the letter, with little room for error, but Genie’s love of all things spontaneous appeared to have rubbed off on me. Besides, it wasn’t as if we had much time to waste, not if this monster curse was spreading as swiftly and dangerously as Reid had implied. Did I believe a word that came out of that wastrel’s mouth?