Barely twenty-four hours had passed, and Romy had seen to as many of my wounds as her Gift allowed. All that was left was the slight crook in my broken nose, and the dull throbbing ache that spread across my face like a mask whenever I breathed.
I almost enjoyed the pain; it gave me something else to think about rather than Arwyn and the inevitable end all of witch-kind faced.
I’d slept, and ‘slept’ is actually a rather generous way to describe the matter of hours of on and off sleep I found in our private rooms. Again, private room might paint a picture of a lavish apartment, when in reality it was a narrow slip with a lockable door, two metal cots and a single silver toilet bowl. It was more of a prison than a home. Then again, I didn’t plan tostick around long enough to give it any other name but a ‘brief stopping ground’.
Romy leaned over her tray of half-eaten crackers, ominous yellow cheese and a lump of displeasing, grey-coloured oats that the dedicated cook had called breakfast. Her eyes were glued to the flat-screen that hung on the far wall.
The mess hall was so quiet a pin drop could’ve been heard.
“For the love of Hekate, please tell me I’m not seeing what I’m seeing,” Romy stammered as her mug of black coffee heated her two hands. “Tell me this is all some fucked-up dream and I’m going to wake up from it any second.”
I’d lost all appetite the moment the TV showed scenes of the ruined White Tower, but more notably the seven tall pyres that had been built outside it. What was worse, Father Tomin was being interviewed in front of them, a proud, beaming smile creased across his punch-worthy face.
I gripped my knife and fork so hard the metal left lines in my palm.
“I’ll fucking kill him,” was all I managed in response.
“I like this side to you, witchling.”Emon stirred from his slumber, tightening scales around my forearm.“You seem to have an impressive bite, but I am yet to see it in practice.”
“Quiet,” I hissed at the demon, whilst another dark energy brewed in my gut.
“Antsy today, are we?”
If there wasn’t the constant threat of being bitten by a viper, I would’ve grabbed Emon, ripped him from my arm, and thrown him into the nearest oven. But alas, as the TV silently played the news, I knew what I’d need him for eventually.
“Someone turn on the sound,” Romy commanded, but the room didn’t respond. They, like us, were glued to the screen, watching in horror as the literal fifteen hundreds played out on a coloured screen.
Footsteps sounded from outside the mess hall. They echoed around me, courtesy of the white-tiled walls and curved ceilings that made up the maze of tunnels. I didn’t need to look and find out who had arrived, when a grating voice rose over the hushed crowd.
“You heard Romy, someone turn the bastard sound on. Now!”
I hadn’t seen Kai since last night when he had personally showed us—even though I got the impression he did it as a show for Romy—to our rooms. I’d tried to probe Romy on their past only once again, and accepted that her silence screamed loud in regard to her want to keep something private.
And who was I to push when I kept so many secrets of my own?
There was the sound of rushed feet, followed by the static buzz of the television. As the volume was turned on, Father Tomin’s dreadful cadence filled the mess hall, resounding over like it was some feverish nightmare.
We all listened.
“…they have been lying wait in the shadows for generations, and have finally been forced to show the light. Yesterday’s attack was only the beginning of the war they have been preparing for. It is important we, as a nation united, act before they get a chance for anymore destruction and death.” His bright eyes—Arwyn’s eyes—looked through the camera as if fixed directly upon me.
Tomin was dressed in what looked like military attire, except his clothes were made from black leathers, a large white cross imprinted over his heart which he conveniently touched every now and then.
“I understand that your view of the world has likely been turned upside down by the terror witch-kind have imposed, but I can assure you that you have nothing to worry about.Wehavebeen prepared to protect you.Wehave been working since the old days to ensure a peaceful era, and finally we have the means to go against those who would want to bring darkness across this world. Yesterday was the beginning of their damnation, and today will be the spark that kindles their demise by our hands.”
“Bastard,” I muttered beneath my breath, unaware how visibly I shook on my seat.
Tomin stepped to the side so the camera focused on the seven pyres. He swept a hand behind him, fingers steady as he introduced his next horror. “The world will watch today what happens when evil shows its face. Punishment. Exodus 22:18 says ‘You shall not permit a witch to live’. We are but God’s faithful warriors against the evil underbelly of the world. Watch on as we show you how we bring his burning light to begin cleansing those who turned to the shadows.”
I couldn’t listen to another word. My knuckles paled against the table, metal shivering as my Gift encased it.
Emon’s joyous laugh filled my skull, drowning out whatever Tomin spouted next. There was no calming me down, not a single thing a person could say as I looked in the enlarged eyes of the man who led to the death of my parents, the poisoning of his son, and the ruin of the world.
It took no effort at all for the large table to be ripped from beneath me. By the angered force of my Gift, it shot across the mess hall, smashing into the television where it hung.
The screen shattered, raining tempered glass down upon those nearest to it. The unleashed explosion of my power wedged the table, not just into the television, but speared it into the wall beyond. A metal prang cut across the shocked silence, before every eye settled on me.
“Hector Briar,” Kai called out, although it sounded as if he spoke to me through a body of water. My heartbeat filled my ears, and as I pinched my eyes closed all I could see was FatherTomin’s face imprinted in the dark, smiling with white teeth and hateful eyes. “I think it’s best you follow me out this room before anyone gets hurt. Don’t you?”
