“I have the supreme authority granted by the Curia,” I retorted disdainfully. “Last night, I instructed you to set up protections. Why are there no Oni wards here? What additional security have you set up?”
“We already had demon wards, so we added sigils to protect against any intruders with ill intent,” he replied through his teeth, angry but wise enough not to further prod my wrath.
Except that answer did just that.
“I said ONI, you fool!” I shouted. “How are you this stupid and incompetent? Onis perform mind control. It does not automatically qualify as evil intent. If they were able to get to the women here, then your current wards against demons clearly have not worked. Just now, you were accusing Lyall of being one. Did anything stop him?”
Ewan shifted uneasily on his feet. “Considering what they made the women do, it was undeniably ill intent.”
I rolled my eyes while Lyall snorted and shook his head with disdain at the Prefect.
“They only strongly suggested to the women that they were madly in love with Elliot. That isn’t deemed ill intent. Your wards will not block this type of intention,” I explained as if he was mentally slow. “Unlike the normal behavior of their species, they did not suggest for the women to self-harm or commit suicide.”
“I… Right. I didn’t think of it that way.”
“Clearly. See that you get it fixed at once, and everyone is to wear mind control protection sigils until the case is solved,” I ordered.
“You do not command me!” Ewan snarled, fisting his hands on each side of his body.
“Right now, yes, I do,” I replied in a frosty voice.
“Why such resistance, Prefect?” Lyall asked in a sickly-sweet voice that sent a chill down my spine. “Do you have something to hide?”
“Of course not,Demon,” he hissed, his voice dripping with a mix of contempt and outrage.
“Maybe I should check to make sure,” my companion continued, his eyes starting to glow a brighter red, and his voice dipping in a slightly menacing fashion.
“You cannot do this!” Ewan exclaimed, fear entering his voice, his eyes flicking towards me in search of support.
I tilted my head to the side, my lips pursed as I studied his features. “Honestly, I’m starting to think that maybe he should,” I mused aloud. “You seriously need to tread carefully, Prefect. You’re starting to make me wonder if you actually want this resolved.”
“Of course, I do!” he exclaimed, seeming genuinely offended. “These women were all under my care. Some of them are almost daughters to me. Do you think I enjoy having the Curia breathing down my neck and their envoy bossing me around while I’m trying to keep this place sane and functioning?”
“Then start acting accordingly by cooperating instead of creating unnecessary obstacles. I’m here to solve the problem and then be on my way. The less headaches you give me, the sooner you’ll be rid of my presence. Now, where are the women?”
His shoulders slouched as he ran a nervous hand through his hair. “They’re over here. Please follow me,” Ewan replied in a tired voice.
He led us to the same meeting room where I previously met Elliot’s so-called ‘parents’ when I first got here.
My chest constricted, and another wave of anger swelled within me when I laid my eyes on the two women. They were both sitting on cushioned chairs. Vivian was staring at a candleeither as a meditation focus or as part of some form of candle magic. The poor woman was an emotional mess. I couldn’t begin to imagine what kind of mental damage the recent events did to her. A couple of meters away, a green witch was working on Sienna. She still bore visible traces of the brutal way in which Elliot handled her.
“Sienna still has many bruises and even a few scars left from the horrible ordeal she faced,” Ewan said, guilt and anger audible in his voice. “Our healers haven’t been able to focus on those just yet as many of her bite marks became infected. If not for the phenomenal work of our green witches, she would have gone septic.”
I glanced at the Prefect. The distressed look on his face as he gazed upon the two Inquisitors in turn struck me hard. In that instant, the anger I felt towards him gave way to something akin to sympathy. Although still annoyed by his poor handling of the situation, I realized that he truly cared for the clerics under his leadership. He had simply enjoyed an easy ride for such a long time that the real challenges of the crisis plaguing his town were overwhelming him.
A sliver of shame reared its head in light of how harsh I had been with him. It didn’t absolve him of his failures, but I no longer believed that he was deliberately negligent or worse, an accomplice in whatever Elliot was up to.
The Prefect then excused himself to go supervise the placement of new wards specifically targeting Onis.
I turned my attention back to the women who were looking at me with shame and a hint of worry. I locked eyes with Vivian.
“Why?” I asked her in a soft voice.
Her shoulders slumped, and tears welled in her eyes.
“I don’t know. I was obsessed with Elliot. There was nothing I wouldn’t have done for him,” she replied, defeated. “I wouldhave killed and betrayed anyone, so long as it earned me his approval.”
“As an Inquisitor, you’re trained to detect mind control,” I argued in the same non-confrontational tone. “When the Onis attempted to influence me in the crematorium, I sensed it right away.”
