“What about the witches in other states?” I asked. “Countries? Washington wasn’t the only state affected by this. Sophie told me that she and Haley had found communications from other covens, asking you for help.”
Norah closed her eyes, her lips pressed into a thin line. When she looked up at me again, her eyes were fully back to their natural color.
And fully engulfed in regret.
“Jonathan had already begun experimenting in other locales long before they reached the Bay, making a lot of mistakes and risking exposure at every turn. But through those mistakes, he also revealed much about the inner workings of his mind, about his plans, about the hybrid technology he’d been working on. Phillip saw the seeds of true brilliance there, but knew Jonathan could never pull it off himself. That’s when Phillip took a more active role, sending in his spies and surreptitiously nudging Jonathan toward the Bay. From that point forward, things began to coalesce quickly.”
“So you knew all along,” I said, unable to keep the venom from my voice. “The witches from the other covens that’d reached out to you for help—you turned them down. Not because you wanted to keep your head down and protect the Bay Coven witches, but because you wanted to protect Phillip. You wanted to protect yourself.”
Norah didn’t bother denying it. “Phillip and I have known each other a long time, crossing paths many, many times over the years. For most of that time, we kept an uneasy truce and stayed out of each other’s business. It’d been a few years since we’d even communicated, when he suddenly reached out for a meeting. There, he shared with me a glimpse of his plans, and offered me a deal. Protection, survival. All I had to do was give him a little bit of information now and then, and turn a blind eye to his and Jonathan’s activities.”
“You are unbelievable,” I said.
Norah merely shrugged. “At the time, I thought he was my best shot at survival. This war was coming whether I helped Phillip or not. The hunters had come out of the woodwork, developing an international underground network that, unlike the witches, was united in a single purpose. There would be no stopping the coming storm. Who are witches to stand up to this kind of power, Gray? Who am I? We can’t even agree on the best way to cast a banishing spell.”
Rage boiled in my gut at her words. How could she doubt us so much? How could she take such an easy way out?
I took a deep breath, reeling in my anger. Hadn’t I doubted us, too? Wasn’t Istilldoubting us? How many witches had gathered in the lodge, all of them willing to come together against a threat with a thousand faces, all because they knew fellow witches were in trouble? That our community was in grave danger? And I’d yet to trust them. To fully join them. I was there, sharing the space with them, helping with odds and ends, sitting in on some of the trainings. But I was still separate. Still holding myself apart. Still not claiming my magic or my blood.
“How does Orendiel fit into all this?” Emilio asked, and I turned my attention back to the interrogation. “You claim you don’t know who’s pulling his strings, but Phillip must’ve mentioned something about the fae involvement.”
“Orendiel has his own agenda,” she said. “But according to Phillip, when he heard about Phillip’s work—presumably through a rogue fae that had been working with Jonathan to capture supernaturals for experimentation—he approached Phillip with a deal: the dark fae and Phillip’s hunters would join forces, working together to hybridize supernaturals for their armies, then eradicate both the witches and other problematic supernatural races. Phillip would have access to elite Darkwinter Knights as well as fae technology to meld with Jonathan’s research, Darkwinter would have access to the hybrids they created, and once the war was over and the only groups left standing in power were the dark fae and the human hunters, they would divide the spoils. The fae would become the ruling class, and in return, the magic of the witches would be returned to its rightful keepers—the hunters.”
“Back to this again,” I said, throwing my hands up. It was always the same story. Power and magic. Magic and power. “Do the fae even have the capability to do such a thing? Magic can be manipulated, even channeled. But it can’t be extracted and transferred. The hunters have been trying it for centuries, and it’s never worked.”
Norah frowned. “Greed blinds us all to logic and reason, Gray. I’m sure Orendiel knew exactly how to play on Phillip’s base desire for the eradication of witches and the reclaiming of their magic—the hunters have never made their manifesto a secret. I imagine Orendiel spun quite a tail, and Phillip heard exactly what he wanted to hear, and here we are. Darkwinter doesn’tneedto have the capability to extract witch magic, because they have no intention of keeping up their end of the bargain. My guess? Darkwinter will turn on the hunters the moment their usefulness has run its course.”
“So in the end, it’s only Darkwinter that’s left standing,” I said with a shudder.
“And their hybrid army,” Emilio said. “One way or another, we need to get to Blackmoon Bay and end this.”
“You’re too late, detective,” Norah said. “Blackmoon Bay and the experimentation in Raven’s Cape were just testing grounds. For years, they’ve been quietly installing magical infrastructure and soldiers in other cities across the globe. Those soldiers—dark fae and hunter alike—are simply awaiting orders. Once those orders are issued…” She trailed off, blowing out a breath and closing her eyes. Her face was even paler than before, with deep grooves lining her forehead.
“Is there anything else you can tell us?” Emilio asked. “Any other details, names, locations, anything you may have seen or overheard?”
“What’s the point? There is nothing you can do to stop this, Detective. The wheels were set in motion long ago, and now they’re spinning, full speed ahead. Your only chance is to gather up the ones you love and find a safe place to weather the storm.”
“This isn’t a storm,” I said. “It’s a war. One that you helped facilitate. And if we don’t do something to end it, there won’tbea safe place to weather the storm.”
She nodded, resignation heavy on her shoulders.
“There’s an outpost,” she said. “About sixty miles southwest of Blackmoon Bay, hidden away inside the Olympic National Forest. I can show you on a map. I’ve been there twice, both times to deliver… to deliver prisoners.”
“Witches,” I clarified. “Women and girls that you kidnapped and sold.”
“Witches,” she confirmed. “It’s fae-spelled to look like an abandoned cemetery, but there’s a modern facility beneath it, with a high-tech lab, prison cells, and bunkers. That’s where witches and other supernaturals are evaluated and processed for Phillip’s higher-level experimentation. Phillip has since relocated to the Bay with Orendiel, but I’m sure the outpost is still operational. If any of the prisoners are still alive, that’s where they’ll be.”
“How can we trust you’re not sending us into a trap?” Emilio asked.
“Oh, but itisa trap, Detective. Just because Phillip isn’t there doesn’t mean he’s left it unprotected. It’s likely still under heavy guard, magical and physical. Enter at your own risk.”
“You’d like that, wouldn’t you?” I asked. “Send us right to the slaughterhouse, then collect your reward from your masters for being such a good little witch-slave. Right?”
Another bitter laugh escaped her lips. “There’s nothing left they can offer me, Gray. I’ve got nothing more to give them, and nothing more to bargain with. Everyone I’ve ever cared about is dead. And I’ve sent dozens—maybe even hundreds—of innocent people to their deaths.”
Her shoulders began to tremble again, and she squeezed her eyes shut tight, as if she were trying to force her tears back inside.
“That feeling?” I said. “That jackhammer in your head, the acid eating through your gut, the fire licking up your spine? That’s guilt, Norah. And you deserve every ounce of pain it brings you. I hope you—”
