Page 29 of Dragon's Desire

"So, what am I supposed to do?"

"I can't answer that for you."

"Pardon me, matron, but that's not very helpful. I need answers."

Magda laughed. "If you wanted easy answers, you came to the wrong place. All I can do about your entanglements with the witch hunter is offer advice and a sympathetic ear. But there is still the matter that brought you two together. Something has to be done about Arthur Legermain and his use of that ancient artifact he possesses."

"How?" Kiercy asked. "Please don't tell me Peter was right. I can't deal with that right now."

"No, we don't need the witch hunter's help. We can bind Legermain. Done properly, even the Totem of Babel's magic will be denied him."

Kiercy had heard about witches and warlocks being bound before, but it was rare. Cutting someone off from their magic was like scooping out the essential parts of their soul. Those who'd been bound led a cursed existence. But if there was a witch who deserved it, it was Legermain.

"What do you need me to do?" Kiercy asked.

"Gather the coven, and we can prepare the ritual."

Kiercy stood up, feeling proud she had discovered a solution that would make Peter useless.

20

PETER

Peter watched Kiercy storm off.

She'd walked off and left him there with his 'gun' in his hand.

"Sorry about that, Mr. Xander," Peter said.

"It's just Gil."

"Sorry about that, Gil."

"She doesn't understand the dangers regular humans face."

He was right. Kiercy couldn't seem to comprehend that not everyone had powers or at least what it was like. She was born in a bloodline of incredible abilities. His ancestors had to rely on other methods to combat witches.

While they had managed to unlock some secrets for things like the witch bottles, more often than not, they had to rely on very mundane weapons. Sure, witches could be powerful, but if you did it right, they still died just like humans when you got more of their insides on the outside. Witch hunters had to rely on technology to do that.

The technology didn't always look like what Gil Xander had given him. Still, they'd always worked with the cutting edge of weaponry. At one point in history, the cutting edge was a cutting edge. Then it was a bow, then a musket.

Yes, what he had now was more powerful, but it wasn't out of the ordinary for what his people had used since the first witch hunter had to beat some evil witch to death with a rock. There really wasn't much he could do to convince her, though.

There was not much he could do to show her the world his people lived in.

"I want to say thank you for this," Peter said as he held up one of the new weapons he was given.

"I consider it just part of my duty to those protecting us from rogue metas. There has to be some way to even the playing field. After all, when the only thing you have at your disposal is a mortal body and your wits, you have to get inventive."

"Yeah."

"Let me get someone to assist you to your car," Gill offered.

"Thanks."

A beefy guy in a security uniform helped Peter load up his car with the new equipment.

As he drove to his apartment, he thought about the gulf in between Kiercy and him. They were probably never going to see eye to eye on the use of these weapons, or any weapons, on witches. But it wasn't so much that disconnect he was worried about. He found the thoughts of how they had connected on the catwalk above the rave a much more appealing thought.