Page 108 of A Resistance of Witches

“You poisoned me.”

A shadow crossed Sybil’s face as the sun ducked behind a passing cloud. “I did that for your protection.” Lydia scoffed. “You nearlydied.I was only trying to keep you from doing yourself even greater harm.”

“You wanted me out of the way.” Lydia cast her a withering look. “Does the council know, by the way? What you really are?”

Sybil held her gaze. “No.”

Foolish, naive child. She’d been so happy to believe that Vivian was the traitor inside the academy. Now she realized it was because she simply didn’t like the woman. ButSybil. She had loved Sybil with all her heart.

Lydia forced her gaze away from her. After a moment, Sybil continued.

“When Hitler rose to power, we began to hear whispers. His obsession with the occult, with witchcraft. I found myself wondering, What might be possible if the witches of Europe no longer had to hide? What if, instead of living in fear of the persecution of men, we built an alliance with them? Stood alongside the right army, raised up the right man in order to take our rightful place, not as scapegoats to be singled out and despised, but as leaders? Powerful figures, to be feared and respected as we once were?”

Lydia stared, still not quite believing this could be Sybil’s logic. “You talk as if he’s meant to be our savior. He’s a lunatic, Sybil.”

Sybil looked insulted. “You think I don’t know what he is? You think I enjoy watching his hateful rhetoric, those poor families torn apart? Iknow what heis, Lydia. But he is our one chance to live in the open again. I am doing this for the good of all of us, all witches.”

“All?Don’t you meanAryanwitches?” Sybil huffed, annoyed. “Or perhaps, you mean European witches, so long as they’re fair skinned and blue eyed? Clearly you don’t mean to include the brujas, or the vedmy, or thecovaxana. What about—”

Sybil scowled. “Don’t be cheeky. You know very well what I meant.”

Lydia didn’t, not at all, but she carried on. “If you find him so distasteful, why help him at all? Why not simply take power for yourself? Or has that been your plan all along? Ride Hitler’s coattails into a position of power, only to take his place when the war is over?”

Sybil laughed, as if Lydia had made a joke. “I meant what I said before. I’ve never had the stomach for politics. I’ve always preferred a place behind the curtain. Besides, in my experience, people are much more inclined to follow the leadership of a man than a woman. And the coven, they believe in him. So many of them were raised for it, you know, and who am I to dissuade them? This way is best.”

Lydia was stunned to silence, the dissonance between the madness of Sybil’s words and the serenity of her demeanor almost too much to bear.

Sybil smiled, smugly oblivious. “Meeting the man was easier than you might think. Germany has always been rich with fairy stories, tales of the witch in the woods. Hitler jumped at the chance to meet the genuine article. I made my case for an alliance, gained his confidence. After that, it was simply a matter of recruitment. Germany is home to some of the most ancient witch bloodlines, after all. Ursula was the first to join, then Margot. They were like sisters, inseparable, both of them on fire for the cause and so eager to learn. A little fanatical, perhaps, although I admit, I encouraged it. A little youthful fanaticism can be a powerful motivator.” Sybil made a face. “I believe it was your friend downstairs who murdered Margot. The Jewish girl.”

Lydia said nothing.

“Ursula was nearly destroyed by Margot’s death. A terrible tragedy. Margot had such talent, such potential.”

“Margot was a sadist.”

“Oh, don’t think for a second I’ve forgottenyourpart in that ugly business. I know you helped the girl. Ursula knows it as well. The only reason you’re still breathing is because I forbade her to kill you.”

Lydia felt a quick, sinking sensation in her stomach. “That’s why Ursula didn’t come to collect the book herself, back at the château,” she said, understanding at last. “You knew she wanted me dead, and I her. So, you forbade her, and sent the Gestapo instead.” Sybil smiled, as if she thought herself very clever indeed. “They might have killed me just as easily as Ursula, you know.”

“They had very strict orders not to.”

Lydia stared. “And my friends?” Sybil’s smile faded. Lydia couldn’t imagine how she had never before realized what Sybil was. It seemed so plain now. “My God. You’re all the same. You, Ursula, Margot. You’re all monsters.”

Sybil tsked. “You still don’t understand. You think Margot was cruel without reason, but she had a very difficult life. Poor child killed her own family when she was seven years old because she didn’t understand her magic, and they were too frightened of her power to teach her. A fate all too common among Forces, I’m afraid. Isavedher from herself. Trained her, gave her a purpose. I was like a mother to her. To all of them.”

Lydia felt the room go cold. She thought of Evelyn, and her gran, raising a child not so very different from Margot.Seven years old.

“What did she do to them?” she asked softly.

Sybil stared at her for a long moment. “She commanded them to drink lye.”

Lydia shuddered and said nothing.

“You met young Gerda, I believe. She was sent to keep an eye on you and never returned. I expect you had something to do with that too. Is she safe?”

“Last I saw her.”

Sybil frowned but didn’t pursue it further. “The girl is a gifted Traveler, particularly for one so young. Until three years ago she was living in squalor, in one of the more Dickensian orphanages I’ve ever had the misfortune to see with my own eyes. When she was six years old, Gerda’s father murdered her mother in cold blood, and then himself. In his suicide note he accused the girl’s mother of being a witch.”

---