Page 41 of Witch Undecided
Chapter Twelve
Cora
Anna stood at her study window with her back to us. “It’s happening,” she said. “The Order is making an official comeback.”
“What the fuck did we just witness, Anna?” Sloane pressed. “That thing was human, but it wasn’t.”
“A host,” Anna said. “The Order has found a way to give revenants back a body.”
“That isn’t possible,” Jessie said. “Revenants aren’t ghosts or spirits; they can’t possess people.”
“No.” Anna turned to face us. “They can’t. So whatever this is, it’s permanent. The Order feels strong enough to come out of the shadows and attack. This revenant in human skin used his ability on you, the ability to incite war. It turns allies against each other. Turns friends to foes. You’re lucky you were able to fight it. It usually results in death.”
“Cora shook it off first,” Lauris said.
Anna nodded. “Of course, you’re the anchor, the extra power you have access to would have helped you fight off the effects.” She shook her head. “This is bad.”
“You don’t say,” Jessie drawled sarcastically. “They have a steady access to humans now. They’ll feed whenever they want.”
“But they won’t kill,” Poppy said. “That woman was a mistake. They plan to spread out the revenant feedings, a sip here and a sip there.”
“Which will allow them to gain strength,” Anna said. “So far, the revenants have been unruly with hunger, difficult for the Order to control. This will make them more complacent, more…organized. The Order will use them as soldiers and swell their numbers.”
“War’s coming, isn’t it?” Poppy said.
Anna nodded. “We need to be prepared and we need to do what we can to protect the humans that will be sucked into the Order’s web.”
“We need glamour,” Sloane said. “Strong, warlock-proof glamour.”
“There is only one breed of witch in existence that can weave a glamour that powerful. The silent sisters.”
Silent sisters? “You mean the witches who run Blackmore prison?”
“Yes,” Anna said. “The ones who formed the Order. There are three origins of pure power. Cosmos, chaos, and the unnamed.”
Wait a second. “What about miasma?”
“Miasma isn’t an origin of power; it’s generated by the existence of humanity and regular witches draw from it. Grimswood witches are original witches, and although we generally utilize miasma, our main source of power is the cosmos. Warlocks use chaos, but the silent sisters draw from the unnamed. A power so potent that the price is their voice.”
“Okay, so we ask them to create this glamour,” Jessie said. “Then we go in and we kill some revenants.”
“We can ask, but they may not grant our wish.”
“What? Why the fuck not?”
“The silent sisters believe in the balance of power. They’ll judge if giving us this glamour will adversely affect it.”
This made no sense. “Well of course it will. It’ll give us the upper hand again.”
Anna shrugged. “I know. But we can only wait and see what they decide. I’ll send a message tonight. In the meantime, stay clear of that club. We don’t know how many more revenants have been given human bodies. The warlocks of the Order have the power to incite war, hunger, disease, and in rare cases cause death with a single touch. You will steer clear until we have the glamour to protect you.”
Sloane ran a hand over her face. “So, we’re useless then.”
“There are other threats to humanity.” There was a snap to Anna’s voice. “You’ll continue your patrols as usual, but you’ll steer clear of The Order club.”
She turned away to look out the window.
Looked like we’d been dismissed.
