Unsurprisingly, the temple was guarded. An attestation to the sad state of affairs that we had come to.

  The temple guards wore white robes and were armed with metal glinting spears held firmly in their hands.

  Making the weapons entirely out of metal struck me as foolish, as each of those spears could be used to make several spear tips if the shaft was made of wood. But the Temple somehow didn't have the same problem with materials as the rest of us.

  The guards and, indeed, any coven member were more presentable than anyone else in the plaza. Their clean robes and weapons stood out like a sore thumb among the dirty, worn-out modern ware.

  The only shortcoming they had was their lack of combat experience. Put them next to Victor's hunters, and they would look like a pack of mall cops.

  The temple's open nature and the guards' inattentiveness served as an invitation for me to sneak right in.

  There were no supplicants inside. There rarely were since everyone mastered the basic spells. Parishioners generally existed, but their number wasn't as high as before.

  I settled behind a column with a clear view of the door to the inner room, two auras permeating from inside.

  Flashes of spells only served to pique my curiosity, but I had no way to tell their purpose.

  Eventually, the door opened, and I got my first glimpse of the hidden interior. Billowing banks of thick fog rolled behind the two exiting figures. It was as dense as I experienced on my arrival to the place far away from the city. The fog rolled into an invisible line and stopped, unable to spill further.

  One of them, Maggie, carried several new weapons in her hands. The other was none other than Claire, the Head Priestess of the Temple.

  Her eyes glowed in a golden light, and all it took her was a sweeping glance to pierce my concealment.

  I flared the energy into the mask, but I was too late. Claire's eyes shone intensely and zeroed in on me.

  "Don't move," she commanded in a tone that brokered no argument.

  I felt like a fly stuck in molasses. I couldn't move, not even my eyelids, despite having my face covered from her Sight.

  My best efforts didn't yield a result, her gaze was unbroken, and she started to come closer.

  The intensity of her spell was so high that the concentrated golden light of her magic overflowed, and wisps of it evaporated from the sides of her eyes.

  With the failure of my trump card, I panicked and instinctively threw myself into the other effect of the mask. My fear was conducive to this particular spell, and my energy's heightened intensity only added to the manifestation.

  Fear me.

  Maggie's eyes bugged out, and she screamed in terror, dropping the weapons she carried to the floor. Claire, on the other hand, was less affected, but she still flinched away and blinked, and that was enough for the constricting compulsion to be lifted off of me. I slunk behind one of the temple pillars for cover.

  "Now, is it the way to treat friends?" I asked in a light tone, trying to calm my heart and de-escalate the situation.

  "A friend?" Claire asked in a sure voice. "Why would a friend be trespassing in my home? Come out!" She commanded.

  I almost automatically made to step from behind the cover but managed to stop myself in time.

  The two guards from outside ran in on the commotion, and I could hear Maggie picking herself up.

  "How could I be trespassing when I was invited here?" I asked. "Red! Would you mind backing me up and clearing this misunderstanding?"

  "Uhhh-" Maggie tried to get her thoughts in order.

  "Come out, Now!" The witch commanded again. This time she was putting a lot more power behind her words.

  A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

  The golden light homed in, cloying around me.

  I poured myself into the mask, hoping it would hide me from the magic itself.

  It worked, and the effect passed without having much of a pull on me.

  "I would suggest we try to talk it out," I called. "I'm a pacifist at heart, but another attack and I will defend myself. Violently."

  I would not. What I would do is run away as fast as I possibly can the moment an opening presents itself. She didn't have to know that, though. The veiled threat affected her as the faint traces of fear in the air showed.

  The priestess stopped, and we had several moments of awkward silence.

  "Feel free to offer your input, Red," I suggested, putting some urgency behind the words.

  "I uhh... We talked about the missing people," Maggie squeaked out. "And he promised to help."

  "I promised to check it out," I corrected her. "And discuss it with you."

  I waited for a reply, but none came.

  "Here is me. Discussing it. With you." I ground.

  Claire released an annoyed sigh.

  "The coven will not intervene," she stated. "I made the decision. There is nothing more to say on the matter."

  "Okay," I agreed. "Good call. You can hear me out, or I can go as it is. I don't care either way."

  "No! Wait!" Maggie called to Claire's indignant huff. "I'd like to hear it," she added in a smaller voice.

  There was some shuffling I could only guess at, and finally, a decision was made.

  "You may come out," Claire stated with an air of benevolence. "You will remain safe as long as you behave."

  I weighed my options.

  There were a couple of things I could do to defend against her abilities, but she could catch me off guard with something new.

  "I won't harm you," Claire assured me again when I took my sweet time weighing it in my mind.

  I stepped out, holding my hands up to my shoulders level, palms up. My spear rested horizontally on my open hand, rotating slightly with my movement. I will use Force to chuck it at her if she paralyzes me again. While it remained in contact with my skin, it wouldn't be too gentle.

  Claire's hands were crossed on her chest, and she held her chin up.

  I was mesmerized by her contour. Her features changed much further from the last time I saw her.

  There was not a single wrinkle or blemish on her skin. Instead, her high cheekbones stood out on her thin, porcelain white skin. Even her ears had a slight pointed fold, making her look more exotic—almost elvish in appearance. And the centerpiece of her appearance—her most captivating feature was her bright green, emerald eyes.

  She looked so perfect and flawless.

  Too perfect.

  Considering that her appearance resulted from time-consuming, scrupulous work and that every change in her features was conscious and premeditated, I saw it for what it really was.

  An artificial mask.

  A mark of her vanity.

  "You may put your hands down," she graciously allowed.

  I followed without comment.

  "Well? Make your report," she demanded, her brilliant eyes roaming my mask.

  "I've witnessed two of Douglas's men kidnap someone," I stated. "I followed them to their base."

  I let the news hang there for a moment.

  "It wasn't a random person either," I added. "They chose the one with the most energy remaining."

  "A den of beasts," the witch cursed. "This does not surprise me in the slightest. Their corruption runs too deep. They must have fed from the ghouls' flesh for too long." She turned to look into Maggie's eyes. "I warned them."

  "What are they doing with- with the people they take?" Maggie asked, alarmed.

  "Your guess is as good as mine," I shrugged. "There was no way into the building."

  "What are we going to do?" The redhead asked.

  "Nothing," Claire barked. "I offered them Cleansing, and they refused."

  "And the sick?" Maggie inquired. "We'll just let them be preyed on?"

  "They will suffer, and they will dwindle until the Goddess takes them away," the priestess replied with finality. By the sound of it, it wasn't the first time she had recited those words.

  Maggie looked discontent with the decision but didn't offer any resistance.

  The black-robed priestess looked at me again.

  "You, I can help," she offered. "I can rid you of the corruption that eats at you."

  I stared at her uncomprehendingly.

  "Good to know even the great High Priestess can make a mistake," I joked. "I can assure you I have never tried to eat the monster meat."

  "Maybe." She frowned. "It does, somehow, feel different about you, but it is there."

  I smirked.

  Was it the concealment or the terror vibes the mask was giving off? Something about me managed to confuse her senses.

  "I'll keep your offer in mind," I inclined my head. "It was a pleasure."

  I made my way to the exit to the silence of the Head Priestess.

  The guards didn't think to move without her command.

  With that out of the way, I didn't have any more excuses to hold me back from hunting, and I was already playing in my head how I would request Maggie's favor to be repaid when she was away from Claire.