Page 51 of The Blood Witch

Thankfully, this time the monster was one she recognized.

Fey stormed in, nearly knocking Alice over in her rage. The tension in Alice’s shoulder dissipated, and she released a shaky breath of relief, closing the door behind her sister and flipping the lock back into place.

“Have you seen these?” Fey asked without preamble, shoving something toward her. Alice set her blade down against the wall before taking the piece of paper from her sister.

TRAITORS, this one read. Fey’s face, wearing a near-identical scowl to the one she wore now, stared back at her.

Alice ran a hand over her face. It was too early for this. Far, far too early.

“Yes,” she told Fey, handing it back. “Yes, I’ve seen them. You want some coffee?”

Fey bared her teeth, lip curling in anger. “No, Alice, I don’t want any fucking coffee. Why didn’t you tell me about this?”

Alice rolled her eyes, pushing past Fey and into the kitchen. She opened a container of coffee and scooped some into the machine. “Well, I’m going to need coffee to deal with this conversation, so you’re going to have to wait. Do you want a cup or not, babe?”

Fey clenched her teeth together, crossing her arms tight against her body, but she knew better than to argue. “Fine,” she snapped. “I’ll have a cup.”

The coffee bubbled rhythmically as it percolated, making happy conversation with itself while Alice and Fey sat in silence and waited.

“Where’d you find that one?” Alice asked, finally.

“Near Goddess Park,” Fey told her. “But Alice… they’re everywhere. I found them on every block, every street sign from the park to here.”

Alice nodded, pouring a cup of coffee for herself and then one for Fey. When she opened the icebox to get some cream, the door to their bedroom opened and a head full of blonde, tousled hair appeared.

“Is that coffee?” Joy asked sleepily, then spotting Fey, shesmiled. “Hey, Fey! I should have known that was you trying to break down our door!”

Alice smiled at her, grabbing another mug from the cupboard for Joy. Merle appeared from out of the ether to rub against her ankles as she poured.

“What’s this?” Joy asked, walking up to the counter and plucking the slip of paper up off the table. Her eyebrows drew together as she read it.

“Someone is putting them up all over the city,” Alice explained as Joy’s face tightened. The air in the room crackled. “Kallista brought them to our attention at the last council meeting, which means someone has also replaced all the ones she spent several hours taking down.”

“You’re telling me you’ve known about this for days,” Fey said, tapping the poster with a long fingernail. “And you didn’t tell me?”

“I haven’t seen you since then, babe, so don’t give me that,” Alice explained. “Calm down. I haven’t been keeping anything from you. I would have told you the next time you came over. Which, coincidently, is right now, isn’t it?”

Fey pursed her lips but didn’t argue.

“Who is doing this?” Joy asked, frown deepening.

“We don’t know,” Alice told her.

“Probably the same lunatics putting up the other ones,” Fey said. “This is just the next step, isn’t it?”

Alice shook her head. “No, no, I don’t think so. All of those posters were about Fey. These… these are different.”

“They’re using her image,” Joy argued. “These are the same posters as before, aren’t they?”

“Yeah, but they’re notabouther, are they?” Alice looked at Fey. “Do you remember what some of the other posters you found today said?”

“Yeah,” Fey answered. “Death to the council, death to Witches, that sort of thing.”

“The ones Kallista found were the same,” Alice verified. “They’re not about Fey at all, they’re mostly about the council and the royal family. Fey is just… a symbol, here. A revolutionary.”

Fey raised an eyebrow at her, and Alice shrugged, stirring sugar intoher coffee and taking a sip. “I’m not saying you are a revolutionary, babe. But to this group? Maybe that’s what you represent. Change. A challenge to the system.”

“But I have nothing to do with the council,” Fey argued.

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