“I’ll let you continue as our sensayer,” Thisbe began, running her fingers through the length of her black hair. “You’re right, it’ll be a convenience being able to talk about our work. Maybe you can even help fix poor Cato. You’ll help us, help them, guide them all the way I think they should be guided, and if you start taking any of them in a direction I don’t like I’ll take over your body and talk through you like a meat puppet.”

Carlyle started to speak, but Thisbe waved two fingers, and the words froze dead.

“This is what you need, Carlyle,” the witch continued. “Don’t you see? You want to be free of Julia, but you never can be, you’ll never undo years of Julia’s worming into you, making you think what they want. If you know the truth about us, or about Bridger, Julia and Dominic will make you tell them someday. Except not now. Now you know I’m watching. You know I can snap my fingers, speak the magic words, and… what would be the best threat? Instant death is boring, a stroke maybe? Pain and paralysis? Insanity can be fun, leaving you a nice lunatic babbling about the end of the world? Is that scary enough? Yes, that’s the right level of twitching. You see? And that terror will keep you from blabbing. You have a check now, a backup plan. The moment you get close to letting something slip you’ll remember this…” She loomed. “You’ll remember this to your dying day. And that memory will keep you quiet.” She took a satisfied breath. “I’ll be your gag. That’s what you really need, a gag, to make you free of Julia, to keep us all safe. And if you ever do transgress.” She clapped her hands, and the body at her feet convulsed with shock. “I’ll end it. And fear of that will keep you from doing what you don’t want to do. That way we can all have everything we need: my bash’ can have a good sensayer, Bridger too, and you can finally be free of Julia. How does that sound?” A flick of her fingers freed Carlyle’s voice.

“D-d-d-does Mycroft know?”

“Know I’m a witch?” Thisbe savored another chuckle. “Mycroft’s a clever one. They figure it out about once a week on average, but I don’t let them remember. It’s much more fun to let them guess, to see what gives me away each time. Good practice for not getting caught by others. You, though, I think it’s best for everyone if I let you remember this time.”

“Th-is time?”

The witch’s eyes sparkled with secrets. “Sensayers are used to fearing God, so you know the right way to fear me, don’t you?”

Carlyle tried to swallow. “B-uh… bash’ma-ates know?”

“They know not to mess with me.” She played with her own footprints as she circled, her boots stamping patterns into the grass. “I haven’t let most of them taste my full powers, though, it would cause unnecessary anxiety.” She grinned. “You see now why this little investigation is no threat to me doing a hit. But the others still worry, so considerate of them.”