[ That gets a raised eyebrow right back. But there's a rhythm to this conversation, and arguing his point of view isn't necessarily part of it. Besides, he's used to being surrounded by non-believers.

He's a fanatic, not a preacher.

At this question, rounding them right back to where they started, he sucks in a breath, lowering his eyes. ]

The church had a use for witches, or any woman with witch's blood. [ There wasn't a difference to them. ] They were called holy bones, or Oracles. The nuns stripped the flesh from their bodies, carved runes into them. They were kept alive like that, able to see into time and make prophecies. [ Past, present, future. ] They were needed to control a gate between worlds.

[ To bond the Kahlil to the Rifter, though space and time, so that one day he might bring him back to their world, or kill him.

Kahlil's gaze shifts to the dog again, his expression distant. ] My sister was taken to the convent when we were young, to become an Oracle.