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past, although in this generation they’d stayed mostly on the periphery.
    The Council was a powerful and often arbitrary organization, and Donata wanted nothing to do with them, or anything they were interested in. And as for the Cabal—
    â€œIsn’t the Cabal just a scary story to tell Paranormal children?” she asked dubiously. “I thought they didn’t really exist.”
    Farmingham looked grim. “Oh, they exist, all right. They’ve kept to the shadows for many years, but I assure you, they are as real as you or I.” He looked down at his translucent body and gave a self-deprecating smile. “Well, you know what I mean.”
    He gazed thoughtfully at Donata. “How well versed are you in your Paranormal history?” The look on his face reminded her of one of her favorite college professors, right before he gave a pop quiz.
Great. A test.
She was never going to get to eat her dinner.
    â€œI know pretty much what everyone else knows, I guess,” she answered. “What does Paranormal history have to do with the painting?”
    â€œThe Pentacle Pentimentos date back to the Inquisition,” Farmington said. “They were all thought to have been destroyed, but apparently, this one survived.”
    â€œThey?” Donata questioned. “There was more than one of these things?” It was hard to imagine a bunch of these ugly things.
    â€œMany, actually,” the restorer said. “Now mind you, they all looked different, and they were painted by different artists, but their purpose was the same: to help the Inquisitors hunt down members of the major Paranormal races and exterminate them.”
    Donata suppressed a shudder. The Inquisition had been the most terrible period in Paranormal history. As far as the Human population was concerned, the Inquisition had been a long-lasting religious witch hunt. The reality had been even grimmer: an all-out holy war between the Catholic Church and the Paranormal races, one that lasted for hundreds of years with terrible losses to each of the opposing forces.
    But in the final days, there was no question who was winning. The Church was well organized and united in their purpose, whereas the Paranormals—for all their special abilities—were scattered, mostly living underground and often at odds with each other. In the end, the Paranormals had to concede victory to the Catholic Church, and both sides signed the Compact, an agreement that spelled out parameters for each race that limited their powers and guaranteed their safe coexistence with the Church.
    â€œWhat does the painting have to do with the Inquisition?” Donata asked. Like all Paranormals, she’d been raised with a combination of fear and resentment toward the Compact and the restrictions it had placed on the major races. When Witches had finally come out into the open, that act had marked the first time any of the races had openly defied the Compact’s rules—and even then they’d skirted the edges of the agreement by downplaying the scope of their powers to the general public.
    Farmingham shook his head ruefully. “Did you never wonder how the Inquisitors tracked down the Paranormals they tortured and killed? After all, most of us appear just like the rest of the population, unless you know the signs to look for.” He pointed at himself. “I’m a Witch myself, on my mother’s side, although my only talent seems to be in telling true art fromcounterfeits. A form of dousing, I suppose, although not a very practical one, for the most part.”
    Donata wasn’t terribly surprised by this revelation; she doubted the Kobold would have been so open with a regular Human. She thought about the question for a minute.
    â€œI suppose I always figured the Church mostly relied on informers—after all, we know that a lot of the people who died during the Inquisition were innocents, folks who just got caught up in