CHAPTER 41When Mara opened her eyes, it took them a moment to focus on the cluster of acolytes standing several feet away, gawking at her, wide-eyed and slack-jawed. Given how they stared, huddled together like a bunch of rabbits ready to bolt at the first provocation, Mara sensed their curiosity was tempered by fear. When she raised her head to get a better look, one of the acolytes gasped as the group slinked back a step.
A young acolyte pointed and said, “It’s alive!”
Mara sat up, pointed a finger back at them and said, “Yes, and it’s pissed off.”
A beam of light, noticeably weaker than the ones she’d emitted earlier, flew over the heads of the acolytes and struck the ceiling, creating a small puff of smoke and a tiny brown spot. While the gesture struck Mara as ineffectual, the robe
