“I’m a captive too.”
“Lie. Ericks is no more a Sealgair Uilebheist than I am.”
Banshee regarded Mitch steadily. “What do you mean?”
His eyes narrowed. “Ericks called me a traitor. Sealgair Uilebheist don’t use that word. He’d have referred to me as Neach-brathaidh. The fact Ericks didn’t, meant he doesn’t know the word, which in turn means he’s not a Sealgair Uilebheist. That screams that this is some setup, and you’re either working for Ericks or… he’s part of your group!” Mitch surmised.
Banshee’s eyes narrowed. “Who do you work for, Weideman? You’re a killer of innocents,” Banshee shrieked.
“I’ve only the blood of two men on my hands. And both were Murtair. I’ve never harmed your species, nor have I wished to.” He shook his head and knew it was time to be honest about his theory. “In fact, I figured out that when a Uile-bheist is killed, your Sin is released into the population until another of your kind can control it. Killing the Uile-bheist is destroying the world. But the Sealgair Uilebheist or the Ceann-Feadhna refuse to understand that,” Mitch replied calmly.
Inside, Mitch was anything but calm. He was locked in a dungeon with one of the Uile-bheist. Banshee could blow his mind at any time with her infamous screech.
“Lies!” Banshee shrieked, hurting Mitch’s ears.
“Where is Jess?” Mitch demanded, a sudden sinking in his stomach. Had they captured her and were torturing her. “I swear, she’s blameless. Jess is totally unaware of this world. I’m begging you, please don’t harm her!”
“Shouldn’t you be pleading for your own life, scum?” Banshee hissed.
“If I have to pay for the crimes of my ancestors, so be it. But Jess, she knows nothing. If you hurt her, you’re harming an innocent, and your kind don’t do that! Call Ericks back, make him understand Jess is ignorant of all this.” Mitch moved forward and reached for Banshee’s hands.
Banshee looked down in surprise as Mitch grasped them and squeezed.
“I have never nor would ever abuse, torture, or kill one of you. I don’t believe in what Alfred and Alexander do. They trained me from birth, but I can’t agree with that way of life. Murder is wrong. Torture is abhorrent. My ancestors’ crimes aren’t mine, but if you want me to pay, so be it. Just leave Jess alone,” Mitch begged.
Banshee’s face twisted, and she flew at Mitch with clawed hands.
Leon/Midas
Leon looked around at the board members; he wasn’t one of them, but was included because of his closeness to Jess.
“We’ve sent some of our scariest people in there, but the human doesn’t change his story,” Liadun/Banshee said.
“I’ve wiped Mitch’s mind each time. Mitch has no idea he’s reliving the same scene, just with different players. If Mitch really is working for the Hunters or Sealgair Uilebheist, as he calls them, he’s damn good,” Lily/Lilith stated.
“We’ve sent Vampire, Mary Worth, Baba Yaga, Banshee, Frankenstein’s Monster, and Ghoul all into him. The Hunter hasn’t flinched or deviated from his story once. Not even Medusa or Lamia made him deviate,” Leon added.
Leon frowned. Could this Hunter be for real? Ness didn’t know that Mitch was here in their dungeons and had been for twenty-four hours. She’d not surfaced from the lake and declined to have anything to do with people while she licked her wounds. Merman and Scylla both checked on her, but Ness had refused to engage.
“What do you think, Leon?” Maeve/Baba Yaga asked.
“Jess is hurting, and she’ll stay underwater until she has control of Disease. We know that’s one of the worst Sins to carry. One slip and Jess could infect thousands. A loss of control will kill millions. And that Sin is constantly searching for a way to escape,” Leon replied. He swapped glances with Jase.
Jase nodded and frowned. “Ness has always struggled to contain Disease. When she’s hurting, it takes advantage of her. Ness, being at the bottom of the lake, is the safest place for everyone. Selfish as it sounds, we know our mates are immune to the Sin’s effects like we are. But I don’t think Jess could handle another plague on her conscience.”
“No. I believe Jess would seek death at the hands of the Hunters,” Maeve agreed.
“What do we do?” Vladimir/Vampire asked.
“Let the Hunter go free and give Jess the flash drive. The man has literally handed us more information than we can deal with. Archere will be in Heaven sifting through it. Let Jess make her decision, but we’ve confirmed that he’s not actively working for the Hunters, despite who his vile family are. He doesn’t have a clue what Jess is. Release him. Wipe his mind of this and send him home,” Leon said.
“We’ll be ready to pull Jess out if we need to. I’ll monitor Disease carefully,” Lilith added.
The board nodded, and Leon headed out. He wanted to terrify Mitch one last time. It gave him pleasure!
Chapter Ten.
Mitch
