Page 66 of Hextreme Measures

“Yes,” he agreed. “You get to be the boss in this scenario, however. You’re going to like that.”

Ofelia brightened considerably. “I’m still mad about missing my carving station.”

“Perhaps for a celebratory party once we get your fiancé and best friend back this evening.”

“I’m pretty sure I couldn’t arrange it that fast.”

“Yes, but you’re not the only one with contacts.” Pascal gave her a kind smile. “I will give you the party you wanted so desperately.” Just like he’d come up with the perfect cake. “It should have been me from the start.”

To her surprise, Ofelia found herself blinking back tears again, this time for a different reason. “I don’t deserve you,” she said.

“Ah, Ofelia, you’ve been the light in my life for a long time. It is I who doesn’t deserve you.”

“Can we fight about that later, when we have Zach and Angelique back?”

His smile was soft but reassuring. “Absolutely. There’s no better way to spend an evening.”

16

SIXTEEN

Sully sat in the corner of a dark room and tried to get his bearings.

It had all happened so fast. One second, he’d seen the woman seemingly appearing out of nowhere, and then the next, he was in a different space, and it was one where he didn’t have a lot of options.

Shirley Castle had dragged him through the mirror, through a portal, and immediately shoved him into some sort of cage. Maybe it was a dampener of some sort; it was hard to tell. All he knew was that he couldn’t shift or leave his corner of the room.

As for the space, it was small. The design had him assuming it was a Creole cottage of some sort. He couldn’t be entirely certain because the windows had been covered with heavy drapes and there was no light filtering into the room. The only reason he could see at all was the fixture overhead. It was an antique, and it didn’t offer a lot of illumination. His panther eyes were better than most, but he could still only make out vague shapes around the room, pieces of furniture, and old takeout bags. He even tried to focus on one of the takeout bags to get a name of the restaurant — that would at least give him an idea where he was, if he was even still in New Orleans — but he couldn’t read the name.

As for the woman who had taken him, she continuously paced on the other side of the magical cage and muttered to herself. She was alone — no other banshees — but he knew she would have backup when the time came.

He spent the first hour of his incarceration watching her. Then he spent the next thinking. He didn’t say a single word or ask for her demands. He simply watched and waited. When the two-hour mark passed, and she didn’t speak to him, he decided he had no choice but to take the initiative.

“So, what’s the plan here?” he asked, giving the space a dubious look. “Are we just going to sit here in silence for the next few hours, or what?”

Shirley stopped pacing and turned to face him. Her long hair looked straggly in the limited light, and even though he didn’t know the woman, Sully’s first inclination was to assume she was sick. He didn’t ask her that straight away, but filed the information in the back of his mind to use later.

“What is it that you want to talk about?” she demanded. “Oh, I know. How about we talk about you breaking into my house? How about we talk about your girlfriend stealing my book? How does that sound?”

“Fiancée,” Sully corrected out of habit. “She’s my fiancée.”

“And she’ll never be your wife if you don’t shut up!” Shirley went back to pacing and muttering to herself.

Sully watched her, debating, and exhaled heavily. Ofelia would find him. He didn’t have a doubt about that. Right now, she was probably losing her mind and wondering what had happened to him. She would regroup, though. She would come for him. He didn’t want to wait for her, however. If he could find a way out of this himself, he would.

“We need to talk,” he insisted.

“Oh, really?” Shirley had an animated face despite the pronounced lines around her eyes. There were shadows there too, telling him she hadn’t been sleeping well. “Sure. Let’s talk.” She marched over and sat on a chair facing him. “Tell me why you thought you had the right to break into my home.”

“I’ll answer your questions,” Sully said. “You have to answer mine in exchange.”

Shirley’s eyes narrowed.

“Do we have a deal?” he prodded after a beat.

“Fine,” she growled. “You answer mine first.”

“Fair enough.” Sully shifted. The only place to sit was on the floor, and he couldn’t get comfortable no matter how hard he tried. “We broke into your house because you were one of three people on our list.”