15. Fifteen #2
“No. She made it so only her kind could go through it, though. There was nothing magical when I tried to access it.”
He nodded, taking it all in. “That makes sense. She has not left the city.”
“How can you be sure?”
“Because this city is all she knows. She has another place to hide, somewhere that is not too far away. We will find it.” He leaned forward. “Now let’s talk about Biff. You’re missing something very big about him. I need you to figure it out.”
Ofelia’s face screwed up in concentration as she attempted to work out what she’d missed. “Can’t you just tell me?” she complained after a few seconds.
“No.” His answer was succinct, and final.
“Ugh.” Ofelia tugged on her hair. “It’s frustrating when you do things like this. My mind isn’t exactly firing on all cylinders.”
“That’s why I’m doing it,” he replied. “You need to get over this final barrier.”
Ofelia made chuffing noises as she tried to dislodge the information. The harder she tried, however, the thicker the barrier became. “I’m just making things worse,” she lamented, rubbing her forehead. “How could I possibly be making things worse at this point?”
“Because you’re putting too much pressure on yourself,” he replied as if it were the most obvious answer in the world. “Take a breath.”
She did as she was told.
“Take another.”
He kept repeating it until she was breathing in and out at regular intervals.
“Now tell me what happened when you first met Biff,” he ordered.
Ofelia allowed the memory to coalesce in her head. “He was obnoxious right from the start,” she said finally.
“Because he knew what you were?”
Here, she hesitated. “He pretended he didn’t,” she said finally. “I knew, though. That was all a cover. He did know what I was, and what I was capable of.”
Pascal bobbed his head to encourage her along. “What did Jack know at that point?”
“Some,” Ofelia hedged. “Not as much as he knows now, obviously. He knew I was a witch but had no idea how powerful I was.”
“Very good.” Pascal smiled his patented fatherly smile.
Oscar would always be Ofelia’s father — he would never try to usurp the man’s position — but he loved Ofelia as if she were his child as well.
She was as close as he would ever get, and that was why he cherished her.
“What do you remember about Biff from those first few days?”
Ofelia recognized he was leading her where he needed her to go, and she focused hard. “All I remember about him from that first meeting is that he was a misogynist,” she said finally.
“Very interesting for a man who has magic in his line, but only for the women, wouldn’t you say?”
Ofelia’s eyebrows hiked. “I never really thought about it that way,” she admitted after a beat. “You’re right, though.”
“I’m always right,” he agreed.
She gave him a quelling look but managed a smile. “He’s a misogynist. His mother is special. He can never be special because he’s a man in a family that’s dominated by women.” She kept at it. The answer was there, right at the tip of her brain. Then she lifted her chin in realization.
“Oh, man,” she said. “His only value to the family is who he brings in as a mate.”
Pascal leaned back in his chair, grinning like the Cheshire Cat.
“He was interested in Angelique from the very beginning,” Ofelia continued. “He wanted her desperately, but she chose Ben. She shut him down and wouldn’t even consider dating him.”
“And who got injured at your party?” Pascal pushed.
“She wasn’t the only one.”
“Of course not, but you said yourself that the attack felt odd because it was so brief. Perhaps that’s because they did what they wanted to do right away.”
Ofelia ran the attack through her mind, trying to remember. “I assumed it was because they were freaked out by the panthers.”
“And that very well may be true,” Pascal conceded. “It’s not the only reason they left, however.”
Ofelia hopped to her feet, ready to charge into battle. Then she remembered she had an army to command, and they couldn’t go out until dark, and sat back down.
“This was always about Angelique.” She slapped her hand to her forehead. “I’m such a narcissist. I thought it was about me.”
“You didn’t say as much.”
“No, but I was thinking it, deep down.” She was rueful when she looked over at him again. “I’m a terrible person. It’s not always about me.”
“Stop that,” Pascal chided, shaking his head. “It is, very often, about you. Why wouldn’t you jump to that conclusion? It was your party.”
“But —”
“Don’t.” He fervently shook his head. “You’re going to make me angry. There was no way you could possibly understand that Biff was at the center of this. You didn’t have the information available to make that leap.”
“You did.”
“Only because I never trusted him either, and I always felt there was something off about him.” Pascal rubbed his cheek. “Whenever I was in the company of the man, which was rare, he never felt right to me. I can’t explain why I felt that way. I just did.”
“I didn’t feel right around him either,” Ofelia admitted. “Recently, I’ve been fighting with him even more than at the start.”
“That’s probably because he has a problem with women in positions of authority,” Pascal mused. “He’s a misogynist, likely because his mother always stressed how important women were to the line. Does he have any sisters?”
“I have no idea, and I’m not calling Jack to ask. Zach could tell me but …” Ofelia trailed off and swallowed the lump in her throat.
“None of that.” He wagged his finger. “Sully is alive. We both know it. There’s no path forward for her if he’s dead.”
“What do you think she hopes to negotiate?” Ofelia asked. That was the only question she still had.
“Off the top of my head, I would say that she’s going to ask you to choose between your best friend and fiancé.”
Ofelia’s expression darkened. “I’m going to kill her.”
“We’re going to have to kill them all.” Pascal looked uncomfortable with the realization.
“As curious as I am about banshees who can think their way out of a problem — and that will become more prevalent going forward, since we’re obviously looking at an evolutionary leap — these particular banshees are too dangerous to keep around. ”
“If we kill them all, will Angelique be okay?”
“I can’t answer that.” Pascal picked up the book again. “Maybe there are answers in here, though. I’m going to keep reading.”
“What should I do?”
“Contact the Sully family. They’re going to need to get their panthers ready.”
It was something Ofelia didn’t want to do, but it felt necessary to ensure Sully’s safety. “I’m going to hate making this call.”
“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.”