16. Sixteen #2
She was boasting, and Sully didn’t believe her.
“If there are so many of you, why are you purposely seeking out magical beings to change into banshees?” He didn’t wait for her to answer.
“I’m assuming you tried it with regular humans first. They wouldn’t have been strong, though, and you want strong followers. ”
Shirley scowled. “There are more of us than you think. However, you’re not wrong about the humans. None of them that we tried to change —”
“You mean infect.”
Shirley ignored him as if he hadn’t spoken at all. “None of the changes were the right changes.”
That’s when the reality of the situation really hit Sully. “Oh, the new breed of banshee can only be achieved if the individual has some sort of magic in their blood.”
Shirley didn’t deny it. She didn’t look happy that he’d figured it out, but she didn’t deny it either.
“Unfortunately, we’ve found that some paranormals work better than others.
Shifters, for example, only make for mid-level members of our society.
We still turn them, but they’re soldiers, not leaders. ”
Sully noted that she didn’t refer to herself as a banshee.
She hadn’t come up with another word either.
That likely meant she was trying to distance herself from traditional banshees.
He could understand why — the other banshees, the ones she wanted to avoid — were mindless traffickers in grief.
In fact, they were so focused on their own issues that they couldn’t see outside of them.
“It’s interesting,” he said. “It sounds like you’ve done a lot of experimenting.”
“Why wouldn’t we?”
He shrugged. “If things were going so well, if there were so many of you, why would you need to do that?”
“I don’t like your superior attitude,” she hissed. “Just because your kind have litters and not individual babies —”
“That’s only true of actual panthers, not shifters.”
She continued, barely sparing him a glance. “We want our tribe to be strong. There’s nothing wrong with that.”
“Except you’re taking people who don’t want to be taken.”
“Who says they don’t want to be part of our tribe?”
“I honestly can’t speak for the others who work for you, but I know for a fact that Angelique doesn’t want to be a banshee.”
“Maybe not now, when the sickness is rolling through her, but she will want to be one of us when it’s all over.” Shirley rubbed at the spot above her heart. “She’ll be one of the family. She’ll give me strong grandchildren. Everything will be right when … well, it will be right.”
“When you die?” Sully guessed.
Her eyes narrowed. “Who said anything about dying? Why are you stuck on that?”
“Because you’re obviously sick.”
“Stop saying that! I’m not sick!”
Was it possible she didn’t know? Sully stared at her, hard, then came up with his own answer. “Denying you're sick won’t stave off the inevitable. You’re dying.”
“Why do you even care?”
“I’m just making conversation.” He flashed a flat smile. “We have some time to kill, right? Just out of curiosity, what are you going to do with me when you’re certain that Angelique has turned?”
“Who says I’m going to do anything with you?” She made a face. “I don’t care about you either way.”
“And yet you grabbed me. Now you’re holding me hostage. That suggests to me that you do care.”
“Well, I don’t.” Shirley emphatically shook her head.
“You’re nothing to me. The only thing I regret is where we made our move.
In hindsight, that was a mistake. My boy said you would be distracted by your upcoming nuptials, that it was the right time to strike.
I’m starting to think he might not be the shiniest diamond in the ring. ”
Sully let loose a guttural laugh. “You’re starting to think that? Obviously, you haven’t spent much time with him.”
“Obviously, you haven’t either,” she shot back. “If you had, you would know that he’s a smart boy. He’s going to do great things.”
“No, he’s a bit of a dim bulb,” Sully countered. He didn’t care how angry he made her. If she wanted to retrieve him from the cage, she would make herself vulnerable to him. He wasn’t afraid to take her on now that he knew what he was dealing with.
“He’s not. He’s putting on an act.”
“Nobody is that talented.” Sully shook his head. “It’s good you think he’s smart. If you had to see him for what he really is, you wouldn’t be happy.”
“And what is he?” Shirley practically spat out the question.
“An individual who hoards bitterness like gold. There is so much resentment in that guy. At first, I thought he was just a misogynist. Now, understanding about you and what you’ve put him through over the course of his life, I get it.”
Shirley sent him a sharp look. “And just what is it that you think I’ve put him through?”
Rather than answer the question, Sully went on the offensive. “How many times did you lament the fact that you had a son instead of a daughter when he was growing up? Could you not have any more children? Were you stuck with him?”
Fury lit Shirley’s eyes. “You have no idea what you’re talking about!” she spat. “I love my son.”
“And yet you would have preferred a daughter.” Sully smirked. “I can’t wait to tell him that when I see him next. Well, if I see him next.”
“And what is that supposed to mean?” Shirley was spitting mad. It made Sully smile, both internally and externally.
“Just that Ofelia knows he’s your son,” Sully replied. “She saw the photo on the wall. I’m sure she’s already been to see him.”
“So what? She doesn’t have any power over him.”
“You’d be surprised how much power she has.” Sully leaned back against the wall and stretched his legs in front of him in lazy fashion. “She’s going to end you.”
Shirley threw back her head and laughed. “She’s not strong enough to end me.”
“Yes, she is.” Sully didn’t doubt that in the least. “And now you’ve ticked her off. May the Goddess have mercy on your soul.”
“I’m not afraid of her.” Shirley turned haughty on a dime. “Besides, I’m not alone. Did you miss the stories about my family? We’re many. We’re strong.”
“And do you think Ofelia will be alone?” Sully challenged.
“We’re not afraid of shifters. You might have taken out one of my children, but that was luck. We weren’t expecting you to shift in public like that.”
“That’s understandable.” Sully’s smile looked more like a grimace. “I wasn’t just talking about the shifters, though. This whole town is full of paranormals, and they all love Ofelia. Who do you think they’re going to side with when she goes to war in a few hours?”
For the first time since she’d taken him, Shirley looked genuinely afraid. “If she gets in my way, I’ll kill her,” she warned finally. “I won’t stand for anybody ruining my plan.”
“And Ofelia won’t stand for anybody threatening her family,” Sully said. “You’ve messed with the wrong witch.” He looked smug now. “She’s not going to show you any mercy.”
“Well, I guess we’ll just see, won’t we?” Shirley shot back.
“I guess we will.”