Page 46 of Hextreme Measures

“But you helped with the money,” Dora pushed.

Sully’s lips curved down. “This is her victory.” He was insistent.

Rather than argue and make matters worse, Dora sighed. “I didn’t get it before,” she said. “What she saw in you, I mean.”

Sully didn’t know if he should laugh or roll his eyes. He did nothing.

“I thought she could do better,” Dora continued. “I figured she would try to go for someone powerful.”

“Like Sebastian?” Sully’s scowl was pronounced as he said the name of Ofelia’s ex-boyfriend. Sebastian Gendry had been a powerful warlock who caused a lot of trouble in the Quarter. Now he was rotting in a jail cell. Sully had purchased his bar at a pittance and set Felix up in it so he could eventually buy it and run his own bar. So far, it was going well.

Dora shrugged. “You might not have liked the guy —”

“He was a tool,” Sully replied.

She smirked. “His personality left a little to be desired,” she conceded. “He was powerful, though. That’s why he latched onto Ofelia in the first place. She never loved him. I think, for a time, she thought she was supposed to fall for a guy like him. She realized relatively quickly that she was the power in that relationship.”

“I don’t like talking about Sebastian,” Sully admitted.

“Sorry.” Dora didn’t look sorry. “I’m just saying that you’re the perfect match for her. You bolster her when she needs it and step in when she doesn’t want to hear it. She probably has a tendency to shut others out when she commits to a path. She doesn’t do that with you, though. She values your input.”

“Unfortunately, I don’t have a lot of input to offer her right now.” Sully led them toward the room. “She can’t lose Angelique.” He was matter-of-fact when delivering the news. “We have to figure something out here.”

“Well, I have some help,” Dora said as Sully led them into the room. Her eyes immediately went to Ofelia and Ben, who were in chairs next to Angelique’s bed, watching the siren sleep. “It’s not enough to cure her, though.”

Ofelia jerked up her chin at the words. “What do you have?”

“I can slow down the transformation,” Dora replied as she moved forward without invitation. Her expression was full of pity when she stopped at the foot of the air mattress to look down at Angelique. “She’s definitely transitioning,” she said after several seconds of quiet. “How many hours has it been since she was scratched?”

There was no clock on the wall, so Ofelia had to pull out her phone to check. “Just short of 24 hours,” she replied when she’d done the math.

“So, whoever infected her was powerful,” Dora mused. “Do we think she’s fighting the transformation?”

“Yes,” Ben replied, annoyance twisting his features. “Of course she is.”

“She doesn’t want to be a banshee,” Ofelia assured the older witch. “She told me to kill her if she transformed.”

“And will you be able to do that?”

“It’s not coming to that,” Sully replied before Ofelia could snap out something nasty. He sent his fiancée a warning look before focusing on Dora. “Don’t bait her. She’s having a rough time of it.”

“You are zero fun,” Dora complained. “Maybe I was wrong earlier when I said that you were a good choice for her.”

Sully shook his head. “Just help Angelique.” He pointed toward the bed.

“Fine.” Dora put down her bag at the end of the bed. “This potion needs to go in intravenously.”

Ofelia scrambled to her feet to help. “How come?”

“Because it needs to go right into her blood to work. You’re going to have to give it to her every six hours. It will slow the transition but not stop it.”

“How much time do we have?” Ben asked.

Dora opened her mouth, then shut it, clearly reticent to give them a timetable.

“Tell us the truth,” Ofelia ordered. “We need to know.”

“I would say you have about 24 to 36 hours until she transitions.” Dora’s eyes were flat. “No more than that.”