Page 10 of Hextreme Measures

That was the last thing Ofelia heard before the screams became debilitating to the humans in the park, and they started screaming in surprise and covering their ears. Ofelia sensed movement on the park wall before she saw it, and she reacted the only way she knew how. With magic.

The first banshee that appeared came down like a supervillain going to war. Angelique grabbed the creature by the throat and slammed her to the ground, the creature screaming the whole time. As a siren, she had strength as long as she was near water. That was where she drew her power from. Since the mighty Mississippi was only several blocks away, that meant Angelique was a real powerhouse when she put her mind to it.

“Hello, foul beast,” the siren drawled as she looked down at what had once been a 20-something woman. The banshee’s hair had gone completely white, and when she howled, she bared a pair of terrifying fangs. “What are you doing here?”

Ofelia wasn’t sure about leaving her friend — Angelique could be bloodthirsty if the situation called for it — but she knew it was important to spread their efforts. She made it three feet before another banshee landed inside the park, this one directly in front of her.

“Witch,” the banshee rasped, looking Ofelia over with hungry eyes. “You shall be one of us.”

Ofelia’s lips flattened into a grim line. “Thank you for the invitation.” Her voice was prim and proper, reminding her way too much of her mother. “I’m going to have to decline, however.”

The banshee laughed like a cartoon witch, and it made Ofelia distinctly uncomfortable. “Who says you get a choice?” The creature lunged at her, just as Ofelia expected, but before she could slap the banshee with a solid dose of magic, a black blur leapt in front of her and took the blow.

Ofelia recognized the panther even though she only saw him on rare occasions. Sully tended to keep his shifting to a minimum out of fear that the wrong person would see him turn into a panther and freak out. In the French Quarter, that was grounds to get locked up. It wasn’t just harmless drinking fun. No, that was straight jacket fun.

Sully hit the banshee dead center and knocked her down. The creature had magic at her disposal, but she’d been focused on Ofelia and hadn’t seen the panther coming. All she could do was scream in response.

Sully was an excellent fighter. He dug his claws into the banshee’s torso and tore at her neck without hesitation. The banshee was mid-scream when she died, drowning in the pool of blood that had formed in her throat.

Ofelia was still getting her bearings, so she glanced between the dead banshee and Sully three times before speaking. “I had it.”

Sully rubbed his forehead against her hip, as if to express his love. Then he was gone, running into the fray.

In the moment, when the banshee had focused on her, Ofelia had lost track of what was going on in the park. Now she forced herself to come up with a clear picture of exactly who was in danger.

There were panthers everywhere. They looked to be chasing the banshees away rather than killing them, which confused Ofelia. Why not kill them? Then she realized that the banshees were fleeing. Apparently, when they’d picked the engagement party to attack, they hadn’t realized it would be overrun with panthers. That realization had them fleeing.

“Wait.” Ofelia wasn’t talking to anybody in particular when she said it. Her instincts forced her into action, however, and she stepped forward. The banshees were out of her reach. Maybe, if she put some magic into it, she might be able to corral one of them.

Then what? What was she going to do if she managed to capture one of the creatures? She couldn’t very well torture it for information in front of an audience. So, despite her inner witch warning her not to let them go, she dropped her hands and watched them disappear into the night.

The attack had been brief and seemingly inefficient as far as she could tell. Why would they even bother?

The screams continued as the banshees fled, and likely regrouped. She waited to see if they would come back. If they were better prepared, they might make better inroads on a second assault.

Eventually, after a solid 30 seconds of waiting, Ofelia realized that the banshees were gone.

She stared in that direction for a long time, still unconvinced anybody would waste that much effort on an attack that was doomed to fail. Eventually, however, she let it go.

“Well, that was kind of lame,” she said to Angelique, who was on her feet and staring at something on the sleeve of her shirt. “What happened to the one you had?”

“Hmm?” Angelique raised her chin, and it was only then that Ofelia realized her friend was so pale she was almost transparent.

Ofelia stumbled forward, her stomach constricting. Something was very wrong here. What, though? Angelique was on her feet. She looked okay. “Is it Ben? Where is he?”

Angelique looked shattered enough that Ofelia was convinced she was on the right track. Something had hurt Ben. Was it worse than that? Perhaps the battle hadn’t been as inconsequential as Ofelia assumed.

“Where is he?” Ofelia asked, her voice barely a whisper.

“He took off after the panthers,” Angelique replied, her voice a breathless whisper. “I think he’s okay.”

That was enough to catch Ofelia off guard. If Ben was okay, what was the problem? Before she could ask the obvious question, Angelique held up her arm.

There, like four slashes from a Freddy Krueger movie, Ofelia found herself looking at a very nasty-looking wound.

“Oh, no.” Ofelia felt as if she were about to tumble over a cliff, into an emotional abyss. “You were scratched.”

The words were barely out of her mouth when raised voices at the entrance of the park drew her attention. She recognized the men spilling into the park. They were part of the paranormal unit that Sully was attached to through the New Orleans Police Department.