Page 38 of Hextreme Measures

Ofelia could feel Madeline’s glare on her — as if she was the one who said it — but she didn’t care. Madeline ran hot and cold. She hadn’t been thrilled with Ofelia’s presence in her son’s life from the start. Sully was supposed to marry another shifter, not a witch. Over their time together, Madeline had finally come to realize that Ofelia wasn’t going anywhere. She still would have preferred that Sully marry a shifter. She was resigned to the fact that Sully and Ofelia were going to spend their lives together, however, and she didn’t get a say in the matter.

“You know, after the way you left your own engagement party last night, I would think you would be at least a little bit conciliatory,” Marie complained from her end of the table.

Ofelia shot her mother a sharp look. “You do not want to go there.”

Marie balked. “Excuse me?”

Sully was caught. On one hand, he wanted Ofelia to tell her mother how she felt about the lies that had resulted in the terrible party. On the other hand, they had more important things to deal with. It was the anger he felt vibrating off of Ofelia that helped him make up his mind. Right now, given what the banshees were looking for, he didn’t want Ofelia hoarding her anger like gold coins. No, he wanted her to express it because she was one of those people who got angry fast. Then she got over it fast.

“You guys promised Ofelia specific things and then didn’t deliver,” he volunteered, deciding to take control of the conversation. The faster Ofelia got angry, the quicker she would get over it. “Just FYI, we were in the middle of leaving your fancy party when the banshees attacked last night.”

“You were not,” Madeline growled.

“Oh, we were definitely leaving.” Sully thought back to the small party he’d arranged for Ofelia, the one that had fallen through, and sighed. “All the people you conveniently left off your invitation list were going to meet us there.”

“Nobody was left off,” Madeline scoffed, looking toward Marie for confirmation.

Ofelia’s mother made slashing motions across her throat to shut Madeline up, but it was already too late.

“Oh, I didn’t realize people were left off the list.” Madeline’s expression was hard to read as she ran the information through her head. Ultimately, she shrugged. “Well, if Marie had a reason to leave them off, I’m sure it was a good one.”

“It doesn’t matter,” Ofelia growled.

“I can’t believe you were going to escape to a fun party and not take your father,” Zeke complained to his son. “That is just … not cool.”

“Are you saying our party wasn’t fun?” Madeline challenged him.

“Your party was about as much fun as a colonoscopy,” Zeke replied. “I was figuring out how I was going to make my escape when the banshees swooped in.”

“I’m confused,” Felix said. “What’s a banshee? I mean … I’ve heard the word before. I don’t think anybody has ever explained it to me, though.”

“Google it,” Amelia suggested in a low voice. “I would explain it, but I think Zach is about to rip my mother a new one, and I don’t want to miss it. I love it when my mom has a big hole where her butt should be.”

“Thank you for that lovely visual, Amelia,” Madeline said darkly.

Amelia beamed. “No problem, Mom.”

“Okay.” Felix smiled. As long as Amelia was happy these days, he was happy. Since Amelia was pregnant, her hormones swung left and right like a carnival ride without a brake. Felix hated risking the swings. “I’ll do that.” He started typing on his phone.

“Our party was a glorious event,” Marie insisted. “It was absolutely beautiful.”

“It was ostentatious and full of your friends,” Ofelia fired back. “And your friends,” she said to Madeline, her glare sharpening. “You left some of the most important people in my life off the guest list.”

“Like who?” Marie demanded.

“Pascal, for starters.”

Marie balked. “We were not going to invite a vampire to an engagement party. That’s just gauche. What if he were to get hungry and start feeding off the guests?”

“He’s been alive for a very long time,” Ofelia replied. “He is not a slave to his urges. Plus, at least he’s my friend. I didn’t recognize the bulk of the people at my own party.”

“They were my friends,” Marie replied. “I couldn’t very well leave my friends off the list. How would that have looked?”

“As if I didn’t know them,” Ofelia replied. “You know, it would have looked like the truth.”

“Well, my friends represented a much better class of guest.” Marie made a sniffing noise. “They left you some lovely gifts. I know you didn’t see them because you ran after that weird … incident … with the half-naked women. What was up with that, by the way? Were those ex-girlfriends of yours, Zach?”

Sully didn’t know what he’d been expecting his future mother-in-law to say, but that wasn’t it. “Yes, that’s exactly who they were, Marie,” he said dryly. “They were my ex-girlfriends.”