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“And you think I know?”
“Yes. We’re all more than aware you father sat on the Council before it was disbanded. I highly doubt you don’t,” Faye pointed out. She’d always found Isabella’s father a little intimidating. He was like an older, male version of his daughter. The stereotypical image of a vampire more than a necromancer, though that was mostly because most humans seemed oblivious to the existence of necromancers, despite the fact they were far more dangerous than vampires, who tended towards just being a bitey really. They weren’t about to kill anyone for their life essence.
“Fine. I know things.” Isabella sighed. That was easier than Faye had expected.
“Why were you so angry we’d brought Penny?” she asked. It might not be the most important thing they needed to ask, but it was still something they needed to know. Especially if it meant they had to try and stay away from necromancers in general. Though that could prove pretty difficult considering most paranormals led every day lives. The woman at the coffee shop could be a fae, or the cleaner for next door’s house could be a wolf shifter. She wasn’t, but the point was still valid.
“You really don’t know a thing about banshees, do you?” Isabella asked, a resigned tone in her voice.
“No, that’s why we’re asking,” Reese griped.
“Reese!”
“Sorry,” he muttered. Faye hoped that’d be the last of him interrupting. He really wasn’t going to help the situation.
Isabella let out a raucous laugh. “I see how it is. Someone finally tamed the bird.”
“She’s had me tamed for years, and you know it,” Reese responded instantly. Faye threw him a dirty look, but he just shrugged.
“I still say you had until you turned eighteen.” Isabella waggled her eyebrows and her meaning finally sunk in. Sparks ignited on Faye’s hands, and it was all she could do to keep them in check. Even once she’d extinguished them, she could still feel the power crackling beneath her finger tips. She was going to have to be careful, or she’d end up with a bigger problem on her hands. She was sure she could feel more power than she’d ever felt before. Apparently, meeting Penny had been good for more than just being able to touch Reese. She’d have to try some bigger magic at some point. Maybe she could get Bex to teach her.
“Moving on. Banshees,” she prompted.
The tension from Penny, who was sat next to her on the worn sofa, was almost touchable, and without meaning to, she took her hand in her own, giving it a squeeze. Penny returned it, and contentment flowed through Faye. This was what mating was supposed to be like.
“They’re necromancers.”
“What?” Penny blurted out.
“Well, they’re not. But they used to be.” Isabella examined one of her nails, as if she hadn’t just dropped a major bombshell on them all.
“You mean...”
“Before they’re given the banshee curse, yes.”
“How does that work?” Faye asked, curious, but also knowing she wanted to know for other reasons. She didn’t think Penny would agree to children until she knew how the curse worked. Not from her reaction to talk of kids earlier. And while Faye didn’t want them now, she did at some point. Hopefully the fact neither her, nor Reese, had any death magic, would help with the situation.
“It’s to do with the banshee scream.” Isabella shrugged. “We don’t know the specifics, but if a necromancer child hears a banshee scream at an exact age, we’re talking down to the minute, they become cursed. No one is sure what happens after that, other than that the children disappear.” She seemed very unaffected to be talking about missing children, but that could just be her immaturity coming through. Isabella had always been a little bit that way. It was one of the reasons Faye had never been closer to her.
“So I could curse someone without meaning to?” Penny asked, horror filling her voice.
“Yes. And steal our family from us,” Isabella snapped. Which was when it all clicked into place for Faye.
“You lost a sibling, didn’t you?” she asked softly.
“Yes, our middle sister. She was only five when it happened. It was awful, the sound shook my very soul. But it did far, far, worse to her.” Tears pooled in the woman’s eyes, and for the first time, Faye felt kind of sorry for her. Though it didn’t stop the slightly jealous monster simmering beneath the surface, nor the anger over how Isabella had treated Penny when they’d first arrived.
“I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be. It’s not your fault. But that’s why banshees are so rare. The circumstances are so specific, and a lot of necromancers just keep their children inside between the ages of four and five. If they can, and if they know, anyway.” She looked away, and Faye wondered what else there was to it.
“Oh.?
??
“Yes, oh.”
“Do you know what the scream means?”
