Page 43 of Monsters of Midlife

I frowned. “If the witches are based in Alameda, why didn’t they put the temple there?”

“There are different factions of the witches and politics get involved, but I think what happened back then was that San Francisco was the center for the witches. There was a falling out and a group of them broke off and moved to Alameda. They didn’t desert the temple though. They just wanted a little bit more privacy and ability to create wards that would actually work.”

We walked up to the front door and knocked on it as if we were at somebody’s house. It took a while, but there was a slot on the front door that opened, and the face of a wizened old man appeared. “What?” He spoke perfunctorily.

“We’re here to see Grimelda,” Sophie said.

“Do you have an appointment?” The man asked, his voice cracking with age and some unfathomable accent.

“I have the monster’s wife,” Sophie said and even through the dim interior I could see the look of shock and surprise on the old man’s face. The door quickly unlocked and opened.

“Get her in here quick.” He stepped back and motioned us in.

“I’m not a wife anymore, I’m an ex-wife,” I insisted. “And he’s not a monster.”

“Ryder is the demigod. A monster’s practically the same thing,” Sophie said. “Do you know when you’re born a half breed like that, you pretty much choose one side or the other. You can choose your human side or your monster side, but it’s very difficult to choose both. He chose his monster side. “

“Well, that’s apparent,” I said grimly.

We stood in the entrance hall of the church, which smelled like frankincense and myrrh. The whitewashed wood gave it an earthy tone that immediately made me comfortable. The old man didn’t, though. He stared at me, his hands folded in front of him, clenching so hard his knuckles were white.

“What are you doing with her here?” He looked accusingly at Sophie.

“It’s not her fault,” I interjected. “I asked to come here.”

“Follow me.” He led us quickly down a damp hallway and into a small cell like room at the very end. There were three chairs. We were told to sit in two of them quietly and wait for Grimelda, who was on her way immediately to us. I didn’t know what to expect, but the beautiful young woman who walked into the room wasn’t anything like the old creepy man who had welcomed us into the temple. She had an unearthly air about her that made me think even though she only looked like she was about twenty-five, she was probably more like two hundred and twenty-five.

“You brought the monster bride to us.” She spoke only to Sophie.

“I am not the monster’s bride.” I insisted. “I married Ryder. He never told me he was a demigod or a monster.”

Sophie chuckled at this. “That’s because he tends to think of himself as the God of Monsters,” Sophie chuckled. To my surprise Grimelda let out a small giggle, also.

“We discovered yesterday that she’s a banshee.” Sophie’s eyes flicked to me as she explained to Grimelda why we were there.

“I need to get rid of these powers,” I said. “I’m forty-five years old. I haven’t had these powers my whole life and I certainly don’t want them now. Can you help?”

“You are Fae, my dear,” Grimelda said, opening her arms out wide and giving a slight raise of her shoulders. “There’s really nothing we can do about it.”

“Well, can’t you remove the banshee part? Can’t I be Fae but not banshee?” I pleaded.

“Fae are very unusual creatures. They are born with certain gifts and there’s nothing you can do about it. It’s in your DNA. You’re a banshee. It probably only came to the fore when you got surrounded by all the magic that resides in Alameda. Is that when it appeared?”

Sophie nodded. “Yes. At Furlan’s.”

“Makes sense,” said Grimelda. “All that satyr energy brings out the wild in people.”

“So anytime anyone around is going to have someone die soon, I’m going to start singing like that?” I asked.

Grimelda shrugged her shoulders a little. “I’m afraid that’s the case.”

“Isn’t there something you can do to dampen the power?” I asked.

Grimelda wasn’t listening to me anymore, though. She was looking up, her head tilted to the side. Then her eyes glanced back at me. “Are you expecting Ryder here?”

“Oh God no,” Sophie said, her eyes filled with fear. “He can’t know we’re here.”

Grimelda smiled and nodded. “Yeah, I thought that might be the case.”

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