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The fairy’s treachery had shocked Ben but no one was more shocked than I was. I’d fought at Ezra’s side for years. He hadplayed the roles of trustworthy work partner, lustful lover, and caring friend so perfectly that I never suspected he wasn’t what he seemed.

I’d seen no deceit at all from the fairy until he’d confessed to his plans for Hisser to kill me. Fiona’s wicked angel did me a huge favor by freezing Ezra with the energy sword in his hand. It was an undeniable reality check and one that wouldn’t let me forget.

After spending a half hour messaging with my daughter, I felt better about her absence, but going back to sleep had been impossible. To keep from obsessing, I’d gotten up and gotten to work unpacking.

Coffee truly hadn’t been on my mind until Henry showed up. I couldn’t remember that ever happening before.

I turned at another knock on the door to my quarters. “Enter,” I yelled.

It wasn’t Henry this time but the energy was just as familiar. A freshly showered Rasmus stood beside a food cart containing a large carafe of coffee and all sorts of breakfast treats. A single tray would never have held all they sent.

My stomach growled the moment I smelled it. And the coffee smelled divine.

“Good morn to ya,” I said to my delivery person.

It was hard not to stare because Rasmus smelled as good to me as the coffee did. I would have given up my coffee to lie back down with him. If he knew it, he wisely gave no sign. I couldn’t indulge my longing for him anyway. Ezra’s betrayal had been the last ego hit I could handle. It was time to get my shitty love life straightened out and that time was today.

Rasmus cleared his throat. “I decided not to wake Zara until you and I talked. I’ll wake her when you’re ready.”

“Thanks. I definitely could use a bit more time to prepare for her this morning.” I sighed and did my best to smile at him in afriendly way. It was hard to be casual with my heart beating so hard at his presence. “I promised ya we could talk so let’s do that now. I can finish my unpacking later.”

When he didn’t immediately cross the room’s threshold, I chuckled and walked to pull the food cart into the sitting room. “Come in and have a seat, Rasmus. The chairs in here are temporary but I think they’ll hold ya well enough for our chat. Will ya be joining me for breakfast? It looks like Henry sent enough food for five people.”

“Thank you, but I ate earlier. Someone came to the door with a menu request this morning. Gale sent a tray to my room afterward.”

“Suit yerself,” I said, positioning the cart in front of the chairs.

Early morning light filtered in through the sheers Henry had hung up, but it wasn’t bright enough to cast sunshine into the space. I turned on the single floor lamp in the corner. It still wasn’t enough to see clearly. Sighing at the coziness I’d unintentionally created, I picked up the remote Henry had provided me and set the fire blazing in the hearth. Since I didn’t want Rasmus to get the wrong idea, I held his gaze while I set him straight. “There’s no heat to the flame. I’m short on light sources.”

With his hands in his pockets, Rasmus nodded as he entered the sitting room. “Did Henry do all this for you?”

I nodded as I poured out coffee for myself. My stomach growled loudly again in anticipation. Rasmus lifted an eyebrow at me.

Rolling my eyes, I gave up trying to play it cool. “Fiona texted me at four-thirty this morning. I’ve been up ever since.”

“Where is Fiona?”

“Her angel mentor returned the two of them to Ireland after they released a local witch coven from Ezra’s spell. Tony wasn’toverly chatty about his plans or hers but did mention he was training Fiona to protect the ring.”

Rasmus blinked at the news. “Are you sure he was an angel? Should I have Orlin check him out?”

I shrugged. “Henry confirmed Tony wasn’t a demon. Ya told me the ring’s guardian was either a demon or an angel. Plus, Tony mentioned training Da to protect the ring and how much faster Da learned compared to Fiona. It was a simple deduction.”

Ramus nodded. “Yet you still sound concerned. Are you worried about her spending time with him?”

I eyed him over my coffee cup. I would not be baring my soul to anyone this early in the morning but especially not to Rasmus. If it were up to me, I would never expose my true self to him again. Not even Ma used my own words against me as much as the guardian did.

“My daughter seems fine with her situation and I trusther. What troubles me are Bridget O’Malley’s ideas about such creatures. Da never told her what Tony was so Ma has waited all her life to meet an actual angel. But that being is nothing like what she has in mind. Still, I’m inclined not to judge the man since I wouldn’t be sitting here sipping coffee this morning without his intervention.”

Rasmus swallowed hard. “Because your fairy friend betrayed you.”

I nodded as I sipped. “Yes. The only good news is that Ezra’s betrayal only hurt half as much as Jack’s did.”

Rasmus dropped his gaze to his hands. “Did he harm you before he got stopped?”

I picked up a croissant filled with egg, bacon, and cheese and took a bite to avoid answering. The delicate bread tasted like heaven. Whoever was cooking was a truly gifted chef. Idevoured the whole thing in a few bites before I realized I’d never answered his question.

My gaze swung back to Rasmus. My reluctance to discuss this with him made me sigh inside. I was still angry at him for being gone and resentful of him wanting to know all the details of what he missed. Just because Rasmus hadn’t betrayed me yet didn’t mean he wouldn’t. He’d already developed the knack of going for long periods feeling no concern for me at all.