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Zara dropped her gaze to her salad. “I’ve not heard us calledwatchersin a long while. It reminds me of what I chose all those ages ago.”

“I wasn’t trying to bring up terrible memories. Would ya rather I call ya aguardianinstead? I know Aran calls both of ya by the more neutral moniker ya chose.”

Zara shrugged. “I do not care what humans call me.”

“Ya might if one ever got angry enough to become inventive,” I said, smiling to ease the sting of the statement. “Some of us don’t mind being rude. It lets people know what we’re thinking.”

Zenos ignored my interjection and studied both guardians as he ate. “To answer yer blunt question about my business here, I’ve come to educate the daughter of The Dagda and haven’t yet decided what form my teaching will take. There are a few things I could share about yer kind that I think Aran would find interesting, and more importantly, that she would find useful in dealing with ya.”

“Please excuse my sister’s irritated attitude,” Rasmus said, calmly addressing the dragon mage. “Zara is still recovering from an accident that required a lot of healing. She suffers daily and the discomfort makes her churlish. We’re grateful to Aran for hosting us. Zara is here to heal but I’m here because Aranis important to me. I am here to spend time with her because I value her greatly.”

Zenos glanced up from his meal to stare boldly at Rasmus. “Is that right? Well, that explains everything critical, now doesn’t it? The two of us are both here to make Aran’s life better.”

Conn, Goddess bless him, broke the rising tension by reading a ranting message on his phone from a very agitated Mulan. When he was done reading, he shook his head. “Her parents finally boarded their flight to Salem. They insisted on waiting for a plane with four openings in first class. I need to warn Henry about what he’ll be dealing with.”

“Goddess, help us all,” I said as I palmed my face, leaned an elbow on the table, and laughed dryly over our prima donna guests.

Dylan chose that moment to excuse himself and I didn’t blame the far darrig one bit.

I wished I could have gone with him.

Chapter Seven

Rasmus and Zara were avoiding me. They had disappeared after breakfast and I couldn’t locate their energy. For all I knew, the guardians might have abruptly ended their human vacation. Rasmus often left without saying a word. Believing that would have been my first reaction, except Conn said they were still around and I trusted him.

My demon familiar was ensconced in the library, making use of Henry's elegant desk for his personal paperwork. It was always strange for me to see Conn deliberately doing something as human as working on his bills. He and I were spread out far more now than we’d been in the thousand square feet of our rentals.

During our time away from work, I’d taken to tracking everyone. Call it paranoia or my need to control my situation, but I felt no guilt for it.

Conn was easiest for me to energetically trace because of our connection. Maybe I was extra-sensitive after having experienced my first energy separation from him since I’d accepted our contract. It comforted me to know where he was, even though I don’t think he shared my separation trauma. He’d had centuries and centuries of working with mymany predecessors. I’m sure that taught him not to be overly concerned.

Eventually, I ended up back in my room. Lunch had been a series of sandwich boxes everyone had picked up at their leisure. I grabbed mine and hid in my sitting room to eat it. Some of my temporary furniture was disappearing, though. I was down to one chair and a tiny side table barely big enough to rest a cup of tea on. Maybe Henry was nudging me to get serious about choosing furnishings for the room.

Not that I could go shopping. Dylan was out in my car.

I hated feeling so out of sorts. Boredom rarely happened to me.

Zenos, who was supposed to be helping me learn to use my magic more effectively, was also missing. He’d patted my shoulder as he left the table after breakfast and ominously promised to see me later. Well, several hours had passed now without him tracking me down.

I finally finished all my unpacking—well, all I could do until I went furniture shopping and found a chest of drawers.

The housing was buzzing with activity around me. Henry was busy preparing for Mulan’s parents to arrive. Gale was revising the meal plan to hopefully keep Mulan’s family from finding fault with their meals.

Ya could say I was waiting to play gracious host once Mulan returned with her people. Her family’s plane should have landed by now. Had she toured them around Salem on the way home? If so, she could have called to say she did that.

Time off didn’t mean I wanted to be lazy. After seven years in prison with nothing productive to do, I saw time off from work as time available for doing enjoyable activities. Waiting for Mulan to return with her family was everything but that.

Maybe I should go check on the greenhouse. A message from Gale informed me it would be finished today. Maybe I could make a list of plants. That would pass the time productively.

Grabbing a notepad and pen from one of my newly organized storage containers, I headed out of the house. A short walk later, I discovered the workers truly had finished it. Someone had also removed the tent and exposed my firepit to the elements once more. Workers had cleared away all traces of construction, and someone had sprinkled a handful of sage on the open ground to clear the negativity.

I prowled around trying to imagine pots full of blooming plants hanging from the beams and sitting on the shelves. I wouldn’t try to grow mugwort or mushrooms. Sarah Templeton’s shop supplied good quality ones. I would content myself with growing lavender, sage, lemongrass, and the simpler herbs needed for spells.

A sudden loud screech brought me out of the structure to investigate. Standing next to the firepit was a giant bird. When it saw me, it screeched loudly again.

I stared at the mystical creature in blinking shock until understanding dawned. I instinctively put a hand to my chest where the Dagda stone lived.

Then a voice suddenly boomed in my head. Do ya spend a lot of time feeling sorry for yerself? That’s such a waste of time, lass.