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I glared at him. “How long have ya known about him?”

“I suspected it shortly after the van got caught in the wards. I’ve been studying them for days now. I could call him out with a challenge but that would make our wards seem like no threat at all. The best option is to wait for the demon to attempt something else.”

I gaped at him in shock. “Ya think we should wait for more trouble?”

Conn shrugged. “Yes. He has harmed no one yet. Mulan got hurt a bit, but she’s better now.”

Of all the things I expected Conn to say, telling me to let it go was not one of them.

I crossed my arms and stared. “Why hasn’t Mulan cast the demon out herself? That’s what Wu Shamans do. They cast out demons. She told me that herself.”

“I don’t think she cares enough.”

I grunted. “He uses that bloody cane to fool people into thinking he’s only an old man.”

Conn blew out a breath. “He can probably kill them with a thought but he won’t because I think they’re bait for a much bigger prize. And I’m not talking about Mulan, even though she is one of his targets.”

“So what do we do? We can’t let him terrorize Mulan’s family.”

“I’ll let you know. At the moment, I’m still looking for his weaknesses,” Conn said, spreading his hands. “He’s from the other side of the world, Aran. They don’t do things the same way we do. They follow different rules. Possessing humans for him is like me buying real estate.”

“How powerful is he... or she?”

Conn shrugged. “I feel a masculine energy when I’m near him.”

“Him, then.” I blew out a breath. “Do I go in with my sword humming? Or do I try to get Mulan to cast the demons out first? I don’t want to step on her toes.”

“Her parents didn’t have any demons around when I visited. Her father was mostly a pleasant man. Of course, I was handing him a large sum of money. Most people are nice under those circumstances.”

“If ya got an opinion on how to handle this situation, now is the time to tell me.”

“All right... I think we need to let this play out.”

“Goddess, ya’re worse than the dragon mage. Do ya find this interesting, Conn? Because I find it alarming. There’s a strange demon on my property and I want him evicted as soon as possible.”

Connlander of the Fir Bolg is being influenced. He does not sense the genuine danger. He believes he has things under control.

I jerked at the male voice suddenly lecturing me in my head. He sounded like he’d sounded in the cave when I first sought the stone’s help, only bossier. Could Conn hear the voice too?

We shielded your thoughts from him.

Thank the Goddess for that, at least. Conn already knew the stone could communicate with me but didn’t know it could exclude him. I didn’t see him taking that well when he found out.

Was the Wu Shaman unaware of her family’s demon problems? I needed to find out as soon as possible.

Your Wu Shaman knows. Her staff knows. She doubts her power to cast him out so she is pretending not to see the danger. The creature turned her family against her. She is not unhappy that she no longer has to serve them.

If everyone had figured out the problem, then why weren’t we taking him down? I could practically see Zenos smirking about me being the last to learn the truth.

As soon as I thought the thought, an image of a fanged creature appeared in my head. He looked like a cross between a bipedal wolf and a gnome. Long brown animal hair covered his body, but he had a long white mustache that framed his mouth full of teeth and draped down to the floor.

In my vision, he tromped toward Mulan’s whimpering sister, picked up her, and bit off her head to stop her screams. Blood flew everywhere. In the carnage's background, her traumatized parents cried out in horror. I stared in numb shock at the creature boldly chewing on Mulan’s sister in front of me.

Then I remembered it was only a vision being shown to me. It hadn’t happened in reality—or at least, not yet. Goddess, I hoped the stone was warning me itcouldhappen and not thatit would.

This is the creature inside him, the stone said.He is an ancient one who does not care about humans any longer. Hefinds pleasure only in causing trouble and possesses them to create servants.

I nodded as I rubbed the shock from my face so Conn wouldn’t see it.