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All ancient ones like him seek power. He maintains mental control over his human wife and her parents, which means he has taken partial possession of them. If no one stops him, he will spread his full essence to their minds and gain the ability to jump between their bodies. His power is great.

Possession was against the demonic code of survival. Demons had many methods to prolong their existence, but absorbing someone else's life force was off-limits. Not even demon royals were above following that rule. Conn should have seen this situation for what it was. What had the creature done to Conn? Only another royal could cause so much chaos. The ancient demon must have been a leader among his kind.

The ancient one energetically mirrors the demons he interacts with. They feel a sense of unity with him that blinds them to danger. He fools Connlander of the Fir Bolg in this way.

So Conn wasn’t getting the same vibe from him as I was. I nodded and kept my eyes closed. I didn’t want anyone to suspect what I was learning.What will happen if Mulan casts the demon out of his brother-in-law?

Demon does not possess Wu Shaman’s human brother-in-law. He is merely the human form of himself.

My eyes opened to glare at the creature. So he was passing himself off as some rich old man and had attached himself to Mulan’s family. I handed the staff back to Mulan who’d moved close enough to reach for it when I was done.

“You were talking to staff. What did staff tell you?” she asked.

“Yer sister is married to an actual demon in his human form. And I learned he’s here to collect power.” I swept a hand between us. “Maybe he wants yers. Maybe mine. Or maybe both. Ya can bet he’s aware of Ezra too. If his game had been to lure Conn, he’d have played that card already.

Mulan glanced at the demon who was pretending to be human. “If I kill him, I lose familyandbecome hypocrite.”

I rolled my eyes. “He’s not a regular demon, Mulan. He’s an ancient creature who has partially possessed your family. If ya don’t do something, he will take them over and hop between their bodies. Will casting him out kill him?”

“No. Chinese demons never die.”

A dark thought occurred to me. “He risked coming here because of yer relationship to Conn, didn’t he?”

She ducked her head to stare at the floor. “How can I know what demon thinks? ”

I put a hand on my chest and wrapped the other around her hand on the staff. Her swearing let me know that she now heard both voices just as I did.

I stared hard at her. “He’s done nothing, but they both say he will do something. This may be our only chance to stop him.”

“How do you talk to them?”

I let go of the staff and dropped both my hands. “The dragon mage knows how it works but I haven’t figured it out yet. Yer staff hated hiding out as a sex toy.”

“No, it did not. I asked first. We speak in visions.”

I chuckled. “Okay, I made that up. I was the one who hated it.”

“Because you are prude,” Mulan said. “Conn sees no problem with demon.”

“He’s imitating Conn’s energy. The staff said it was his best demon talent.”

Mulan heaved out a great breath before turning to her family. She raised her voice and spoke to them in the language they shared. Whatever she said must have finally gotten through their programming because they gasped and stared down the stairs at the demon.

He growled as he glared at us. Had Mulan outed him?

“Did ya tell them?”

She nodded and frowned harder.

“Did they believe ya?”

“Yes, but they have not asked for my help.”

“Do ya honestly think they will?”

Mulan thought about it and shook her head. “No. They will want to keep him. Possession twists their will to his.”

The brother-in-law must have understood our conversation because he tossed aside his cane. His human body split like a guardian’s as he changed forms. It was like watching a horror movie. The ancient demon transformed from an old man to the large, powerful creature of my vision.