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I’d think twice before offering to host a family of strangers next time. For sure, I wouldn’t be inviting Dylan’s disloyal parents here. He could book them into a hotel in Salem if they ever got over themselves enough to make amends with him. Maybe I’d invite them to dinner. Maybe. It would depend on how much groveling they did.

I broke the silence between us with gratitude. “Thanks for the tea, Mulan.”

“You are welcome.”

I watched as she carried her own cup to the sink and poured the cold liquid down the drain. I felt better when Mulan made herself a fresh cup and brought it back to the table to sit across from me again.

“Before this, my life was calm and yours was chaos. Now I bring chaos,” she said without meeting my gaze.

I grunted at her comment. “That’s not true and ya know it. Ya bring amazing and unique skills to our work. Plus, ya entertain me with crazy things like yer foolish determination to be the first human with a pet tiger cat. And I still refuse to be responsible if the demon wolves end up eating it.”

Mulan snorted at my warning, just as she always did. “I forgot to tell you. Troll sent note about tiger cat.”

I chuckled because I didn’t even know Bo could write. “Goddess, I love that troll. He’s trying so hard to be a good business partner to us. What did Bo’s note say?”

“Soon,” Mulan replied as she sipped her tea. “That was all. Just one word.”

I laughed at her dry response. “I doubt Bo knows either. It probably took him a whole day to come up with it. Bo is a live-only-in-the-moment kind of troll. But he always keeps his word. If he still has yer tiger cat, it’s because he wants it trained right before he returns it. He’s not very articulate in our language, but he really, really cares.”

“I know. Troll is like you,” Mulan said softly.

I nodded in agreement to her comment even if she thought the articulate part applied too. “Yes, I do care. Yer friendship fills a hole in me that was empty for many years. I wouldn’t trade having ya in my life for all the tea in China, Mulan.”

Mulan grunted. “That would be bad decision for you. China has best tea in world. It is worth many fortunes.”

I laughed. “I meant that I valued ya more than the money I could make selling the tea.”

Mulan grunted again. “I know. This is why I say you are bad businesswoman.”

I rubbed my temples. I loved the woman but sometimes she gave me a headache—or worsened the one I had. What I needed was to soak in a bath.

I wished Henry had gotten that sauna we talked about getting for the basement. A few minutes in a sauna and a nice soak in a hot tub sounded wonderful. Not that I could let down my guard to do those things right now, but it would have been nice to know they were available.

“I always forget how literal ya are. And I am not a bad businesswoman. I’m a cautious one who values her friends above money.”

“Yes. I suppose that makes you good friend.”

“Ya suppose?”I repeated in my snootiest voice. “What does that mean?”

It was her burst of laughter that clued me in that she was teasing me back.

“Well, I’m glad to see yer family hasn’t stolen yer sense of humor. It’s bad enough they emotionally hammer at yer dignity and ethics all the time.”

“Their hammers hurt and cause dents in ego, but they do not break me.”

“Thank the Goddess for that,” I declared as I drank my tea. “By the way... Gale says yer family’s demon has never regenerated. She’s apparently seen this situation before. Regeneration teaches demons about mortality and helps them realize they’re just as fragile as humans. Can ya force the old demon to regenerate?”

Mulan pondered it for a moment. “I can cut off a limb and give him reason to do so.”

Conn was right. She was more bloodthirsty around me.

“I could do too. All it would take is removing that sword hand of his,” I said as I softly chuckled. “When Conn is well, the matter may get settled for us. Gale said he was very upset.”

Mulan nodded. “He is upset with me. I am weak female to him now.”

“Did he say that to you?”

Mulan shrugged. “No, and I prefer not to hear it. I just know.”