Page 5

“No. I’m happy enough. Conn and Mulan get to cohabit in their own little house. My daughter has a home on the property as well. The two rooms of my quarters suit me fine. Henry and Gale feed me daily. What more could I want, Ben? If anything, I’m getting spoiled by all these people taking care of me.”

A grinning Ben shook his head. “Well, don’t worry. Being a lady of the manor doesn’t show on you.”

I sighed softly to play along. “I thank ya greatly for saying that. I was starting to get a little worried.”

Ben looked around. “So, where’s your shadow today?”

“Conn and Mulan are off shopping for office furniture. We’re turning the third cottage on the grounds into a meeting place to discuss work. I want to keep it out of my house if I can.”

Ben glanced back at frozen Ezra. “That’s going to be quite the challenge if you keep bringing work home with you and turning it into art.”

My smirk and headshake made him laugh. “Ya were gone, Ben. Was I supposed to dump him off at yer office with no one to watch over him? Ya had to cut yer leave short as it was.”

“I was fine coming back early. But I was talking about Rasmus, not Conn. Did you even hear anything from the guardian?”

I pointed at the stairs. “Yes. He and Zara are upstairs in their rooms. They’re siblings now.”

Ben’s eyes widened as he turned to glance in the direction I pointed. “It was wise of you to take a hiatus from work until your life settles down.”

I nodded. “Plus, Mulan’s parents are coming late next week. I can’t be getting all bloody while they’re here. My hope is I get Ezra out of the foyer before they arrive.”

“What are you going to do if you don’t?”

“I guess I’ll get Henry to cover him with a sheet like they do in museums.”

Ben’s chuckles echoed around the giant space. And he kept them up as I walked him out to his car. I waited until he got in and rolled the window down.

“Can I ask ya something personal, Ben?”

“Of course.”

I stood close to his window. “Were ya on vacation or were ya working when ya left? Ezra was vague about it. Ya have no reason to report yer business to me, but I was worried because ya never said anything about leaving. After Ezra showed his real colors to me, I was concerned that he might have prompted yer departure.”

Ben’s mouth twisted as he looked out the front window. “Ezra was present when I had an emergency come up. He recommended a solution that I thought had some merit so I left to investigate it for a couple of days. That turned into a week the deeper I got into it. One day soon I’ll tell you about it. We might need to break out your emergency booze to get through the story. Coffee won’t cut it.”

I nodded and chose not to tease him. “Are ya okay now?”

“I’m as okay as I can be. I’m sorry I worried you, Aran. Ezra said he would explain and I let him.”

“He deflected attention away from yer absence. Ya might consider that the same thing.”

Ben’s smile was relaxed. “I normally would. I’m still not used to being so deeply involved with my co-workers. Meeting you has changed a lot for me and I’m still processing it.”

“Ya’re fine, Ben. I’m the only one obsessing and ya don’t have to give me details. I just wanted to know Ezra did nothing to ya.”

“No, the fairy didn’t cause me any fresh problems. Go enjoy your time off. I’ll talk to you in a month.”

I nodded and waved as he drove away. As much as I would have liked to satisfy my curiosity, I also dreaded how complicated it would make working for Ben if I knew his secrets. Learning Ezra’s had made me question all the memories I had of my Shadow Breakers work in Ireland.

How much of what we did together did he orchestrate? Given the magnitude of his betrayal, it was hard not to wonder about such things. I’d broken up with him personally but we had remained excellent business partners. Nothing in our relationship could have caused his determination to kill me and carve the stone from my chest. He must have considered me expendable all along.

Everything I learned about Rasmus only made things harder with him as well. The new things I learned about Jack made me hate him more than I already did.

The only exception I could think of was that everything I learned about Conn made me love and respect him more. The same was true of Mulan.

There was a good reason people said ignorance was bliss because it truly was.

Henry caughtme just as I was heading back to my room. I had wanted to switch shoes before checking out the greenhouse Gale was overseeing. The ground was still a muddy mess the last time I looked.