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“Come eat,” Mulan ordered. “You need energy after fighting with fairy.”

“I’m fine. It wasn’t that bad,” I said, frowning at the group.

I was lying. This whole situation was bad, but the last thing I wanted was to rehash what I’d done to Ezra. It’s not like I’d truly expected the fairy to apologize or show some remorse. Maybe I’d secretly hoped for that but I hadn’t let that fantasy get in the way of what I had to do.

I sat in the chair and picked up a sandwich from the plate someone had prepared for me.

Zara stopped eating to stare. It was the first time I saw admiration in her gaze. Her stare made me wary of what she might be thinking. She didn’t make me wait long to find out.

“I have a question, Aran. Was what you did to the fairy an example of your normal work?”

I shrugged as I chewed. Then I opened a bottle of water to drink. After I’d stalled all I could, I finally had to respond to be polite.

Rasmus, Mulan, and Conn were practically holding their breath over what I was going to say.

“We do all kinds of things in our work. The last job was one we were doing for Dylan.”

“Dylan is your shy far darrig friend.”

“Yes,” I said, amazed at how nice the female guardian could sound. Where had the bitter woman gone? “His family relic was stolen and we helped him find it. While doing that, we had three jobs that dealt with trolls who’d committed various crimes. The worst was when we fought a giant snake and had to free a large number of animals from a shamanic troll breeder. Our work varies. We work for the Shadow Breakers. They provide the jobs.”

Why did her sudden friendliness worry me so much? The absence of her arrogant sarcasm should elate me. But it didn’t. Zara was the kind of person who’d stick a knife in yer back after bringing ya coffee. Her niceness likely wasn’t real. It was probably an act.

“I found what you did with the fairy to be both exhilarating and merciful. You could have ended his life but you didn’t. I’m not sure I would have had that kind of control in your circumstances. We all saw him try to kill you.”

I smiled at the rock star status Zara had granted me. “My deal with the fairy was both personal and professional. We were business partners once. Plus, I consider us friends. His betrayal was hard for me to believe at first.”

“And you were lovers,” Conn added.

“Yes, but that was before I married,” I said, clarifying what Conn said. “And I hadn’t seen him in ages. He betrayed the people we work for as well as me. He took out Conn and Mulan before he tried to kill me. The worst thing was when Ezra tried to kill my daughter. I survived due to the divine intervention of a wicked angel named Tony.”

Henry appeared in the doorway with drink refills and cookies. “His name is not Tony. That’s not an angelic name.”

I shook my head. “It’s what he told me to call him, Henry. If I find out differently, you’ll be the first person I tell.”

Henry rolled his eyes as he set down the tray on the dry bar. “Mulan’s family is napping. They asked me to let you know that you’ll need to wait another hour so they can rest.”

I blinked in surprise. “All this trouble is for their benefit and they want us to wait for them to finish their naps? Who Danu’s name do they think they are?”

“I am very sorry, Aran,” Mulan said with a sigh. “They say they must nap to avoid jet lag.”

“They arrived over a week ago, Mulan. Hello. Jet lag doesn’t last that long.”

Henry gave me a stern look. “Eat your sandwich. Have another drink. Enjoy a damn cookie, Aran.You’re supposed to be on vacation.You could at least try not to take things so personally.”

I leaned back and stared at him. “Fine. You’re right, Henry. The jiangshi is not a job—not really. Even if I have devoted all my time to it for days and days, I’ll just sit here with my thumb up my butt until they finish their naptimes like all the other toddlers in the world.”

I glanced at Mulan. “No offense.”

Her sigh was long. “None taken. I know my parents are rude.”

An even louder sighing Henry walked out without speaking to me again. Conn covered his mouth and fought not to laugh. “You sounded just like the dragon mage when you were complaining. What kind of lessons did Zenos give you, Aran?”

I nearly choked on my food. It took guzzling half a bottle of water to clear it out of my throat. Damn that dragon mage. His attitude had gotten under my skin in more ways than one.

I took a few deep breaths until I felt more myself again. “Zenos of the One is a brilliant teacher and an insufferable companion. Apparently, his rebellious attitude is also contagious. I apologize. I’ll apologize to Henry later.”

It was the shock of Zara laughing that had us staring open-mouthed at her. “I’m sorry. Weren’t you trying to amuse us with that confession?”