Page 65

“I’ll fix my hair and wear mascara. That’s the best I can do. It’s been a tough week.”

Mulan sighed. “You do not female well.”

“Rasmus thinks I female wellandhe has the bite marks to prove it.”

“Good. There may be hope for you yet,” Mulan said, giggling as she pulled me in for another tight hug that nearly took my breath away. “Thank you.”

“Helping is what friends do.”

“I wish you were my sister.”

I hadn’t seen that comment coming but I felt the same. If I’d had a sister, I could only hope she would have been as cool and fun as Mulan.

I smiled at her. “We’ll have to be unofficial siblings because I’m never letting yer family adopt me. I’m not as nice as you are,Mulan. Ya know I’d kill them all in their sleep if they nattered away at me the way they do with ya.”

When Mulan hugged me tightly again, we collapsed into each other giggling.

Henry’s throat clearing had us breaking apart. “Excuse me, Goddess Aran.”

“Ya just had to get that jibe in, didn’t ya, Henry?”

His grin was wide. “Yes, but I have an important message for you. Your boss has been trying to reach you all day. He finally got hold of Dylan who messaged me. He says the matter is urgent and you need to get in touch as soon as possible.”

I sighed as I untangled myself from Mulan. I couldn’t seem to get more than two minutes of happiness for myself. “Will ya drive Mulan’s family to a hotel tomorrow, Henry? I’m officially kicking them out of the house since they officially kicked her out of their family. They’re strangers to us now.”

Henry chuckled. “It would be my pleasure to get rid of them—I mean, todrivethem.”

I smiled. “Can ya have someone drop me and Rasmus off downtown tomorrow before ya do that? We’re going on a date and Dylan still has my car.”

“Of course. Or you could go car shopping tomorrow and get a decent one. The one Dylan is driving could be our loaner to friends.”

“And where would I get enough money for a new car? This place isn’t cheap to run.”

Henry smiled. “Conn tells me his investments have done quite well lately. He said he put enough money for a car into your account but that you’d not see it unless he told you about it. I didn’t believe him yet now I can tell it’s true. You need a full-time keeper, Aran. You’re far busier than any CEO I’ve ever served.”

“I have one. Conn is my keeper.”

“Because he has no choice. You need more than just him. He has Mulan to worry about as well.”

I grinned at Henry. He used to only refer to her as the Wu Shaman. Now he was using Mulan’s name. That was good progress because the woman needed to revise who she considered to be her family.

“Are ya hinting about me asking the guardian to take me on? I don’t think he has the right stuff.”

Henry smiled. “It’s not really a hint. It’s more like a recommendation for your own good.”

Dylan burst through the front door, saw me, and ran my way. “Did you call Ben yet? He said there was a gorilla loose in downtown Salem. I bet he wants us to catch it. Can I go on this one? Animals are my specialty.”

I shook my head. “Why do I have to go after it? Does the word vacation not mean what it used to mean?”

Henry chuckled. “Not when it applies to you. I’ve given up as well.”

Pointing my finger at him in warning, Henry’s laugh followed me as I went to find my phone.

The joke was on my demon caretaker because I no longer thought of Conn as my keeper. Nor did I see Rasmus taking the job since Zara was so high maintenance.

The truth was that I thought of Henry and Gale as my keepers now. It was their fault for feeding me so well. They also did my laundry, changed my bed, and brought me coffee in the sitting room every morning. Conn had done none of that. He just nagged me to make my own coffee and wouldn’t let me speak to people until I’d had a sufficient amount.

I finally found my phone hiding in the bedcovers of my unmade bed. It was in shambles after spending the night with the guardian. I’d been too late getting up to bother with trying to sort it out.

Sure enough, there was a typed message from Fiona and a gazillion more from Ben. Or maybe he’d sent ten. I didn’t count them but the notifications filled up my entire phone screen. That was simply too many to read so I didn’t bother. I preferred a more direct approach.

Hating myself for giving up my time so easily, I sat on the bed, said a quick prayer of thanks for today working out, and returned his call.

Ben’s phone rang and rang, but he never picked up.

With no other choice now, I went to the messages and started reading.

—THE END?—