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“Conn put cameras in his place. We’re watching for his return. He’s got a room full of tiger cats and a couple of other creatures. The enormous snake is the most concerning to me. I sent ya photos. Ya need to hire a paranormal animal specialist.”

“I saw the photos and I’m doing my best. Don’t hate me but we may have to put them down.”

“Do not say that in front of the Wu Shaman unless ya want to be cursed. She rescued a mutated kitten and I can’t convince her to give it up.”

“Has it transformed yet?”

“No. Rasmus slowed the transforming process but it’s still going to happen. She’s carrying it around with her to keep me from touching it.”

“If you have to kill it, Aran, just do it. It’s dangerous.”

“Yes, I know, and I’ll take care of things if it comes to that. I’m only telling ya about it because I wanted ya to know the kitten’s not out in the world running loose. Yer troll whisperer would have weaseled its existence out of him, and then ya would send us out to look for it. We don’t have time for that sort of nonsense.”

“I do trust you, Aran. I know you do the right thing even when it’s hard.”

I grunted in his ear. “Wish I could say the same about ya, Ben, but ya keep hiding things from me.”

“Well, you know all my secrets now.”

Since I hated people lying to me even by omission, I jumped on the only opening Ben had ever given me to question his background. “Except ya still haven’t told me why the Shadow Breakers asked a fully human male to run their branch here. The only reason I haven’t pressed ya for a real answer is that Ma raised me to respect a person’s magickal privacy. But if ya expect me to follow yer lead about these jobs, Ben, then ya need to tell me why I should.”

I waited through the longest hesitation yet.

“I’ve known for years that magick was real. My wife’s an Obeah sorceress from the Caribbean.”

“Yeah, I know what that magick is. Are ya a sorcerer as well?”

“No. I was born human and grew up in Texas. How do you know about Obeah? It’s regional to where she was born.”

His surprise made me grin. “Just like in yer fantasy fiction stories, I went to a school for magickals. It always fascinated me that there were so many kinds. I think remembering the information comes from being related to The Dagda. I remember spells too. Once I do a spell, I never forget it.”

“My wife and I met when I sought her help with a problem I developed while serving my country. I was visiting her area of the world while on medical leave and our paths crossed accidentally. She knew what was going on with me without me telling her anything. I didn’t know whether to kill her or kiss her.”

“That must be why we get along so well. We share similar tendencies toward our lovers. The military mad scientists turned ya into some sort of monster, didn’t they?”

There was a long pause and then a sigh.“We’ll talk about the details over beers one day. The short version is that my wife solved my problem and I no longer change. I didn’t marry her out of gratitude so don’t think that was the case. It took me two years to woo her away from the harem of men who served her. She’s older than me so it took some convincing to get her to leave her sorceress life and come live with me.”

I chuckled at the revelation I hadn’t asked for but enjoyed learning. “I suppose that means ya’re as good in bed as ya looked like ya would be.”

“That’s sexual harassment, Aran O’Malley. You’re the worst employee ever. Thanks for the compliment, though... and yes, I am that good.”

My laughter was loud. “Ya’re not the first to say I’m nothing but trouble. And ya don’t need to worry. If I was that desperate for a male, I’d give the fairy a second chance before I hit on a married man, especially one with a wife who could curse me. I know without asking that Ezra is still single. He’s waiting until he turns six hundred before he even thinks about settling down.”

“How old is he?”

“I just told ya. He’s not six hundred yet. Ask him yerself if ya’re that curious,” I said, chuckling as I answered. “Thanks for telling me yer story, Ben. I suspected Jack’s mad scientists got to ya.”

“No, my experiment happened years before Jack’s time. The results back then had a higher mortality rate. They gave their serum to seventy of us who’d been gassed during a military assignment. We were all in quarantine and dying anyway, so we had nothing to lose. As far as I know, I was the only one who survived. Since I helped incinerate the bodies of most of those who didn’t make it, I suspect it’s true. It was why they had me working with your ex in the beginning. I put in for retirement when I discovered some of the people they used weren’t willing subjects. When you rescued me and my new team, I decided that would be my last assignment. Someone in the system double-crossed me. I may never know who.”

It was probably Jack but I couldn’t prove that now without risking the wrath of Jack’s guardian father. Jack would never confess without being compelled to do so, so Ben was right in that he’d likely never know. I moved on to the obvious to lessen the tension of the conversation.

“So ya weren’t as surprised by my magick as ya pretended to be when Conn and I visited.”

“What surprised me was how easily you conjured fire in your hand. My wife told me other kinds of witches controlled natural elements but you were the first I met of your kind.”

I could have talked to him for hours, but there was still work for me to do. “I hate to cut this fascinating talk short but I need to go. Yer new collectors have arrived... and the whisperer is with them.”

“Ask your questions of the troll and copy me on his answers.”