Page 40

I tried again to get my brooding Wu Shaman bestie to talk to me. “So what do you think of our demon caretakers?”

“I think nothing of them,” Mulan said as she walked away from me and my questions. “Which way to troll lair? We need to work fast here. I have more chores waiting.”

I pointed toward where the lair was supposed to be. Mulan walked ahead of us, turning her baton into her staff while she was moving. After I heard her turtle shells clacking, she sped up and soon outpaced Conn and me.

Shit.She was mad at both of us

Dealing with an angry Wu Shaman was not something I needed right now. Conn had gone too far with his teasing yesterday.

When she was a good distance ahead, I turned and smacked his arm. “Ya big idiot,” I hissed at him. “Ya went too far with yer jokes yesterday and made her mad.”

Conn rubbed his arm and glared at me. “This is not aboutmyparents. It’s abouthers. She tried to talk them out of coming but they won’t change their minds. Then she tried to delay them but they won’t delay their visit, either. She’s mad at the world because she doesn’t know how to stop them from walking all over her.”

I grunted in disgust. “Are they her parents or her tormentors? Goddess bless, Bridget O’Malley. Ma gets insistent but she also knows when to back off.”

Conn smiled and shrugged. “Mulan’s father is decent enough to her. It’s the women in her family who are the problem. All three of them—Mulan included—are constantly fighting to control the other two. Her mother and sister are nowhere near as powerful as she is. Neither is her father. I think Mulan only gives in to keep from killing them.”

I wanted to laugh at Conn’s conclusion only because he was right. But this was not the time to be amused by Mulan’s pain. Between hooking up with Conn, helping with my work, and going through the big move to our investment property, Mulan was understandably at the end of her rope. As her friend, my job was to help her tie a damn knot in it that she could hang on with.

I glanced over at Conn. “What if we discreetly put demon compulsions on her whole family while they’re here? Surely there are a few things left in storage we can sell to pay Lilith to do it.”

Conn’s low chuckle held approval. “I love your new wicked side, Aran. You continue to surprise me. Why don’t you ask Henry and Gale to do the compulsions? They’d do it for free.”

I straightened as I gave his suggestion some serious thought. Finally, I shook my head. “Henry would think I was too weak to handle them in any other way. No, I’d rather pay Lilith. She wouldn’t judge me as much.”

Conn rolled his eyes. “I thought Henry and Gale would be a pleasant addition to our eclectic family group. Was I wrong?”

“Are ya ever wrong?” I asked with a grin.

“Not really—no,” Conn answered in his most sincere tone.

I laughed at his arrogance, which usually served him well. The king of demons hid it from most people or cloaked it with charm. With me, Conn tempered his confidence with compassion for my human thinking. He annoyed me often but I would never ask him to change. An arrogant Conn kept me on my witchy toes.

And this was why I smiled at him. “I think I’m going to hold off forming any opinion about yer parents for a couple of years. I fear it will take that long for me to win them over.”

We walked in silence for a bit. Mulan was nearly out of sight now. I knew she’d find the lair without the coordinates so I didn’t bother to send them to her phone. It would be good for her to have to ask if she needed them. I couldn’t let her brood about Henry and Gale coming to live with me for as long as she’d brooded about sleeping with Conn.

“Why is everything in my life so complicated?”

Conn gave me a disbelieving look. “Is that a rhetorical question or do you truly not know the chaos that comes from all of us striving for your high ideals?”

I decided to overlook Conn’s snark. “If I can’t compel them, they can stay on the second floor of the main house where I can watch them. I’ll also ask Henry and Gale to hire some extra help during their visit to take care of their demands. Mulan told me the oldest daughter serves the family in her culture. I refuse to let her waste her time waiting on them like a servant. That would be even worse than their rudeness.”

“You’re being a loyal friend, Aran. Your suggestions may appeal to Mulan more than the one I made.”

I chuckled at his admission. “Goddess, I’m afraid to even ask.”

Conn grinned. “I told her to put her family in the stables with the demon wolves. There are several open stalls not being used. You need practice with your transformation spells anyway. I suggested she ask you to turn them into donkeys or mules while they were here.”

“I guess that explains why she’s glaring at ya.” I grinned at Conn’s cheeky smirk. “Are ya aware of any artifacts that aid transformations?”

Conn shook his head. “Shifters are born human and their bodies remember that form throughout their life. They experience a natural DNA mutation shortly before the first time they change into their inner beast. The rest of us who shift between forms do so using only the magick we carry inside us. Demons, dragons, unicorns, and many other ancient creatures, are born as the creatures they are. We teach ourselves to shift into a human form.”

I recalled that from my studies but I was glad Conn mentioned it. Rasmus had explained his shifting process many times but my brain still struggled to accept that guardians only wore their human form like it was an exchangeable set of clothes.

I shook thoughts of Rasmus away because what guardians did wasn’t important to this current discussion. And I refused to waste time every day wondering where he was and what he was doing.

“Dylan said he was looking for a relic that belonged to his family. He said it allowed the magick wielder to control animals. He told me St. Patrick used the relic to drive all the snakes out of Ireland.”