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So I understood what Gale was saying. She considered Conn the best of hers. If buying this place had reunited Conn and his parents for five years, I was completely happy to have spent my life savings on it. “Ya don’t have to do a thing to be here. Conn deserves to see ya and I’m glad we could make it happen.”

“You are too generous for your own good, Aran. A bored demon is no one’s friend. We’re training our caste and conducting our business under your roof. The least we can do is reciprocate. Caring for you is much easier than you imagine it to be. Henry and I have served people most of our lives in one form or another. Work takes nothing away from our life together.”

“Do ya promise to tell me if yer caretaking becomes too hard?” I asked.

Gale smiled and nodded. “Henry and I will always tell you when we need something.”

“If ya truly feel that way, then I’ll quit harping about my ego problems with living like someone wealthy. I’ll learn to say thank ya without cringing. Ya have my word.”

Gale snorted and shook her head. “Think of yourself as living in a school where the students only get an ‘A’ if they please you. Does that make it easier?”

“No. That still sounds like I’m taking advantage of them, but I’ll try hard to get used to it. Dinner was great. The drinks were fantastic.”

In the foyer, Gale chuckled and put her hand on my arm before I turned left to head to my quarters. “Praise and a household budget is all we need.”

I smiled and said goodnight to her. There was spring in my step as I headed to my bedroom.

When I entered my space, I found a hole cut into a wall and a hanging door that slid over it to separate the spaces. The two rooms weren’t a full set of quarters yet but I saw progress every day. I slid the door open to see what else had been done.

In the sitting room, someone had already removed the heavy drapes over three windows that were taller than Rasmus. Without the distraction of stuff filling the space, the fireplace showed itself in need of a good cleaning. Walls that hadn’t seen sunshine in ages revealed themselves to be dingy and gray with age.

I was so ready for white paint and window coverings that let in the light.

And I was excited about buying new furniture. Henry was helping me create a cozy space inside the huge house.

After contributing to the monthly budget for Henry and Gale, I’d buy furnishings with the money we collected from finding Hisser.

Chapter Eighteen

Smoke from my new fire pit wafted up through the trees. I added some naga-made incense, hoping it would guide me to faster answers. Hisser wasn’t a naga but his shifter species was in the same family. I thought of Jayesh, who was a naga, and how much I liked him. Thinking of Jayesh put my energy in a good space and kept down the fears of what I might see.

After making all the preparations I could, I lifted the scrying necklace Sarah Templeton had gifted me and eased it down over my head. I’d stopped wearing it as jewelry after my fight with Zara. It randomly showed me people, things, and situations whenever it pleased. The visions nearly always sent me to the floor, which is why I opted to sit near my fire pit instead of standing.

The necklace was more powerful than my crystal ball and not nearly as easy to control. But I had to use it. Today, I needed the strongest scrying tool I possessed. Hisser didn’t want to be found or he’d have sought me out already.

I closed my eyes, focused on breathing, and released my essence so the scrying necklace could guide it. I felt myself drifting upward through the opening between the trees before shooting off at a speed that alarmed me.

When I finally slowed, I was in a cave where a giant off-white egg lay on a nest of straw and moss. A wild-eyed witch sitting by the egg felt my presence and jumped to her feet. She pulled an alder wand from her robe and swung her body in a circle as she searched the surrounding air for me. The woman seemed a little wild. Or perhaps a bit insane.

“I know you’re here, spirit. I feel you. You will not harm my master.”

Who was the witch protecting? Or should I be askingwhat?

I floated over the egg and noticed black speckles adorned the shell. Then I realized something inside the egg moved as if my presence was electrocuting it. It stretched as if trying to escape and I was shocked it hadn’t broken out yet.

I sensed a snake creature in the egg but it didn’t feel like Hisser. Had Hisser produced a child?

I floated around the open room of the cave, inspecting the egg from multiple angles. Its writhing never stopped. I got the distinct feel that the creature inside the egg knew I was there and was trying to break out to get at me.

I shook my head, puzzling over what I was seeing and what it meant.

Suddenly, I zipped away from the cave. When I slowed down again, I floated through woods I didn’t recognize. A short distance away from where I floated, I heard voices speaking. I struggled to move closer but something kept preventing me.

I put my hand out and felt a surface. There was an invisible wall that wouldn’t let me pass.

Giving up trying to get closer, I focused on the four people talking. All of them wore black robes. The tallest figure had his back to me. He talked to the others but in a low tone that I couldn’t hear. The others—witches most likely—revealed themselves by lowering their hoods. I could see heads nodding. No one was familiar.

That vision ended when I was yanked away from the scene. Instead of moving forward, I felt myself shooting like a rocket straight up into the sky. Eventually, I did level out and flew through the dark straight into a metal wall that melted to allow me to enter.