Page 6

“I’m going to take my tea to my bedroom, which I happily won’t have to share for a while. If I’m lucky, I might get to grab a nap.”

Looking resigned, Conn sighed and held up a hand to stop me. I opened my mouth to yell at him to move but the words died on my tongue when the doorbell rang.

I shook my head. “I’m not answering it. If a new version of Rasmus shows up, someone is going to die.”

Conn looked over at Mulan. “See? She’s fine.”

The back door slid open. The demon wolves trotted inside. They came over to sit in front of Conn and me. There was no sign of The Dagda.

I sipped my tea and glared at the door when the bell rang again. My head shook from side to side. No way was I checking it. If it was one of my neighbors, I’d let the wards fry them. If it was Jack, I’d call an energy sword and lop off his head. If it was a new Rasmus, no one would be safe from my wrath.

Conn snickered, which turned to full-out laughter when I kept shaking my head in denial.

The back door slid open again. The demon wolves turned their heads to watch Rasmus enter, but they remained near Conn. He looked the same, except for maybe looking guiltier than usual.

The doorbell in front of the house rang multiple times. Whoever was there was determined to get us to answer.

I handed my tea to a confused Conn and called an energy sword. With it blazing in my hand, I turned and headed toward the door. Rasmus gripped my shoulder and pulled me backward, which caused Conn to laugh until tears streamed.

With wide eyes, Mulan eased around my sword and made her way to the door. She cupped both hands around her mouth before yelling at the door. “We have no time for company. Come back later.”

The bell ringing instantly stopped. Mulan turned around, smiled brilliantly, and waved to my weapon. “Problem fixed now. Put away sword.”

My mouth quirked at the edges. The woman was incorrigible. I loved her to death.

A still laughing Conn set my tea on the table when his phone loudly dinged with a message. Whatever he read made him laugh even harder. His chuckles were getting on my nerves. He was laughing too hard to talk. It took him a full thirty seconds before he could calm himself enough to speak.

“Ben says it’s really important that he see you today. He has a Shadow Breaker rep from Europe with him. They need our help.”

My sigh was loud and morphed into an unhappy growl. I reached up and pried Rasmus’s fingers free of my shoulder. He blinked in surprise at my action... or maybe because he hadn’t released me yet.

The guardian seemed dazed by the chaos he’d walked into. Bully for him because I resented how much humor Conn enjoyed at my expense but I could never do much about it.

I glared up at my hit-and-run guardian while letting my sword fade away. Since it for sure wasn’t a new version of him at the door, I stomped over and opened it. Ben looked at me and then beyond me to where Conn sat and burst out laughing again.

Since fair was fair, I looked beyond Ben to the man standing behind him. His pointed ears were on full display. He seemed not to care, much less notice. The male fairy didn’t look a day older than he had when Ezra and I had trapped a bunch of trouble-making trolls in a cave.

“Hello, Aran O’Malley. Ya’re as charming as ever, I see. I could smell the energy from yer sword from outside. Were ya planning on taking off yer employer’s head?”

“Ezra.” His one name was all I could utter. I reached up automatically and smoothed my hair into place. “I’m sorry that I never had time to say goodbye before I left. Two weeks didn’t allow me much time for anything but packing.”

Shrugging, Ezra grinned at my apology. “Someone I cared about once explained to me that married women followed their husbands. It made me grateful I didn’t have a female in my life who wanted to tag after me every bloody place I went.”

“Aran and Jack are divorced now,” Ben announced, waving a hand in front of Ezra to stop him from asking questions. “Let’s talk about that some other time. Aran gets testy with people who don’t acknowledge her non-marital status.”

“That’s enough, Benjamin. Ezra isn’t interested in my status. Why are the two of ya here?”

Ezra’s wicked smile bloomed. “Well, I could make both of us interested if ya would give me another chance.”

“Another chance?” Ben repeated, turning Ezra’s simple comment into a shocked question with his tone.

I glared at Ben. “Ezra and I didn’t end our relationship because of my marriage to Jack. I wed someone else because Ezra and I were done and over. The why of it is none of yer business.”

Ezra chuckled. “But I recall ya told me we weren’t done. I figured that was the true reason ya gave up on me. Make up yer mind, woman. Males are easily confused. Goddess, I’m happy to see ya.”

I frowned when my neighbors peeked out of their windows. I was already in enough trouble with the neighbors. Buying demon compulsions would eat into the money I needed to buy the house.

I stepped away from the entrance and waved my hand. “Come inside if ya must. I’m in the middle of something important, but it would be more embarrassing talking to ya on the street until ya went away.”