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“Have ya killed any bad guys lately, Aran?” Ezra asked with a grin. “Because I’m guessing the answer is no.”

I turned to Ben and ignored Ezra. As I faced him, I lifted my chin. “Shifter criminals often suffer from psychological issues like human criminals. Hisser is a sociopathic narcissist who comes across as perfectly harmless until he coils up in his shifted form and strikes. His poison stops yer heart, which is why I took that completely away. He’s still dangerous, though, so we need to catch him quickly. Ezra’s right about him coming after me. Since I’m already bait, ya might as well assign the job of finding him to me.”

Ben nodded but frowned at the news. “Don’t you think assigning a separate unit of people to watch your back might be a better solution?”

“Well, I wouldn’t say no to that support but they’re risking their lives. If Hisser shifted to escape, he also might have restored his poison.”

Ben’s hand went to his own throat. Eventually, it dropped, and his gaze fixed on me. “Your ex-husband is asking me to hire him.”

“It’s him or me, Ben. Ya can’t have both of us. No matter his parentage, his skillset is primarily human. Jack’s going to run into the wrong being one day and they will end him quickly. I nearly killed him for screwing up his genetics beyond repair.”

Ben shrugged. “Those are good points but keeping him working might be more helpful. Isn’t he paying child support?”

“I went to prison when Fiona was a teenager, Ben. She’s twenty now. Alimony and child support never applied to me.”

Ben snorted. “I keep forgetting that he was the one responsible for your incarceration.”

My mouth twisted. “And I will never forget... or forgive.”

“Jack Derringer is a crack shot and damn clever. Maybe if he got away from his previous employers, things might look different to him. Your ex-husband got recruited straight out of college.”

I grunted. “Tell me something I don’t know. Jack married me because controlling my power was a freaking assignment. Do ya know what he used for justification? His employers wanted to kill me before I discovered my true purpose in life, but he convinced his military employers that marrying me was a better way to throttle my magick. He could save me a hundred times over and it would never give me back even a fraction of the twenty years I did my best to love him. He’s a loathsome man and I’m done with him. Don’t bring this debate up again.”

Ben’s sigh was loud and filled the silence that had fallen during my rant. I looked at Rasmus who stared at the ceiling as he waited his turn to browbeat me with excuses for his behavior.

Today was one of those days where I hated men. Last night’s golden sparkles had metaphorically faded into me picking dead glitter pieces from my hair.

I looked back at Ben and glared at him for making my day more miserable than it already was. “Ya aren’t the first to defend Jack’s miserable existence to me. I have to deal with it from my daughter because she loves the bastard that helped create her, but with Goddess Danu as my witness, I swear I will kill him if he double-crosses me or mine again. And no... I won’t train him. His recently found father can do that for him. If ya want to see how ruthless I’ve become, keep shoving Jack under my nose and see what happens.”

Rasmus sighed and joined the sighing of the other men.

Ezra now watched me with wide eyes. I’m sure he recalled the optimistic girl I once was—the one who’d bragged about how Jack’s lovemaking was everything wonderful in the world. Well, I wasn’t that girl any longer. Jack had killed that part of me with his blind ambitions and had used my child to blackmail me.

Silence fell again. This was normal after I stopped ranting about Jack.

But every time I thought I was free of him, someone came along and defended him like I had been the bad guy for divorcing him.

Conn’s stifled laughter and Mulan’s stifled giggling eventually penetrated the awkwardness I’d caused in the living room. Their amusement defused my rage. I was tired of entertaining them with my Jack rants. I was tired of talking about Jack like he was still part of my life.

I rubbed my forehead again. “Write up the paperwork for Hisser. If ya have any more bad guys to catch, send those assignments over as well. I’ll sign and return the ones I think we can do.”

“Are you needing money that badly?” Ben asked.

“I’m buying a house. I will need as much work as I can get to pay the bills once we move into it.”

Ben nodded as he opened the door.

Ezra paused before leaving to look at me. “No matter our species, Aran, we males share some common flaws. The worst one is that we rarely see how good a woman is until she’s no longer part of our life. It was good to see ya again. May the goddess guard yer back against Hisser.”

I nodded and did my best to smile. “Thanks for warning me of the danger, Ezra of Airing Dale.”

Ezra stepped close to me and smiled. “If yer heart ever softens enough to give me another chance, I swear on my ancestors that I would not leave ya hanging. Ya’ll be happy to hear that I took yer advice to heart and made it a point never to leave a lady wanting. Yer an excellent teacher.”

“Stop it,” I ordered, dropping my head to hide my blush. His knuckle lifted my chin as he chuckled. “I’m all about second chances, Ezra, but not the kind ya’re hinting at. I have better things to do.”

His gaze lifted to look behind me where Rasmus hovered. “So I see,” he said, grinning before he walked away.

I ignored the door closing behind them and turned toward the kitchen. I also ignored Rasmus following me quietly without saying a word.