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Rasmus blinked in shock.

I rolled my eyes. “Well, I’m glad I’m not the one paying the insurance on her car and I’m glad he didn’t buy her the Lamborghini. At least Jack gave her something that won’t get her ass kicked at university.”

“Five cars?”Rasmus repeated.

I gaped at the amnesiac demon hunter. How was Jack’s love of toys a problem when Jack putting me in prison wasn’t?

Compelled or not, Rasmus defied my understanding of males. I’d never met one like him.

I stood, carried my dishes to the dishwasher, and looked at the boys. “Tidy up when ya’re done. If Mulan comes to the house, I don’t want her finding a mess.”

“Is she coming?” Conn asked, looking almost cheerful.

A corner of my mouth lifted. I doubted the Wu Shaman would do anything I asked at this point, but I would invite her along just to keep Conn balanced.

“My instincts are humming,” I said to him, not really answering.

A horn beeped outside, which told me my ride to the hotel had arrived.

“I’ll find my own way home later. Don’t wait up,” I told the men.

“You could have driven the car,” Rasmus said a grunt.

And risk being tracked to the hotel where my family was hanging out? No thanks. But I smiled at the offer.

“I don’t know how long Ma will keep me there. The two of ya might need to make a fast escape before I return. It’s best I leave it for ya, just in case.”

Rasmus nodded but didn’t look happy.

I waved goodbye before the door closed behind me.

* * *

Ma wasawake and Fiona had just left. If I believed in guardian angels, I would have said one was definitely looking out for me, but I followed a different path in my faith. Mine stretched backwards in time to before people counted time like they do now. I saw myself merely as the latest servant of one of the many gods looking out for all of us. The work I did was done by many before me and would go on long after my time ended.

“Are ya sure using the ring is a good idea, Aran?”

I nodded to Ma’s question before putting it into words. “I don’t need to use the ring in the literal sense. I’m hoping the mere sight of it resolves things peacefully. Seven years away has lessened all demons fear of me. They see me as weaker instead of stronger because I let myself be put in prison. I need an edge so I don’t end up wiping out an entire caste simply to remind them of who and what I am.”

“Alright then, violent daughter. Ya were the one who was chosen by The Dagda. I have faith in yer intentions.”

“Yes, but I don’t serve the power of the ring, Ma. We both know Da was chosen as the backup guardian. They always pick someone of another faith to do so, and I don’t think I’m the proper candidate. I will return it to ya for safe keeping after I’ve settled things down. I can’t believe the ring hasn’t drawn another champion to it yet. Da’s been gone for a good while.”

“An angel will bring someone here when the time is right. I’m more concerned about other things. What if the power of the ring doesn’t work like Celtic magick? What if it conflicts with yer witching spells? Ya might encounter bigger problems than if yer bluff fails.”

I laughed at her concerns. If ya needed to put a label on what I believed, I suppose I was a modern pagan. All I knew about other beliefs was what I’d learned in school. The ring belonged to the mystery schools of Arabia. Da’s explanation was that the ring belonged to King Solomon of Israel by a god who gave him not one ring to control demons, but two of them. I guess Conn and the version of me at that time didn’t travel globally.

I smiled to reassure my mother. “If anything bad happens from my plan, I guess I’d head to Rome to have a talk with the new owner of the original ring.”

Ma huffed. “You’ll not find that person in Rome, girl. People there would slit the person’s throat to get at its power. Judgers don’t accept that such power only can be used by the one chosen to use it. While walking on this plane, the original ring’s guardian is reduced from being an angel to being a human. He’s going to be as vulnerable as ya would be without The Dagda looking out for ya.”

I thought of The Dagda and the years he trained me. It made Ma’s theory even more believable. “I humbly accept that neither of King’s Solomon’s rings would ever work for me, Ma. Hopefully, the sight of it will scare the demons out of their secrets, even though I’m starting to think the evil behind all of this is totally human. We both know evil humans are a far worse problem than demons making mischief.”

“Yes, we know that. Alright, then. I’m done trying to talk ya out of it using it.”

Ma reached into her shirt and pulled out a polished silver chain with three precious rings on it. The first was Da’s wedding band, which she put on there after he was cremated because his energy lingered on the gold still.

The second was a ring Da’s mother—my paternal grandmother, and as I learned, Conn’s previous keeper—had given Ma when I was born. I didn’t know what my grandmother’s ring did, but as a child, I used to ask Ma to let me wear it. Ma always said she’d let me wear it one day. That never happened back then. I figured I’d get it the day my mother left this world for the next, along with her and Da’s wedding rings.