Page 61

“What is wrong with high demon?” Mulan demanded.

“High demon?” I asked, smiling at the term.

Mulan waved off my question. “This is what my people call demon king.”

“Oh,” I said. “Well, the queen of the demon caste I need to find is an old girlfriend of Conn’s. He seems to be letting her slip under all his radar. Maybe he’s doing it on purpose or maybe he’s not. I can’t tell because he gets depressed at the mention of her name. I know Conn has a thing for ya and I was hoping ya might distract him.”

“High demon has thing for many women. I’m a short nothing in his eyes.”

“It’s true that he enjoys them,” I said, because it was true. Conn did not practice celibacy. “But he sincerely likes ya, Mulan. He respects ya. He was married once and that lasted a century. He is a loyal lover when motivated to be one. I think ya could be competition for his ancient interest in Lilith.”

“This Lilith is now demon queen?” she asked.

I nodded. “And she’s very pregnant with what could be the first demon-human hybrid born in several millennia.”

“Who is human father?”

I blew out a breath. “Rasmus. Or so he was told.”

Mulan rubbed her forehead. “Such a child would have rights in both worlds—maybe power over both. Maybe villains have plans to use demon baby for big mischief.”

“All that could be the case, but there’s more happening here.”

“Nothing is simple with you.”

“Ya’re not wrong,” I said, smiling at her. “I suspect demon hunters want to steal the child. Or at least, that’s what I’m thinking. The demon queen is as old as Connlander of the Fir Bolg, but not as powerful because she declined to serve out Conn’s bargain with him.”

“What is plan?”

I shook my head. “I don’t know yet. All I know is that I have to disrupt what I do know even when I don’t know what it means.”

Mulan shook her head. “You talk complicated too.”

Smirking was unavoidable. Not many could juggle my life. “I also think they’re using Rasmus to track me. I think they want me to lead them to the Lilith which is why they let me out.”

Mulan dropped her hands and stared. “Do you intend to save demon baby?”

“Yes... and the mother too. The problem is that Lilith has enslaved a bunch of demon hunters for reasons I don’t know yet. So I have to free them from her. Ya could say that all of this is a hot mess to sort out, and ya would be right. It’s not even clear who needs to be chastised and who will need to be destroyed. Also, there’s a level of corruption within the demon hunter group. My ex is knee deep in it.”

Her jaw dropped open. “You lead VERY complicated life. How do you sleep at night?”

I chuckled as I shrugged. “Here’s one last thing. The demon hunters imprisoned me to keep me out of the way for seven years. They let me out just in time for that demon child to be born. I don’t believe their timing was a coincidence.”

Mulan turned her back to me and paced. People walking toward us saw her and crossed the street instead of passing by. The Wu Shaman must have quite the reputation in this neighborhood. Why did knowing that make me smile?

“Who is paying for this work?”

I blew out a breath. “No one. I have no client.”

“Rasmus is client.”

“No. He’s merely a pawn in the game,” I said.

“Thenyouare client. Or maybeConnlander of Fir Bolgis client.”

I burst out laughing. Conn’s expression would be priceless if I announced that Mulan considered him her client. “Given that I want ya to distract Conn from his old girlfriend, I guess Conn is sort of yer client. Personally, I’m going to consider ya my partner-in-crime.”

“A Wu Shaman does not commit crimes, but I will not mind a temporary partnership with such powerful witch. If there is profit, we will share equally the wealth of it. Do you agree to my terms?”