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A very pregnant woman waddled into the room from some hidden passage. I looked at her and smiled. “Ah! Queen Lilith, I presume? Hello, I’m Aran of The Dagda.”

Lilith turned and looked at Conn, whose massive head swiveled toward her. “I would bow and ask your forgiveness, Connlander of the Fir Bolg, but I fear I would never be able to get back up.”

“Lilith,” he said softly in his deepest demon voice. “I’m glad you finally regenerated. It’s been a long time.”

“A very long time,” she said. “Let me finish my apology so I can help you. You were right, Great King, to make the bargain with the gods. I should have listened to your wisdom.”

“Our people live. I still have no regrets,” Conn said.

“Strangely, neither do I,” Lilith said, smiling up at him. “Doing what I did was the only way I could learn the true value of your sacrifice. I was not able to be the female you needed. Did you ever find a demoness who was?”

Before Conn could answer, Mulan stomped over until she could glare up at the woman from two feet away. “Know that I may take him as a lover and I do not share.”

Lilith tried to laugh at the threat, but in the end, clutched her stomach in pain. “Connlander certainly deserves you, Mighty Wu. He also has my condolences.”

Conn’s rumble of demon laughter shook the room and woke the sleeping demons up. They looked at their queen holding her bulging front and then realized a giant Conn was staring down at them. They stayed on the floor, probably not knowing what to do.

I understood their confusion. Mine was as great, but about different things.

Conn used his free hand to bonk our attacker on the head. The man sagged in Conn’s fist. Without him struggling, we could at last talk to Lilith without him hearing us.

“It’s a pleasure to meet ya,” I said to her. “Do ya know who the man is that attacked Rasmus?”

Her gaze flicked to Rasmus. “He should recognize him. He’s the same as him. They call themselves guardians. They want my child.”

“Why? Is it a human hybrid?”

Her gaze dropped to the floor. “I do not know who the father is.”

She knows.The assurance blasted through my head. The bigger Conn was, the louder he telegraphed his thoughts. If I were in her position and facing an old lover who was still angry, I’d probably lie as well.

I looked around and saw Rasmus slowly climbing to his feet. Mulan, having made her claim on Conn, walked over to let him use her staff as a prop.

Then I realized she was carrying the guardian’s curved sword in her other hand. I didn’t know whether to laugh or be afraid. It was half her height and the tip was dragging on the carpet.

“Did ya hear all that?” I asked Rasmus.

He nodded, wincing at the pain the head movement cost him.

Lilith reached out a hand to me. “Help me walk to him,” she ordered.

The demons on the floor gasped as I took her hand. I smiled down at them. “I intend Lilith no harm. I came only to find answers to my questions and to make sure no one took her child.”

“I heard you defending me to the guardian who attacked,” Lilith told me as we moved slowly toward Rasmus and Mulan.

“Yer signature was on one of Rasmus’s compulsions in a very sensitive spot. I found it when I checked him for them. Conn recognized you… and here we are.”

“What is this conflicted guardian to you?” Lilith asked.

“A tormentor. My kidnap victim. Perhaps my friend. We’re working through the details.”

“He is not the father of my child. I never lay with him,” Lilith said, speaking to me instead of Rasmus. “I was paid to lie and I did so. I was paid to place the compulsions. I also was paid to lie to your ex-husband, whose hands are no cleaner than mine. He pretends to be a demon hunter, but he works for the guardians. He aspires to be one.”

“Who are the guardians? And what are they?” I asked, truly baffled by my lack of knowledge.

“They are a group of extraordinary humans who plan to rule all creatures. They killed many of my people in a way that will require centuries for them to regenerate. We remain uneasy business partners, but I did not understand the depth of their evil natures. Now I hide from them to protect my child. The guardian you captured was here spying on us.”

“Given how unreasonable the man acted when he saw us, I can see why you’re in hiding. Was he here to report when you gave birth?”