Page 69

When Conn shook his head, she said something in demon language to several of her people. They ran out of the room.

“I have a set of handcuffs that might hold the guardian. They once kept a powerful witch I know from breaking free of them.”

My eyes flashed, remembering the cuffs I’d worn, but I managed to hold the scream of rage that wanted to burst out of me. “How long was Jack doing business with yer kind?”

“With my caste? A decade or more. With others, from the very beginning. His loyalty is to no one but himself. I’m surprised you never saw that truth in him.”

My shoulders rose and fell. “I had a child with him. Everything I did was to protect her.”

Lilith nodded. “That’s understandable,” she said.

Two of her people rushed back with the cuffs. I took them in my hands and clipped them around my wrists. Lilith watched me with a stunned expression.

I muttered softly and the handcuffs popped open. I removed them and handed them to Conn and Rasmus to lock onto the wrists of the mysterious guardian.

When I felt the future demon queen staring harder me, I lifted an eyebrow at her curiosity. “EverythingI didn’t dowas also to protect my child.”

ChapterTwenty-Three

It seemed no one had heard of guardians. I couldn’t ask Jack or Fiona, but I asked Ma and whoever else in the family answered their phone.

I would have asked Mulan, but she’d taken her curved sword and left us.

My biggest regret about the evening is that I’d forgotten to ask Lilith about my cousin, Liam. Hopefully, Lilith would continue talking to me, even though everything I’d learned only confused me more.

The cuffs successfully subdued the guardian, but they also kept him knocked out. We locked him in one of the rental home’s bedrooms.

After a shower, I went to grab some food and fix some tea. I found Rasmus sitting at the table with his head in his hands. It was nearly eight and we’d have to leave in a few minutes in order to make it there on time. I’d already scheduled our ride to drop us off at a bar close to the park. The plan was to go back there afterward and order a ride home.

Why wasn’t Rasmus happy? Everything happening was exactly what he said he wanted.

“Rasmus?”

“What if Lilith is right? What if I am like that sword guy we captured? She called me a guardian.”

“Are ya afraid Conn and I will have to subdue ya once ya remember yerself?”

He snickered without humor. “I’m more afraid you’ll hate me and that I might also hate myself.”

I scooted out a chair and sat down across from him. I stuck out my hand—yes, the one with King Solomon’s ring on it. He laid his large hand across mine.

“She called yathe conflicted one, which means ya aren’t a total bad guy. This means I will never hate ya completely. We’re frenemies.”

He snorted and tightened his grip. “You have to be the strangest woman in the world.”

“Yes, so ya’ve said many times. I’m not trying to be strange on purpose. If ya perceive that I’m different, it’s because I’m following my witchy destiny. What would happen if ya discovered ya were a demon?”

“I don’t know.”

“Right. That’s my point. None of us ever know what we’ll become when life exerts the pressure of big changes on us. But the fundamental stuff never goes away. Think of yerself as a good guy and see what happens. Ya’re a good man inside but also a grouch who sees the worst in every situation.”

“Says the woman who can’t say a nice word in the morning until she’s had two cups of coffee.”

“Ya’re loyal when ya think ya have reason to be. A compulsion can only magnify what is already there. Ya had to have some good feelings for Jack for them to be able to compel ya to support him through thick and thin.”

“You are a nutcase, Aran. You’re playing matchmaker for a Wu Shaman and a bound demon.”

“Imp—the proper term to describe Conn is imp. He’s an Imperial Demon.”