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Rasmus chuckled. “Maybe I share a brain with him.”

I snorted at his statement and shook my head. “Sit wherever ya like, Rasmus. How do ya take yer tea?”

“With some honey, if you have it.”

Which was the way he’d taken it when we first met. I frowned as I turned back to the stove. Once the kettle was on, I pulled mugs, honey, spoons, and plates from the cupboards.

The front door opened and closed. My daughter bounded into the kitchen and held up her hands. I could see she was excited. “Mom… I found theperfecthouse.”

I gave her a small smile. “We’ll have to discuss it a bit later, sweetie. Right now, we have company—I havebusiness company.”

Fiona’s startled gaze dropped to the back of Rasmus’s head. “Oh. Sorry.”

I waved away her regret. “Ya didn’t interrupt anything important. I was just making tea. Do ya want a cup?”

“Yes, please. I’d love a cup of tea,” she said, walking around the table.

I watched as Fiona pulled out a chair and sat. When her gaze landed on our visitor, her eyes widened in surprise. Forgetting her manners, she pointed at him. “Mom? Is that...?”

I held her gaze. “Rasmus looks a lot like our old guardian visitor, doesn’t he?”

My daughter was quick thinking and had a deadly aim with words. “He looks enough like him to be his son. It’s shocking.”

“Yes, I thought the same,” I said, setting my tea preparations on the table.

Fiona continued to stare and I said nothing else. I’d gotten beyond staring, but barely.

Rasmus laughed nervously under her gaze. “Did you like the guy who visited or did you hate him? Because I can’t tell from the way you’re staring at me.”

Fiona’s gaze finally dropped. Clearing her throat, she focused her attention on her tea mug. “Our visitor was a friend. One day he disappeared and never returned.”

His curious gaze sought mine out and lingered. “Did you consider him a friend as well, Aran? Do you still miss him?”

My daughter’s gaze rose to us, and then she chuckled. “Of course, she misses him. He and Mom were more than just friends.”

My eyebrow lifted at her summary. “Obviously we weren’t, since we weren’t friends enough for him to stick around.”

The new Rasmus looked as confused as ever. He needed to get used it because the rest of us were going to stay in shock for a while. And Mulan hadn’t even seen him yet.

“Connlander, tea’s done,” I yelled down the hallway.

Rasmus laughed. “Are both you and your brother demons?”

“No. I’m a witch with unique powers. And Conn is an imp.”

“So he’s an imperial demon then.”

I looked at Rasmus in surprise. “Yes. Conn’s an imperial demon and the high king of all demonkind. He shows himself as my brother because I consider him family.”

“Did your family adopt him?”

Fiona giggled as she stirred honey into her tea, but I ignored my daughter’s amusement.

“That’s close enough to the actual explanation, which I might or might never share with ya. So don’t be asking about it yet.”

Rasmus held up both hands to acknowledge my resistance.

I looked at my daughter. “Are ya doing okay, Fiona?”