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I chuckled at Isaiah’s attempt to be poetic. As if conjured by our discussion, Conn walked into the coffee shop with his hands in his pockets. Maybe neither he nor Mulan were done brooding, but I was sure tired of them doing it. I had too much drama going on with strangers to keep worrying about the emotional problems of family and friends.

I smiled at Conn. “Let’s go to church this afternoon and do something about this.”

Conn looked startled, but then grew serious. “Are we going to track down the New Jersey caste just so you have someone to fight? Look, Aran, I know you’re unhappy with your personal life right now, but if we both go there in our current moods, we’re going to do some real damage to them.”

“Is that my cue to leave you to talk business?” Isaiah asked as he stood.

I nodded and smiled as I rose from the table. “Thanks for coming, Isaiah, and for bringing yer men. I’ll keep ya posted.”

“You lead a fascinating life, Aran O’Malley.”

“I know. People tell me I’m fascinating all the time, but they call it a bunch of other things too.”

A grinning Isaiah lifted a hand in farewell as his long legs took him to the door.

When he was gone, Rasmus glared at his exit. “I don’t like that guy.”

My shrug revealed my total lack of caring, but I wanted to be clear. “No one asked ya to like him, Rasmus. All ya need to know is that I need him and he’s helping me with this case. So as yer trainer, I’m informing ya that whether ya like him or not is irrelevant.”

His nod was brief and his jaw was tight. “Understood,” he said.

I looked back at Conn, who’d been watching our exchanges. “Sorry, Conn. What I meant to say wastemple, as in it’s time we go visit the Abundant Life Temple where the current love yer life is hiding out. If we don’t get stuck in traffic leaving Salem, we can make it before visiting hours end this evening.”

“Do you think it’s wise to invade her private time?”

I chuckled. “No, but it’s what a good friend does. Mulan’s being an emotional coward. I’d be a lousy friend if I didn’t poke her into taking action. In case ya missed my point, ya’re the stick I’m planning to poke her with.”

“Is that a dirty joke?” Rasmus asked.

Conn snickered before answering. “No, it’s a pun and something friends would do to torture each other. But tell me, Aran of The Dagda, how can you drag the Wu Shaman’s imperial demon boyfriend to a place full of spiritual fanatics and expect things to go well?”

I hooked my arm in Conn’s and walked out of the coffee shop with him. “Oh, I don’t expect it to go well at all, Connlander of the Fir Bolg. I expect this will create an unforgivable hot mess that Mulan will resent me for creating for quite some time.”

Conn chuckled. “Then she’ll be mad at both of us. What good will come of that?”

I shrugged. “Mulan will know we care.”

Conn’s deep demon chuckle startled everyone listening—everyone except me. It made me happier than I could say. To find the ultimate magickal being I saw in my vision, I needed Conn functioning at one hundred percent, not his current ten.

“We could use the Wu Shaman’s help with our search. That’s going to be our excuse when she asks why we’re there, but it’s also true.”

“Who are you talking about?” Rasmus asked from behind us.

I chuckled. “We are talking about the Wu Shaman of Conn’s dreams.”

Rasmus grunted. “What’s a Wu Shaman?”

Conn shook with silent laughter as we walked to the car. I cleared my throat as loudly as I could before launching into a professorial tone. Too bad Isaiah wasn’t still around. I’m sure he would have laughed at me too.

“A Wu Shaman is a magickal being from China who is trained to cast out demons and make crops grow. The demons here in America are fairly well-behaved, though, so our Wu Shaman doesn’t have that sort of work. But she does have her uses. For example, the Wu Shaman is the best baker of brownies in all of Salem. Fiona and I are growing desperate for another batch of them. That’s why it’s time the Wu Shaman and Conn mended their differences.”

“Your road trip cannot be about brownies. You’re joking, aren’t you?”

I chuckled. “No. What I’m trying to do is teach ya to wait and see. Everything I said about her was true, but that dribble doesn’t begin to explain what is great about Mulan. Ya’ll have to meet her to understand.”

“Okay. I can be patient,” Rasmus said.

“Can ya now?”