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Rasmus must have thought he needed to prove it to me because he stopped asking questions after that. In fact, he remained totally silent as we made our way out of Salem.

* * *

I rolleddown the window as we coasted to a stop at the security gate entrance of the Abundant Life Temple. A guard dressed as a monk walked out of the guard shack to greet us.

“Welcome. Do you have any weapons, drugs, or alcohol on your person?”

I smiled at him. “Oh, hello there. I remember ya from the other day. I’m back to visit my friend again.”

He sighed when he heard my voice. My accent tended to make me memorable to most people. Usually, it was my size people recalled, but the guard couldn’t see how short I was in the car.

“Let me ask again in the language you understand. Do you have any weapons, drugs, or alcohol todeclare?” he asked with some snark.

It made me all kinds of happy that he remembered our original exchange. “I have none of those. All I brought with me today is a couple of strange men.”

He narrowed his eyes and bent to look at Conn. “Isn’t he your brother?”

“Yes, he is. Ya’rereallygood at this guard thing. I hope they appreciate ya.”

He ignored my comments and peered into the back seat where Rasmus sat. “Who’s the guy back there? Is he your son?”

I knew I didn’t look that old.“Goddess, no,” I said with feeling, keeping a firm grip on my temper so I wouldn’t unleash it. “That’s Rasmus. He’s my new boy toy.”

“Why is your boy toy riding in the backseat?”

Conn leaned down and smiled. “Because I called shotgun. He gets to ride up here on the way home.”

The guard backed away and sighed. “Visiting hours end in thirty minutes. Residents need time to prepare for evening prayers. Please leave promptly.”

“Oh, yes. We’ll leave as promptly as we can. Thank ya for being thoughtful enough to remind us.”

He waved us through the gate with a sweep of his hand.

Conn chuckled as we rolled forward. “Your sarcasm was showing big time back there.”

“The monk guard gave us the finger after we drove through,” Rasmus added.

I chuckled at that news. “My pagan side gets the better of me at times.”

Rasmus grunted. “You have a strange sense of humor.”

“Strange is better than having none at all,” I said as I parked.

When we got out, I turned to both of them. “Now, when we go inside here, please let me do the talking. Most of the helpers are women and ya’re both too male for this place.”

“Too male? What does that mean?” Rasmus asked. Then he looked at Conn. “Should I be offended?”

“The word you want to use isflattered,” Conn said. “Feel flattered and do as she says.”

I walked to the entrance where we were greeted by an older woman. She glanced at the men behind me. “We’re here to visit the Wu Shaman. We won’t be long. Yer guard told us visiting hours are nearly over.”

She shook her head. “I’m sorry, but she’s not here.”

Conn pushed his way around me. “But she was here, right?”

The woman backed up to stare fearfully at him.

I patted Conn’s arm and shoved him behind me. “Sorry. My brother wasreallylooking forward to seeing her.”