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My answer was a shrug and a smile. “If my trust is important to ya, I suppose I could work on it as part of yer agreement to help me.”

He laughed as he rose and left. I looked over at Rasmus who was staring at me instead of glaring at the werewolf’s exit. “I know—I know. Ya still don’t like him.”

“Correct, and I just realized why. He’s genuinely interested in you, not that you give him much encouragement.”

I picked up my coffee and drank. “Because he’s not my type.”

Rasmus leaned on the table. “Am I? Or are you just pretending to like me?”

Chuckling at his male insecurities—a bad habit I blamed on Jack—I rose from the table and walked to the door. I wasn’t playing hard to get or playing stupid. If he couldn’t tell from kissing me, or deduce my interest from my brutal honesty last night, then what kind of romantic relationship could we have?

It was too complicated to answer such a question with words. He was my third version of himself. Was I supposed to be developing a favorite Rasmus out of the three? Did he want to be my favorite?

I had no time for such nonsense. I was already upset to be doing what I decided in the middle of the night had to be done.

Two choices existed with the information I needed. If I jostled the memories of one, my actions would reveal my intentions to the guardians. I couldn’t risk undoing their mind-erasing work. The other choice made me mad at the injustices of this world, but I’d survived that for years. If he messed with me or didn’t help, I’d do worse to him next time I compelled him.

“Let’s get Conn. I need to get the next nasty task done as soon as possible. If I hesitate, I’ll be changing my mind. Plus, it might take us all afternoon to gather what we need. Maybe Ben can help us put together our elixir.”

“What are you planning to do?”

“If things work out, I plan to make a guardian forget who and what she is.”

“How is that possible?”

I stopped on the street and stared at him. “Do ya remember being one?”

Rasmus made a face. “Forget I asked the question.”

I resumed walking. “It was a legitimate question, but I don’t think what Orlin and his brethren did to ya is anything like the drugs Jack and his military scientists gave ya. Both worked, but the drugs were less reliable about stifling yer nature. I need to stop Zara and make her forget her plans for the women.”

“Won’t she eventually remember the same way I did?”

“Probably, but I’ll work that problem out later. What I know for certain is yer kind—all the guardians—can’t be killed. Or at least killing ya doesn’t make ya dead. Ya regenerate like demons do.”

We found Conn and Mulan in her office. Conn was on his phone and Mulan was packing up boxes of personal items. “Are ya moving out?” I asked.

“I gave manager raise and more work. This is her office now. I work only one day per week.”

“Yay! We’ll have a party when ya move in with us. Maybe we’ll barbecue like normal people. I’ll buy a grill.”

Mulan rolled her eyes. “I am done packing. What torture have you planned for today?”

I blew out a breath and crossed my arms. “I have to remove the demon compulsion from Jack. I need him to tell me what was in that cocktail they gave Rasmus. I’m talking about the first version of Rasmus—the one we freed.”

Conn and Mulan looked at Rasmus. He sighed at their stares. “Aran and I talked. I believe I’m Version 3 from her point of view.”

Mulan shook her head. “You said you would set world on fire before removing compulsion from ex-husband.”

I frowned at the reminder. “That was before I met a female guardian with worse man issues than I have. She can freeze humans. What else can she do? We know guardians can’t be killed. Even if I managed to wound Zara, that doesn’t mean she couldn’t kill me afterward.” I shook my head. “No, I can’t risk fighting her and losing.”

I looked at Rasmus who was standing next to me. “I don’t fight trolls for the same reasons. Physically defeating a troll takes more power than I can afford to expend while protecting myself. Stealth and cleverness are better weapons with guardians as well.”

I glanced back at Conn and Mulan. “It takes a full guardian in guardian form to stop a guardian of any sort. But we know Jack and his cronies overwhelmed Rasmus and successfully drugged him. As the drugs wore off, Rasmus began to remember what he was. Drugs aren’t a real solution to stop Zara, but they might slow her down until I can convince Orlin to fix all the female guardians. Or maybe offer Zara some real help.”

Conn looked at me. “Do you need Lilith’s help to break the compulsion on Jack?”

I shook my head. “No. We set Jack’s compulsion so I could undo it if I ever chose to. As much as I hate removing it from the bastard, I need the old conniving Jack back. Orlin will be happy that I caved. Fiona might be as well. She says Jack doesn’t feel like her father anymore. I hate setting him free, but I don’t see another way. Do either of ya have any better ideas?”