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The wolves hung their heads and went to lie on the sleeping pallets she’d made for them. They each licked Fiona’s hand in thanks before settling down.

“I’m sorry you’re going through this,” Fiona said to them in her softest voice. “If anyone can fix you, my Mom can.”

Her compassion didn’t surprise me, but her complete faith in me did. It was hard to speak for the lump of emotion stuck in my throat.

“I don’t know what I can do for them yet, Fiona. The spell that turned them was in an unfamiliar language using strange magick. And I know for sure that the original spell caster isn’t going to help me.”

“But you’ll try, Mom, and that’s what matters right now,” Fiona said.

I nodded. “Okay. Yes. That’s why I brought them here. I plan to try and figure it out.”

And though I’m sure the demon wolves wouldn’t feel the same, I also had to try and save the warped magickal being who did this to them.

Sometimes even the bad guys needed saving. I’d learned that hard lesson from dealing with all the guardians. Orlin, my arse of an ancestor, probably would be proud to hear it.

I left Fiona in the garage saying goodnight to the wolves. I heard Conn and Mulan murmuring behind their closed bedroom door. I imagined they were in there talking about the new house.

I eyed my bedroom door with longing but needed to wait up for Ben to get back to me. I wouldn’t rest properly until I knew those captured women had been released. Mulan had dropped my backpack on the couch. I retrieved it and stashed it in the closet for safety.

My phone was still in my hand. Staying up for a while was my only choice and I needed to keep busy to stay awake.

When I got to the kitchen, I found Rasmus sitting with a cup of tea in front of him.

“I hope that’s herbal or ya’ll be up all night.”

“It’s herbal. Would you like a cup?”

I nodded and slid into a seat.

He rose quietly and assembled my cup of tea. “I just turned the kettle off. The water should still be hot enough.”

He slid the cup of tea he made in front of me along with a jar of honey. Next came the spoon that he’d forgotten and with it a napkin.

Finally, he sat again and faced me. “You found the missing women. Isn’t this where your task would normally end?”

I leaned over my cup. “Zara could come after us any minute. Or she could forget about these people and kidnap more innocent women. This task will not be over until she’s stopped.”

Seemingly unsurprised by my answer, Rasmus absently nodded.

“Have you ever killed someone to stop them?” he asked.

“Yes, but mostly I’ve killed beings who could regenerate. There is little guilt for it when ya know they’re coming back. Now and again, I go after some who don’t regenerate. Those deaths linger in my mind as failures because I couldn’t talk them into mending their ways. As I’ve told every version of ya I’ve met, I strive to keep a balance that allows the majority of beings to go on living as they choose. Sometimes that means taking the life of one that keeps choosing to hurt others and refuses to be talked out of doing so.”

“Are you a believer in human reincarnation, Aran?”

I nodded. “Only because that’s the only thing that makes sense to me. Energy changes but never goes away completely. It merely transforms. Even human science has proven that.”

“Then isn’t it reasonable to accept that those humans you have killed will also one day return?”

“Are ya making a point here, Rasmus? Because I’m too tired to think this hard about things that don’t change what I have to do tonight and tomorrow.”

Rasmus chuckled at my complaint. “I guess I don’t see how you can do what you do without getting cold-hearted with the criminals you come across. From what I’ve seen, the only person you’ve been cruel to is Jack.”

“Jack is bordering on being one of those beings who refuses to stop hurting others. If his guardian father doesn’t do something to change his view of things, I may have to kill him one day. He’s already confessed that his intention to control my power was in his head before we married. Maybe I even let him believe he was actually doing it because I did a lot to keep peace between us. But the truth was always very different. He needs to accept that he will never control me.”

“Can you see yourself being friends with him one day?”

“No. I see myself being cordial to him at Fiona’s wedding and maybe at the hospital when she delivers a grandchild to us. Beyond that, I want that man out of my life for good.”