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She looked at me and blinked innocently. “Why is he not King Dagda? Or Most High Dagda? Are the Irish not reverent with their royals?”

This was the moment where I usually came up with something slightly incorrect just to prank her, but I couldn’t joke with The Dagda sitting in my kitchen. He was here to help me. As promised, he had come when I called.

So I sighed and did my best to explain. “The Dagdais what we call him and what he was always called. I suppose it was because he was the most important person ever given the name of Dagda. And he will be visiting until we settle things with the female guardian. I have no timeline for when she’s going to show up and try to kill me for stealing her captives.”

Mulan shrugged off my ranting and kept staring at my new guest. “His people are myth now. Is he king of anything not imaginary?”

I pondered that before answering. “The Dagda is the historical king of my ancestors. We talk to him respectfully when he visits.”

Mulan snorted at my answer. I couldn’t really blame her since she’d heard me being mouthy to the entire house when I had to wait on a new pot of coffee to brew before getting my second cup.

Did her commentary about The Dagda border on rudeness in my opinion? Yes, but normally I would enjoyed her bluntness. I suppose The Dagda was my one exception.

“Your giant man with big laugh is notmyancestor so I will not use his title. I will call himDagas Connlander does.”

My irritated sigh was loud enough to get the men’s attention. I looked guiltily at The Dagda. “For the duration of your time with us, may we all call you Dag?”

His laughing gaze moved to Mulan. “Is yer Wu Shaman confused about how I fit in with yer odd group? Because the feeling is mutual. I’ve been wondering the same about her.”

I smirked at him. “It’smygroup, Lord Dagda. I’m the only one who gets to say who’s odd.”

Mulan smacked my arm. “That is not a respectful tone to use with one’s ancestor king. Are you playing jokes on me?”

The Dagda’s grin was wide as he answered. “Aran’s unending desire for control has always shouted that she was one of my own.” Then he glanced over at Conn. “I bet the Wu Shaman keeps ya on yer toes.”

“No, I do not,” Mulan said loudly as she glared harder at The Dagda. “Is your vision impaired, Dagda of the Mythical People? Connlander is twice my size. High Demon keepsmeonmytoes.”

The Dagda’s eyes widened before he burst out laughing. When he calmed, he apologized to her between chuckles. But of course, he didn’t mean it.

When I got her alone later, I would tell Mulan to tread more carefully around him. One does not provoke a god without suffering for it. I’d learned that the hard way during my training, but maybe the Wu Shaman hadn’t encountered the wrath of a god yet.

“I’m going to go shower,” I announced before making a strategic retreat.

ChapterTwenty-Four

Showering gave me the alone time I needed to think things through. My idea about confronting Zara seemed a tad crazy when I spoke it aloud to the bathroom walls, but the wet tiles didn’t suggest any others.

Rather than wait for the female guardian to decide to attack us, I had decided to go talk to her. Yes, I would be armed with only guesses about her powers, but I distinctly remembered Zara leaving on two legs from the auditorium when Orlin ordered her to depart. Her human form had no wings so she wouldn’t be flying away from me. Hopefully, she couldn’t—or wouldn’t—magickly transport. Following her in that manner would take too much energy and not leave me enough reserves to fight.

Leaving the house at all was a risk, but my sense of fairness made me feel there was no getting around this direct confrontation. I had to at least try to reason with her about her wicked plans. She’d been human for a very long time now. Perhaps her mind could be changed.

If I’d been The Dagda or Rasmus or Mulan or Fiona, I would have tried my best to stop me. That was why I’d told no one about my plans.

Well, almost no one.

Conn looked at me and frowned. “This is a terrible idea and I can’t believe you swore me to silence, especially with The Dagda visiting. I can’t believe he intended me to be more loyal to you than to him. Just look at the trouble that rule is causing me.”

“Ya’ve been whining since we left the house, Conn. Are ya going to whine in the grocery store later? I’m sorry Rasmus is getting all the man-attention from The Dagda today. He’s more fascinated with the guardian being human than I am.”

Releasing a long breath, Conn grabbed my arms and held me in place so I’d pay attention. “I’m not worried about The Dagda and Rasmus. I’m worried because the female guardian you’re so determined to talk to is angryanddemon-shit crazy.”

I grunted at the obvious. “So are most of the supernaturals we meet. What else is new?”

Conn stared me down. “The Dagda says it’s possible the other females have regenerated and are being held captive by the male guardians. He thinks Orlin and the others are watching her progress on the Earth to see how she handles things. The male guardians think all the female ones went mental. You can’t prove they’re not wrong.”

The thought of the other female guardians being prisoners had me frowning. Could that really be true? If so, I was going to disown my guardian grandfather for good.

“Do ya think Rasmus is part of that plan? Do ya think he’s supposed to distract me from seeing the truth of things?”