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Conn stared hard at me. “I don’t know if Rasmus is involved or not, but I do know about Zara. I feel power from her whenever she’s nearby. She’s undefeatable, Aran, even in human form. Trying to reason with her is a fool’s errand. It’s like trying to reason with a god.”

I shrugged within Conn’s grip. “Don’t ya think I know that? The whole point of my visit is to try to win her over to my way of looking at things. I don’t expect to change her mind completely, but I do want to make her stop and think about how she’s hurting her victims.”

Conn shook his head as he let me go. “She might be able to kill you with a thought.”

“Yes, she might be able to do a lot of things to me, but I don’t think she will. The dead bodies and the rescued women have been in the news for days. If getting even was her plan, she would have done it already.”

“I’m not so confident,” he said.

I rolled my eyes. “Orlin and I argued in front of her. She knows I’m not her enemy. She knows I have a similar view of Orlin’s machinations. Can’t you appreciate that I’m being optimistic?”

“You’re in denial, Aran. You stole the demon wolves Zara created. They were her life’s work during the last century,” he pointed out.

“I rescued two full humans who got turned into demon wolves against their will. And that’s going to be my story no matter how mad she gets. I’m the heroine and she’s the villain. I’m not giving them back.”

“Are you not afraid for your life at all? What about mine?” Conn asked.

“If she moves forward with her plans, more women will die or be turned. Governments will hire her to turn their citizens into controllable creatures. She’ll teach all those with dark magick how to create monsters and our work will never get done.”

Conn blew out a breath. “And how would that be any different from what we do now?”

I patted his chest. “If I let myself fear what I’m compelled to do, I would be rocking in some corner mumbling to myself. I have to try.”

“Fine. It’s been my honor to serve you during your brief life, Aran O’Malley.”

“Ya’re always so dramatic when I don’t heed yer warnings. Go sit in the car, Connlander. I’ll call out if I need ya.”

His demon chuckle told me my order fell on deaf ears, but I shoved that aside as I braced for my visit.

I touched the spot where The Dagda Stone was buried in my chest and drew on its power. It wasn’t the same as wearing Conn’s mantle, but it charged up my witching energy until my fingers tingled. I wiggled them and watched them spark. Next time Jack came sniffing around, I was going to use him as a test subject to see what my sparking digits could do.

I headed into Zara’s hotel hideaway and had the front desk people phone the penthouse suite. As I expected, she cleared my entrance immediately. She wasn’t there to greet me, which was odd. But then she was very odd, so how could I be surprised?

“Zara?” I called out as I moved further into the space.

She didn’t answer me, but I knew someone was here. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have made it beyond the main floor lobby.

Plus, I could feel her energy. Like Rasmus, she radiated a lot of it, even in her human form. Her power rolled and pushed against me the way ocean waves lapped against the shore.

I padded past two bedrooms with tall, four-poster beds that I’d need a stool to climb up on.

Finally, I came to a balcony. We were fifteen stories in the air, but it was made more private by large ceramic planter pots overflowing with greenery and scented blossoms. The space wasn’t large, but it evoked a love-at-first-sight reaction in my gardener’s soul. If I survived battling a guardian, having this kind of space would move to the top of my must-have-in-my-home list.

Zara sat on a large round pillow, sipping something from a cup. Her serene gaze lifted to me and she smiled a sad little smile. Her calm, dejected manner was not what I’d been expecting at all.

“Sorry to show up without calling. May I join ya?”

“You don’t have to bother being polite, witch. I know why you came,” she said, then stood up as gracefully as a ballerina.

Every male guardian I’d seen was handsome, but the female version was astoundingly beautiful. Whoever created these beings was a genetic artist. And I felt positively ancient next to the woman. I couldn’t roll over in bed without my muscles complaining. Her ease of movement intimidated me as much as her beauty did.

Then I remembered her youthfulness came at the expense of some young woman losing her own life.

What if a powerful being like Zara had picked Fiona to use for that purpose? My heart hardened toward her instantly. I couldn’t like her. I couldn’t. I was drawn to her, but I could never support the things she did to survive.

She silently led me back to the center room off the elevator where I noticed two small sofas facing each other. She sat down on one of them and motioned me to the other.

Once I was seated, I lifted my gaze to hers. “Ya may think ya know my purpose—and ya may know some of why I’m here—but I came only to talk to ya, Zara. We both know ya can’t truly be truly defeated. And I concede that I could die by yer hand at any moment. But I was hoping you’d be impressed enough by my bravery to chat with me before we start fighting.”