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I stared hard at him. “Because they are evil. Ya can tell yerself some hopeful story about Zara’s innate goodness if ya want, but I talked to her woman-to-woman. A tsunami is less determined than she is about her goals. She fancies herself the creator of anevolvedhuman species. Something might shock her into understanding her wrongness one day, but by then, it will be too late.”

“She knows we will never allow her goals to manifest completely.”

“Setting aside all the other centuries she roamed around unchecked, recently ya allowed her to kill five innocent women and turn two others into demon wolves. Ya knew she was doing that but ya stood by doing nothing to stop her.”

“We could not be certain her actions weren’t meant to be.”

“That’s a weak excuse, especially since ya know Zara hates all male guardians for how they treated her. She also said something about all the female guardians being created sterile while the males were made with the ability to reproduce. That’s a whole other resentment and another reason for me to have sympathy for her. Face it, Orlin. Yer creators screwed up big-time with the females. Suck it up, admit it, and for Goddess sake,fix them.”

Orlin rubbed his forehead. Guess I’d officially stressed him out, but what did he expect?

“I won’t be able to help you once Zara engages you directly,” he said.

I crossed my arms again and glared at him. “Ya didn’t help me before. Why would I expect yer help now? Ya willfully let my ex-husband put me in prison and capture Rasmus. What I expect from ya is to be left alone to find my own way around the troubles ya drop into my life.”

I uncrossed my arms and made shooing motions with my fingers. “Ya can leave now. I’m sure ya got bigger things to do than involve yerself in than my life. Maybe ya want to go help some evil dictator oppress his or her people so ya can destroy them all later. Maybe that will make ya feel better. Goddess forbid that compassion grows too much. Humans might actually learn the value of being good to each other if that happens.”

I turned and walked off.

“Aran, I wish I could make you see things from my perspective.”

I turned around and walked backwards so I could face him, but I kept moving. “I can’t respect a man who doesn’t own his mistakes. And whether ya like it or not, Orlin, what ya did to the female guardians was a mistake.”

“Aran, you aren’t going to reincarnate as your own grandchild. Please reconsider the potentially fatal action you’re about to take. I won’t be able to prevent your death no matter how much I might wish to do so.”

I hesitated at the door, but only for a moment. “I’m sure word will get back to ya if Zara ends my life. If I live, ya’re welcome to return. I won’t lie to my daughter or hide ya from her like my parents hid ya from me. Ya’ll have to excuse me now, though. I have more important things to do than stand here arguing about things we’re never going to agree about.”

ChapterTwenty-Six

Zara didn’t show up as I expected. Instead, she sent her demon posse to invade my backyard. I called Conn’s mantle, dropped a cloak over the area, and walked out to meet them. It was late afternoon.

I called a red demon sword into my hand as I exited the house. With it came a breastplate of gold. I felt The Dagda Stone throb in response to my stress.

Chin lifted, I headed to the demon standing in front. He was in human form, but through Conn’s mantle, I could see his true form resembled a shaggy brown bear with grayish horns.

He wore a magickal artifact around his neck that looked similar to the one I’d hung on Rasmus. I’d have to be sure not to touch it directly when I cut off his head.

“Greetings, daughter of The Dagda. We have come to offer you one last chance to hand over Mistress Zara’s property.”

“The wolves are not anyone’s property. They’re humans trapped in a form. I think ya know that as well I do, especially since demons don’t like staying human for long.”

“Our mistress is a more powerful magickal than you. This is a fight you cannot win. Killing us will not stop her.”

“No, but killing ya might slow her down a bit. Has she compelled ya to aid her?”

“She is a goddess to us. We serve her without being compelled.”

I snorted. “How fortunate for ya. That means ya don’t have to do this. It would be wise of ya to reconsider.”

Conn appeared at my side in demon form. His golden crown gleamed atop his head. He expanded in size until he stood as tall as the house. I attached my cloak to the power in my wards. The wards would stay in place while I was using the bulk of my power elsewhere.

The demon in front of me expanded his size as well. He didn’t reach Conn’s height, but his ability to shift his form to a being fifteen feet tall meant he was an imperial demon—another royal like Conn.

Whatever Zara promised him had to be good to get him to do her dirty work.

Even when I knew a demon fight was inevitable, I always tried to reason with the ones we faced. It irritated Conn that I did it, but over the years he’d gotten used to my reluctance to fight until there was no other choice.

I had a couple of successes that attested to my tongue’s ability to settle things peacefully. “What do ya hope to get from fighting us except yer death?” I asked.