Page 17

I put a hand on my chest and sent my gratitude to the mages of the stone, particularly to One of The Three. True to his word, he’d healed me faster than I would have said was possible.

A mild vibration tingled my fingers in response to my whispered gratitude. I sighed at the drama of it all, but things could have gone much worse.

Henry brought in several pizzas that evening for dinner and arranged them on the bottom of our enormous king bed. Rasmus propped himself on the pillows beside me, his long legs folded under him.

Everyone else carried in chairs from the sitting room.

Conn looked me over. “Are you sure the being you met wasn’t a near-death hallucination?”

“The mages in the stone were as real as you are, Conn. The one I talked to said he exists as a light being. I don’t exactly know what that means, but I know it’s a thing.”

Mulan stopped eating and sighed. “Since Aran talked to it, shaman staff never shuts up. It is as bad as nagging family was. There is no peace now. I must clear house energy every day.”

I ate my pizza in silence. There was nothing I could add. The light beings of the Wu Shaman’s staff always spoke kindly to me. I had no clue why they were giving Mulan a hard time.

I looked at them all. “My scheduled vacation time is nearly over. Ben would probably give me an extension, but I’ve had enough of this chaos. I’m ready to do something normal, like chase a troll down or bust up a dark coven of witches.”

“That’s fine, but you still owe me a date,” Rasmus said around a bite of pizza.

My mouth twisted at the reminder. “We’ll have weekends still, and there will be downtime after we close cases. I’m sure we can work a few dates into our schedule.”

“That’s all I needed to know,” he said and went back to focusing on his food.

Rasmus had taken care of me non-stop since I’d gotten shot. I couldn't justify teasing him about his one meager ask of me. He was trying to court me and wanted to be more than my bed partner. I appreciated his efforts, as any woman would.

Zara waved her half-eaten slice of pizza in the air. “Would your witch friend talk to me about her husband’s talisman? I understand her magick differs from yours, Aran.”

I chuckled at the thought of Felicity Benson and me being friends. “She’s not really a friend, but I’ll ask her. I’d like for her to talk to you as well. Maybe she’ll do it because she feels bad about destroying our property.”

“Thank you. I’m excited to learn her secrets.”

I smirked, knowing for sure the female guardian spoke the truth with those words. Zara soaked up magickal knowledge like a sponge. It was the application of that knowledge that concerned me. Rasmus would need to keep close tabs on that conversation if it happened.

I turned to the one person I always called my friend. “Have ya recovered from yer family visiting, Mulan?”

“Yes. Good riddance, they are gone,” she said, wiping pizza sauce from her mouth. “Brother-in-law makes them treat me with respect now.” She grunted in disgust. “Family fears my Wu Shaman power, which is improvement over their disgust.”

“So, are ya ready to get back to work?”

“More ready than you, witch. You still look near death. I can go back to hair shop if I get bored. It is no big deal to me what you decide.”

I grinned at her rant and looked to the demon who loved her. “What’s yer vote about going back to work, Conn?”

“I just hang around for the food,” he said to make me laugh.

And that’s what I did. I laughed at myself for having felt the need to even ask. “I guess I’ll call Ben tomorrow then. Where’s Dylan?”

Conn grinned. “The far darrig had a date tonight.”

My eyebrow arched. “Well, that’s nice. Is it with anyone we know?”

Conn dabbed at his still-grinning mouth. “Sort of... she’s one of Gale’s people.”

“Are ya talking about her DNA people or Gale’s demon tribe?” I asked.

“Both, actually,” Conn said with a chuckle. “Her name is Rachel.”

I chuckled at the idea of Dylan mustering up the courage to date a demon. “Well, I did push on him to be social. He needs to make new connections after his parents sent him away.”