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The staff vibrated in her hand. I could feel it even where I stood. She nodded at it. “Good. We have understanding then.” She looked at me. “Write down spell. Staff and I are ready now. You chose best mages for yours.”

My lips twitched, but I managed not to laugh. “I didn’t choose them, Mulan. The Dagda did. The stone was his before it was mine.”

“Oh. Handsome ancestor very smart then. If I ever get tired of high demon, I will ride him like stallion and make him love me forever.”

With the visual of Mulan’s fantasy now unfortunately bouncing around in my brain, I hustled into the house. Everything I owned was so technologically up-to-date that my search for pen and paper took far longer than it should have.

I remembered to make sure that the downstairs library had genuine office supplies in stock. Nothing electronic could substitute for boxes of smooth-writing pens and stacks of pristine notebooks.

I ended up using the back of an envelope because it had a blank surface. I carried the spell back out to Mulan. Snorting at my creative solution, she took the envelope from my fingers. She read it several times and then closed her eyes.

I watched her closely. Was she committing the spell to memory?

It wouldn’t surprise me to know she was that good at learning magick. Spells I found in books often took me weeksto learn. I bet her mages had never have done that instant downloading crap to her.

Only because they lack the ability, a masculine voice bragged in my head.

I rolled my eyes without debating the matter. I guess One of The Three was hanging around to make sure we performed his spell correctly.

I cleared my throat to bring her attention to me. “I think we should layer our efforts. One of us will put down her ward first. The other can layer hers on top. If you want, I’ll go first. My mine will sit over the one Ben’s wife laid down. Yer magick is more mysterious here in Salem and more likely to turn attackers away just for its strangeness. I think yer spell should be put on top of mine.”

“You are chaos witch,” Mulan muttered, her tone laced with contempt. "Whatever you say, we will do.”

“Yer staff is not the only one with attitude. What is your problem today?” I finally asked.

Mulan moved her shoulders around. “I’m restless. Pay me no mind.”

“Ya’re all but vibrating,” I said, motioning for her to move a suitable distance away. “And ya’re messing with my magickal juju. Go stand over there somewhere.”

With her troubling energy no longer in my space, I shook my hands and chanted. I made a call to the four elements to make sure I covered every sort of contingency. The words tripped off my tongue and vibrated against my lips.

The magick inside me built until it exploded from my fingertips, spreading like streaks of light across the property, ultimately blanketing every inch of the land we had purchased.

I factored in allowances for the people we worked with, and the ones Henry and Gale let in. I had given both residentguardians permission to come and go as they pleased, including the ones in human form.

Orlin hadn’t returned for a visit yet, but I didn’t want him destroying our wards to get through. And yes, I believed he could do that. The guardians appeared unfazed by the magick I could conjure. They would acknowledge its power if I made them aware of its existence, but I think that was mostly to humor me.

Wondering where my guardians were, I turned and looked up at the third floor. Zara waved from the window. Rasmus was nowhere in sight.

“Show off,” Mulan said from behind me. “Your magick is color of red wine. I envy you.”

I grinned at her. “Yer turn, Wu Shaman. Any color will do as long as it gets the job done. Remember to make exceptions for our guests like we discussed.”

Sighing heavily, as if I’d asked her to clean my bathroom instead of laying down a ward, Mulan trudged ahead of me until she could spin in a circle.

She called nature’s energy to her until it swirled like a tornado around her body. When her eyes shifted from brown to bright gold, I inched farther away from the tornado to give myself room to run, just in case.

She drew in energy through the air and breathed it back out in one long breath. Gold rippled in a wave that went in all directions. The Wu Shaman’s magic covered the land—and my ward—like a comforting blanket. It was the color of green grass.

“Satisfied?” she asked.

I smiled and nodded.

We’d done all we could to prevent another bowman from taking me out.

I tookBen to the firepit for our discussion. I built a communal fire and sprinkled it with cleansing herbs. I also added some cinnamon to soothe the demon side I now knew he had.

“I got your message,” Ben said.