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“No, the dagger is from me. The message is from my brother. He always was a polite male. Ezra wanted me to tell ya goodbye if I ended up killing ya.”

I fought the wrenching pain from the stab wound as best I could. “The two of ya are giving all Fairy Folk a bad name.”

Then suddenly, Rasmus was there. “No. Thisis nothow you will die,” he said to me.

I tried to laugh at his stern pronouncement, but the pain in my stomach kept me grimacing instead. Whether or not Rasmus liked it, I was going to die wondering what on earth the guardian meant.

Ezra’s sister swore aloud, turned, and sprinted across the foyer. I watched her running and wished I could stop her.

“No!” Rasmus said, his guardian voice booming with command in the space.

His words made my ears hurt. Raw guardian power vibrated in them, and he hadn’t even shifted his form. Goddess, no wonder one word from Orlin had shattered my eardrums. Could Rasmus do that kind of damage as well?

Conn was right. Rasmus was dangerous.

Ezra’s alleged sister—and my fairy assassin—froze mid-stride at his command. Then she turned as if she had no choice and moved back toward us, all without her feet seeming to touch the floor. She struggled to free herself, but her efforts weren’t working. Her limbs seemed to work against her. I thought it was fairly amazing that she was even aware of Rasmus using his magick. I don’t think I would have been.

When the fairy slid within touching distance of us, Rasmus put one hand on her and the other on me. I heard a rushing sound in my ears.

Then, I was suddenly standing with the books back in my hands once more. I looked down at them in shock.

Rasmus stepped away from me and looked as well.

I put a book over where the stab wound had been moments ago and then lifted it away again to see if it reappeared.

The fairy woman rushed forward once more. Instead of plowing me down this time, Rasmus stepped in front of me, and she hit him full-on instead.

“No!” I shouted, worried about what the dagger she’d pulled from her dress might do.

What had the fool guardian done?

The fairy stabbed him near his groin instead of his stomach because of his extreme height. Is this what the bloody guardian idiot decided would fix things?

Not only had he played with time in my house, he’d taken my place in his revised version of events.

Goddess, they were a bunch of fools, and I would tell Orlin that the first chance I got.

Rasmus drew in a painful breath, gripped the dagger by the handle, and fell to his knees. The fairy woman screamed in frustration when she saw that she’d stuck her blade into the wrong target.

“Conn, I need ya right now!” I yelled, throwing the books I held at the fairy.

I circled Rasmus until I was standing between the fairy and him. I drew an energy sword with the sole purpose of dividing her into two pieces. It didn’t matter that I saw no other weapons on her. I hadn’t seen the dagger either, and she’d gutted me with it.

“Die, witch,” the fairy spat. “Yer power will be mine, and I will avenge my brother.”

Gone was the diplomat the fairy had pretended to be. Gone were all pretenses.

I advanced on her. Behind me, I felt Conn in demon form pop into place.

“Call yer father. Tell him his fairy guest is an assassin sent to kill me. And see that Rasmus gets help. This harpy stabbed him.”

Behind me, Conn growled loudly. He sounded like an angry lion. Demons poured through doorways moments afterward and ran both ways on the stairs until they surrounded us. None of them dared to intervene because my energy sword hung in the air, emitting a low, menacing hum.

“Why can’t ya die like a normal person?” the fairy demanded.

I glared back at her. “Actually, I’ve died several times lately, but I keep coming back. Want me to show ya how immortality works? First, ya have to stop running so I can kill ya.”

The fairy spat a spell into the air that put most of the demons face down on the floor.