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What in bloody hell wasthat? I swung to look at Conn. His fangs were showing as if he intended to eat Rasmus instead of helping him.

“Are ya okay?” I demanded.

Conn pointed instead of answering my question. “She’s getting away.”

“Not today,” I promised, before tearing after her.

I chased the fairy outside where a portal was already forming. I raised my sword and pulled back to throw it at her. Before I could release it, the fairy froze mid-stride again.

I lowered my sword and looked around for a guardian, an angel, or even a dragon. The only thing I could see was a furious Wu Shaman with her usually flawless hair now in complete disarray.

Idiot that I was, I looked away from the frozen fairy to gawk at Mulan’s appearance. The sight of her rat’s nest hair rendered me nearly speechless. It took me a moment to find my voice again.

While I was pondering Mulan’s new look and wondering what had caused it, the fairy’s escape portal collapsed and closed with a pop. I’d seen nothing and no one on the other side of it. I had no idea where she’d planned to go, and now I probably never would.

Blinking away my shock, I summoned a smile for Mulan. All that mattered was that my fairy assassin was still here in some form, which meant at least one thing had gone right today.

“That’s a nice trick,” I said. “Is yer freezing skill a new one?”

“Must be,” Mulan said flatly, holding up her shaman staff to glare at it. “Is fairy woman the reason high demon got ripped off my body before we finished?”

Well, that certainly explained things.I covered my mouth with my hand. I didn’t want to end up frozen like the fairy, so I decided this was a good time to lie.

“Yes,” I said, pointing at her. “She said she was Ezra’s sister. She came to kill me.”

Mulan huffed and pointed. “Guess I made you new fairy statue. Tomorrow, you will be grateful.”

I winced. “I’m grateful today, Mulan. I promise. Rasmus took a knife for me. Conn is helping him. How long will the fairy stay frozen?”

Mulan shrugged. “No idea. Are we done here? I need cold shower in worst way.”

I looked at the frozen fairy woman and nodded. If I kept looking at Mulan, I was going to burst out laughing. And that would not be good.

“Thanks for stopping her, Mulan. I was planning to kill her, but yer solution was better.”

“We are partners. Stopping bad guys is what partners do,” Mulan said as if I’d forgotten.

Then she turned and trudged back toward her house. She was wearing a man’s expensive t-shirt and sweatpants that scrunched above her ankles. Good Goddess, the woman had thrown on Conn’s clothes to come help me.

Remembering Conn’s comment about not being able to keep his hands off her, I could only assume that Mulan’s clothes had become a pile of unwearable rags decorating the floor. I’d lost a few pieces to the guardian’s enthusiasm so I could empathize.

I ran a hand through my hair and sighed. No matter how funny my sick sense of humor found this situation, the saner part of me was furious at the interruption of their lovemaking. That could easily have been Rasmus and me. We were powerful paranormals. Our home should guarantee uninterrupted rest and have few emergencies.

I dreaded going back inside. Conn was going to be angry at me... and rightly so. He was also going to make me vet every guest Henry invited from now on. I wouldn’t fight him on it this time nor would I laugh. I should have taken him seriously when he first mentioned it, but I thought he’d been exaggerating.

Henry could never have known the lengths someone in Ezra's family would go to in order to kill me. I hadn’t known, either.

I wasn’t even sure why when Ezra’s actions had been so clearly in violation of his vows not to harm any humans while he was in the human realm.

I was well within my rights to take his life, and now I wished I had. The angel initially stopped me, and later, the dragon recommended I show mercy. What about the fairy made everyone want to save him?

Also, there was the odd thing Murray said about it being important for Ezra to remain alive. Three people had talked me out of taking Ezra’s life, but after this, I would not listen to a fourth.

The fairy still lived because he’d received my mercy time after time. Would I do the same for his assassin sister? Mulan had taken the choice from me tonight, but what would happen when the female fairy came around?

No, even Conn hadn’t been able to predict this situation, and he was always warning me to watch my back.

Now I just had to convince my demon that none of this was Henry’s fault.