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“It’s the stone that draws the power hungry to you,” Conn said, tapping my chest. “Its power pulses in your aura. You can’t hide it from anyone with eyes to see. When worn like an amulet, the stone never radiated its power until one of your predecessors activated it with their magick. Residing inside you as it does now, it stays activated.”

I frowned at my idiocy. “Zenos offered to make me a charm to hide it. I was irritated with him at the time and turned him down. I may have to humble myself and ask for his help.”

“You were right to be irritated because the dragon was yet another annoying male who lusted for you. You don’t like men who chase you that hard. You like them to offer themselves and wait for you to decide if you want them or not. The fairy figured that out. So did the guardian. Jack and Zenos are the kind of males who refuse to learn the truth of any female.”

I walked back to Conn, put my arms around his waist, and hugged him tight. “It is nice to be so understood.”

Conn hugged me back. “You’re going to investigate Henry’s guests from now on.”

I sighed against him. “Yes, I am. I’m thinking of asking Dylan to do it.”

“I approve,” Conn said. “See how painless that was? That’s one less worry. What are you making Ben do to help?”

I pulled away and sighed again. “I told him to report this to the Shadow Breakers and get them to assign an enforcer to the case.”

“Because now you’re willing to kill the fairy.”

“Yes—even though Murray begged me not to.”

“Why would he do that?” Conn asked.

“Murray wouldn’t tell me. I warned him if it came down to a fight to the death, that I wouldn’t be the one dying.”

“I’ll try to find out. Murray can be closed-lipped about his people.”

“Ezra had my friendship, and it meant nothing. His actions are what made me his enemy. Now, let’s talk of something better. Answer my earlier question.”

Conn stared at me. “What question?”

“Are the Wu Shaman and ya okay? She was wearing yer clothes last time I saw her and heading to take a cold shower. It’s none of my business but I’ve been fretting about it anyway. I hope ya both know that I would never call ya for less than a life or death situation.”

Conn narrowed his gaze on me and chuckled dryly. “Rasmus got hurt but never died. Did you die another time without telling me?”

“I would have died if Rasmus hadn’t intervened. It went against his nature to interfere with the female fairy’s intentions, but he did it to save me.”

Conn snorted. “That doesn’t surprise me. He’s not as neutral as he seems, especially if it concerns you.”

“So I’ve learned. I have a new appreciation for him because of it. And ya still never answered my question about Mulan and ya.”

Instead of telling me what I wanted to know, Conn walked to me, kissed my forehead, and then turned to leave. “Thank you for caring,” he tossed over his shoulder. “Find your guardians and bring them to the meeting when you come. Don’t be late. I have something important to do later. I want to get things worked out so I’m not distracted by a fear of you dying.”

“I love ya too, Conn. Rest easy. I don’t plan on dying any time soon.” I smiled at his back when he stopped walking.

He turned around and smiled back at me. “Mulan is still freaked out that she froze your fairy assassin. She’s enraged that the staff won’t tell her how it worked. When I last saw her, she was muttering to her staff in Chinese. Then she got so angry at it that she locked the staff in the darkest closet in the house.”

I remembered her threat of abandoning her staff and making herself a new one. A grin spread across my face because one thing I loved about the Wu Shaman was that her word was golden. If she said something aloud, she meant it.

“I’ll see ya in an hour, Conn.”

He threw me a wave before he turned and went out the door.

I turned and stared at the statue of Ezra’s sister. Even though Rasmus had changed my fate, I could still feel the fairy’s dagger sliding into my stomach. Memories of that pain haunted me still, as did the feeling of my life fading away.

Fearing yer death sharpened yer senses. Dying took yer senses from ya. Worrying that it might happen again had yet to leave my thoughts. But worry was a distraction. Just the worry alone could be the ultimate death of me before I’d lose my focus.

I couldn’t let fear gain any more ground. I needed to accept Rasmus’s intervention as the reality of the altercation and let goof my scary memories. I was alive, and so was the guardian who broke the rules for me.

That was all that mattered for now.