I stopped humming and turned to face him. My guilty giggle filled the air. “Sorry. I didn’t realize what I was doing.” I winced when Dylan chuckled and hoped Ben wasn’t overhearing us.

I had stopped Mulan and Conn from coming to the park with a text. Mulan tried to ask me questions about Ben’s situation, but I begged off because my thumbs were tired. We would have enough time for her to learn everything once we got home.

Henry texted me that both guardians were seated in their window perch on the third floor, watching for us to come back. I asked him if they were laughing or frowning, but he never answered.

I interpreted his phone silence as a clear sign they were amused by me sneaking out, which was nothing new.

But I felt quite sure even Rasmus would be surprised by Ben’s altered state.

Chapter Two

Night had swallowed all light except the artificial one that beamed so brightly over Mulan’s house that it lit up Fiona’s cottage as well.

It was nearing ten and dark as I headed to the grove with both guardians flanking me. I wouldn’t have avoided them tagging along so I’d simply invited them.

I briefly explained the situation and asked Henry to fix Ben a meal that he could eat around his fangs. He’d burst out laughing in our now empty foyer and walked away from me without saying another word. Regrettably, I hadn’t asked about food for Dylan and me, and we both missed dinner. I might have to invade the kitchen later.

Now that Ben was here with us, Dylan had retired to his room and laptop to do research. When I asked why he hadn’t consulted his artifact, Dylan informed me that he had. The stone told him Ben wasn’t a real gorilla and strongly suggested Dylan needed to leave him alone.

Maybe I was too blindly tired to see the danger but Ben hadn’t scared me yet.

Rasmus turned his head as we walked to glare down at me. “Why didn’t you involve us earlier? We would have gone with you.”

I huffed as I walked. “Why didn’t ya tell me Ben could transform into a monster? Being omniscient and all, I’m sure ya knew it the moment ya met him.”

“No, I didn’t know.”

My eyes were wide. “How did ya miss it? Ya seem to always know those things about a person.”

“Because I didn’t take time to study his essence. Ben carries no guardian blood inside him. Only you and Jack do. My concerns were narrow at the time.”

I refused to havethisdebate atthismoment. I also refused to discuss my or Jack’s guardian connections.

I glared at Rasmus in the dark. “When ya see him, it’s plain that a demon’s magic was used to create Ben. His witch wife made a talisman necklace for him that’s suppressed his changes. Someone stole it from him today.”

“And that could be another reason. The magic in the talisman his mate made may have been too strong for me to read him through it.”

I halted and grabbed Rasmus’s arm to get him to stop. “Hold on. Did ya just admit there was something on planet Earth that could block yer majestic abilities?”

Rasmus sighed as he glared down at me. “I’m simply pointing out that I’m not familiar with the type of magic Ben’s wife practices. I’m sure one of my brethren knows all about it. Once I learn it, I’ll be able to understand it.”

I grunted, let go of him, and started walking again.

Both guardians were much taller than me, but Rasmus towered at nearly seven feet. Yet even he was going to freak when he saw a twelve-foot-tall Ben. I wish I dared to take a picture of his face when he got a look. It was probably too darkfor a photo, but it still might have been worth trying if I knew how to use my phone for it.

We stood by the firepit and scanned the trees over our heads. They looked up and couldn’t see a thing. Ben was as stealthy in monster form as he was in his human one. That spoke to how well he functioned as a beast. Did he see it that way as well? I doubted it. Given his first instinct had been to hide, it was obvious he’d never made peace with what he was.

“Are you sure this person obeyed you about coming here?”

I turned to glare at Zara in the dark. “Ben is my superior, not the other way around. I didn’t order him to do anything. He told he was strongly drawn to trees, probably because he can hide his monster form more easily in them.”

When Zara stared at me with a bored and disbelieving expression, I shrugged and rolled my eyes. The female guardian kept accusing me of being some aggressive bitch who ordered everyone around. She was probably projecting her urges onto me, but there wasn’t much I could do about it without coming clean and taking her head off.

The female guardian eventually laughed. “You command a demon to do your bidding. You turn ancient, powerful creatures into statues. Just what kind of creature do you consider to be a true monster, Aran?”

I couldn’t see Zara’s lips clearly in the dark, but I felt the female guardian smirking at me. “Have ya looked in the mirror lately?”

“Aran...”Rasmus said in a warning tone.