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I grinned at her. “Are ya messing with me on purpose?”

“No, but I find it enjoyable. My partner would say that was wrong of me. He claims to be our moral compass. But that is only at work. At home, he likes that I am not a nice person.”

I ran a hand through my hair. Goddess, her partner was coming. I knew without asking Ben that Jessing was one of the two enforcers because she was already questioning me. She had been using our old connection as a basis to ask questions without seeming to interview me.

Why wasn’t Ben getting out of his vehicle?

“Excuse me a minute,” I said to Jessing. I walked to the van and tapped on the driver’s window. Ben dutifully rolled it down to talk. “Are ya going to sit in there all night and let the owl shifter torment me?”

“It had crossed my mind,” Ben said. “Where’s your impertinent shadow?”

“Try using a name. That flowery description applies to most of the people I call friends these days.”

Ben and I both raised our eyebrows. Then we burst out laughing. I leaned against the side of the van until I’d stopped. Ben’s low chuckling delighted me.

“When you’re done being amusing, I’ve got a troll and a leashed tiger cat in the back. He insists Mulan has to personally take delivery of it.”

“Right. Perfectly understandable,” I said, peering back through the seats. “Hello, Bo.”

“Hello, freen.”

Ben rolled his eyes at Bo’s mispronunciation. His expensive translator naga had been working diligently with Bo on his vocabulary building. The troll knew the word was ‘friend’ now... and I knew he knew. Not using it was a pleasant joke between us.

Ben had yet to adjust to Bo and might never adjust my ‘freen-ship’ with the troll, though I was hopeful.

“How’s yer wife doing, Bo?” I asked.

“Twowives now,” he answered from the depths of the vehicle. “Both good in bed.”

I dipped my head to giggle at the oversharing and looked up to find Ben glaring at me.

“Ya’re very lucky, Bo. Let me go wake the Wu Shaman. She’s been feeling sick today. Hang in there. I’ll be right back.”

“Poor cat lady,” Bo said with genuine concern.

I straightened, bit my lip, and walked away from the van so I wouldn’t start laughing again. “I’ll be back in a few minutes, Jessing. We’ll work on yer portal problem then. Make yerself at home, but ask me before ya start hunting. Ya’re not the only predator on this property.”

“I ate before I came. There was a squirrel at the office.”

I picked up speed and covered the distance to Mulan’s house in half my usual time. I let myself back in without knocking and tiptoed down the hall. She was right where I left her.

“Mulan?” I called gently. She made a grumbling noise and rolled from her side to her back. “Bo is here with yer tiger cat. He won’t get out of the van with it until ya’re present to receive it.”

“Tiger cat is back?” Mulan muttered in her drowsy state. “Too much going on. I forgot about it.”

“Well, Bo is here with it. Yer tiger cat is done.”

Mulan blinked and struggled to sit up. I picked up one of her hands and tugged her upright. “How do ya feel?” I asked.

“Better than before,” she said. “You have healing magick.”

“A little. Yer staff helped more than I did.”

“Staff in closet,” she said.

“No,” I corrected. “It’s next to ya. It wanted to check on ya... and to make up.”

She rolled until she saw her staff on the pillow next to hers. The turtle shells clacked in hello without her touching them. Mulan, who still hadn’t woken up completely, reached out and patted it. I saw the brief affectionate exchange as a good sign.