Page 57

A smirk twisted the lines of my mouth against my coffee cup. Jessing hadn’t been implying Mulan was menopausal. Conn was just being dense… and rude.

Hart turned to stare at Conn. “We did not mention the Wu Shaman’s age. Why did you assume what you did?”

When Conn stared blankly at him without answering, I realized the enforcers already knew Mulan’s big secret. I also realized that Conn stilldid not knowabout the baby because he couldn’t hear it.

No amount of coffee I drank this morning was going to keep what I had to do from being a hot mess.

I sighed and sipped more before talking. “Conn, can ya read my thoughts today?”

“I work hard not to do that. Why do you ask?”

I stared at him while I pictured myself rocking a demon baby with tiny red horns. I tried not to make it look too similar to Lilith’s toddler son.

His startled, puzzled gaze wandered around the room as he poured coffee for himself. He turned and looked at me. “Why are you acting weird? Am I missing something?”

“Yes. Ya’re missing a lot,” I said, but it was too early to fight about it. I’d yell at him later when I felt better.

I turned to look at her when Mulan angrily stomped into the dining room. She sniffed the air, turned green, and put a hand over her mouth.

Surely, not even Conn could ignore that enormous sign.

Retreating from the room, I heard Mulan’s small feet picking up speed as she ran back across the foyer to get outside to barf.

Conn frowned at her abrupt exit.

I rolled my eyes at him because who wouldn’t be suspicious after that? Apparently… Conn wouldn’t.

Jessing made a sympathetic noise. “Hart, you must make the baby sickness tea for the Wu Shaman. She is one of those unfortunate females who get so terribly sick she cannot function. You will do this as a favor for me, yes?”

Hart nodded. “Yes, darling. I have the ingredients for it in my herb bag. I’ll brew the tea for the poor Wu Shaman right after I finish eating.”

“Thank you, Hart. Last night, you were an unleashed animal. Today, you are a very kind man. I adore you for being both and consider myself a lucky, lucky female,” Jessing said with genuine delight in her voice.”

I looked at Conn who looked back at me in confusion. He slouched his shoulders as I watched. He was genuinely upset that she was so sick but I could tell he was completely clueless about the most logical reason.

He sighed as he looked at me. “Mulan said she ate some bad sushi. Does food poisoning last more than one day? I don’t remember you ever being this sick with it. You could eat week-long leftovers and be fine. I guess Mulan has a weak constitution.”

I sighed and shook my head at his nonsense. Conn had totally tuned out Hart and Jessing because he didn’t like them. Nothing they said about baby sickness tea had reached his demon brain.

Good Goddess, it was way too early for all this drama. I sipped my coffee and took my time answering. Maybe it was a two-cups-of-coffee day for Conn.

I spoke slowly to him. “I believe I was only that sick during my first few weeks of carrying Fiona. That was the worst I ever felt in my life. Ma baked me ginger snaps and plied me with saltine crackers. That was right around the time we made our contract.”

Jessing sipped her coffee and looked between Conn and me. Finally, she broke. “Are you keeping it a secret?”

She had directed her question to me, but Conn was the one who answered. “Keeping what a secret?” he asked.

Jessing shrugged as she looked at him. “The real reason for the poor Wu Shaman’s illness.”

Conn grunted to show his disgust over the hinting. He went back to drinking his coffee.

“He’s usually much smarter than this,” I told her.

“Males panic at first,” Jessing said as she sipped her drink.

“I never panicked,” Hart said, staring at her over his cup.

Jessing stared at Hart over her cup. “And if I said right now that I was carrying five more?”