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The shaman staff and I both knew the baby was merely the first big reveal. But it wasn’t pushing on her, which was a good thing.

Conn stopped pacing and frowned. “Is it your nerves? Are you still stressed about your parents? Mulan, you need tofind some way to calm yourself down when you get so angry. Powerful emotions are terrible for your digestion.”

I rolled my eyes and heard Rasmus chuckle before I even spoke. “Good Goddess, Conn, ya’re being dense. Shut up and listen to her. This is not about food.”

Conn stared at me. “Did you just command me to stop talking?”

I sighed. “Yes, but no. It’s not a command. Just please stop lecturing her andlisten.”

The staff vibrated between us. It glowed with a multitude of symbols and grew more on its length as we sat there holding it. The new ones differed from the Wu Shaman ones and were easy to spot.

Mulan stared at the staff in wonder. I would ask Rasmus about the other symbols just to confirm what I was fairly sure they were.

The baby was affecting its mother. We’d simply have to deal with the results. The ability to freeze a fairy was a skill I envied.

I used my free hand to point to Conn. “We’ll talk to the staff later. Right now, ya need to just tell Conn and get it over with. Then we need to find out for sure. There is a logical order to this sort of revelation. We should follow it.”

Conn froze in place and stared at Mulan. “Are you dying? Because I refuse to let you die after I just found you. We haven’t even had an entire year together yet.Mulan, you are not allowed to die.I refuse to listen if that is that is what you have to say.”

Mulan turned to me. “This is what I deal with—drama, drama, drama.”

“Pot. Kettle. Black, Wu Shaman. Both of you are drama queens. Quit yer stalling andtell him,” I ordered. “I have other things to do today, and I need ya to not be distracted while ya help. Ben’s life is at stake.”

I’d already cleared the huddle of telling Ben my idea. Felicity hadn’t made a third charm, but they had both already decided that a better control method was needed. Neither of them wanted Ben to feel that a talisman was critical.

What I hadn’t told them yet was that the nephilim children had perfected the ability to hide from those seeking to kill them. Once the power was transferred into the talisman, it might hide the charm itself, or Ben, or both of them. Or maybe it would grant him invisibility.

Honestly, I had no idea. The outcome was unknown, but Ben was willing to let me use his charm anyway.

Felicity said a new one would take months to create, but Ben wasn’t worried. My boss was planning to reveal his beast side at the next organization-wide meeting. That way, no one would be surprised if they found his beast occupying his office and working for a few days. If he needed to take sick leave because he couldn’t speak in that form, someone would report that for him.

Once he’d made up his mind, Ben expected everyone to adjust. That was why he made a good boss.

Goddess, things were changing. But I guess this first big reveal was going to take some bestie bullying to shine any light on the truth.

The tiger cat yowled pitifully from one of the other bedrooms. Mulan looked worried but didn’t jump to her feet to check on it. Bo had trained the dangerous feline to crave human affection and constant attention. She was trying to let it roam the house freely to get used to his new environment but didn’t yet trust it not to attack visitors.

“Mulan is not dying from some horrible disease, Conn. Nor did she get sick from eating the sushi she made.”

“Then what’s wrong with her? Why all the mystery?”

Mulan blew out a breath. Then she drew in a big one. She repeated the exaggerated breathing twice more before finally looking him in the eye. “It is what I said before. My sickness is your fault.”

“How many times do I have to defend myself, Mulan? I didn’t poison your food. I would never do that to you, not even if you made me angry enough to destroy the whole house. I love you too much to ever hurt you.”

Yes, we all knew that he loved her. She knew that too. But they both enjoyed yelling more than talking, especially about important things.

Now I understood that she would have brooded for years if I hadn’t fussed at both Conn and her over their relationship cowardice. Hers ran even deeper than his after being raised by her shitty parents to doubt herself.

But I wasn’t letting her be a coward today. I had to keep her alive—keep all of us alive.

I made a low, grumbling noise that echoed in the room. “Listen to her, Conn. She’s finding it very difficult to tell ya something important. She knows ya love her. Wait her out and try to stay in the present.”

Mulan used her free hand to cover my mouth. “Let me do this my way. Connlander of the Fir Bolg, carrying your demon child makes me sick. Visiting witch friend of Aran’s made me baby sickness tea to help me fight constant urge to vomit. Sushi was fine. Do you understand now?”

The child was technically only half-demon, but we’d get to that detail later. The staff buzzed in support under our joined hands. Mulan’s hand unwound beneath mine as she relaxed.

Surely, he got it now.