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Henry motioned to several demons. They burrito-ed the naked, unconscious Conn into a cover from the bed and carted him away inside it.

Rasmus could have carried him easily but never volunteered. I was glad he stayed with us because I needed to talk with him and didn’t want to track him down. I was running out of timeto get all my personal issues worked out. I needed to be sure of what I was doing before Ezra showed up.

I removed my hand from Mulan’s and hugged her. “I’m very proud of yer courage. Did ya know he’d faint?”

Mulan huffed as she pulled herself from my embrace. “If I could do sarcasm well, I would speak best sarcasm in the world to you.”

“Sono, ya didn’t know,” I said with a grin.

“No, I did not expect father of my child to faint when he was told. I expected much screaming and yelling over me not telling him sooner. I expected many bossy commands not to dothis,and I must dothat. I expected huge declaration of undying love and many promises to love our child as much as he loves me.”

“Well, I’m sure that will all be happening once Conn wakes up. How are ya doing? Can ya handle some other startling news?”

“You know I will help you with fairies. We are partners, and sickness is better with visiting witch’s tea.”

“And ya know I have yer back no matter what the future holds for ya personally, right? I want ya to trust in that because carrying a child makes ya vulnerable.”

Mulan nodded. “Is there actual point to your long speech?”

“Yes. Yer baby is only half demon. It’s half something less.”

Mulan shrugged. “Is this science lesson? I know about DNA.”

I grinned at her snarky tone. “It’s mostly a magick lesson. What would ya say if I told ya that yer parents were not yer biological ones? What if I told ya that ya were sort of adopted?”

Mulan’s frown deepened. “I would be even more heartbroken by them choosing me as their child and then casting me aside. Was I not good enough for the family? I would also say that it would explain many things that I never understood.”

“Have ya ever heard of a tea that causes forgetfulness?”

“Yes. My parents sell tea of forgetfulness to families of traumatized children. It treats those who have been abused by erasing their worst memories. It takes years to work its magick completely.”

“How long would it take for it to make one small, curious child forget all the questions she has about her powers that her parents refuse to answer?”

I stood and watched her while she pondered my words. I could see her mind churning.

“I have something to tell Rasmus. Talk to yer shaman staff while I’m gone. We’ll talk about what they tell ya when I return. I never persuaded yer mages to come clean with ya—not that they have the details—but they read their intentions during the years ya subsidized their business with yer Wu Shaman earnings. The mages discovered things they were afraid to share because they thought ya had suffered enough.”

“I was always unwanted child. That is not news to me. Adoption makes more sense. It also must be why they favored my whiny sister,” Mulan said.

“Yer mages think ya’re a stolen child, Mulan. We’ll look into that when ya’re feeling better… if ya want to do so. I chose to tell ya about this now because it wasn’t yer magick that froze the female fairy. The staff says it is not that strong. They said it was the baby’s magick melding with yers. And there’s a reason it worked as well as it did.”

I looked at Rasmus and then back at her.

“Anyway… talk to the staff. I may need both the baby and ya for what I plan to do today.”

Mulan’s mouth twisted into some odd shape, but I wouldn’t call it a smile. On her lips, it looked like resignation. But now and again, when she felt in control, the Wu Shaman beamed with awareness of her greatness.

“You are not idiot—just annoying, Aran. No worries. I still think you are good friend.”

I grinned at her attempt to reassure me. “Well, I’m not smart. If I was smart, I wouldn’t be planning to manipulate a couple of fairies into learning the truth about themselves.”

“Why is that not smart? You manipulated Conn and me for the baby.”

This time I laughed. “Yes, but that’s different. I did that out of love.”

“I will do as you ask because you speak of love. Your friendship makes me weak.”

“Never—not even on yer worse day,” I said.