Chapter 14

In the short time I was gone, another large sheet had been made and was now draped over the demon. With two covered statues, the foyer looked more like a museum gallery than it had before. A young demon male running a floor buffer over the tiles only added to the ambiance.

I shook my head at how strange my life had gotten as I headed to my quarters. My big plan was to take a few pain pills and lie down for a while. Those plans got blown away when I crossed my threshold and felt a familiar presence. Rasmus sat in my sitting room, which now sported two comfortable armchairs, a larger side table between them, a matching coffee table, and a small sofa that faced the chairs. Henry had created a cozy sitting area for talking. It looked like the library.

Rasmus raised his gaze from the book he was reading. “Henry said to tell you this is temporary. The furniture is on loan to your quarters until you have time to choose your own.”

My sigh was one of defeat. “He probably knows I wouldn’t have picked anything better than this.”

Rasmus smiled at me. “How’s your head doing?”

I lifted my fingers and felt the knot. It wasn’t flat yet but it had gone down a lot. “It’s better. I still have a headache.”

He put a bookmark between the pages and set his book down. “I can fix that for you. Come sit on the couch with me.”

Sharp words about his offer to help lay on my tongue, and I was more than ready to stab him with them. I had plenty of questions for him too. Like why hadn’t he stuck around to fix me when it happened? But in the end, I knew fighting with Rasmus wouldn’t help me.

“I was going to take some pain pills and lie down before dinner.”

“The pills would dull your senses too much. If my help works, you won’t need them. Gale is sending us dinner so we can talk.”

“About what?” I demanded.

“Both of your statues.”

Protecting my pride seemed foolish when the knot on my head proved I needed help to handle both. “Fine. I’ll listen to yer ideas, but don’t bother giving me yer forty thousand alibis. I don’t care where ya keep running off to every time trouble starts.”

“I didn’t realize I needed even one alibi, much less forty thousand of them.”

He grinned a little when I glared at him but still held out a hand to me. I rolled my eyes but still put my hand in his.

Rasmus tugged me until I stood in front of the new couch and then he let go. It would have been childish of me not to sit down so I lowered myself and got comfortable. Unlike the leather couches other areas had, this small sofa had a soft fabric covering that felt luxurious under my aching butt.

“This sofa smells new. Henry must have gotten tired of waiting on me to pick furniture.”

“My understanding is that the furniture was purchased for your new office area in the blue house. Henry had them brought over here because you put Mulan and Conn in your quarters last night. I think he enjoys moving things around from living area to living area. Maybe I should ask for a bigger bed while he’s in the swapping-out mood.”

I leaned back and sighed at the plushness. “I bet he’d let me keep all this if I asked.”

Rasmus nodded. “I imagine he would. All demons seem to adore you.”

“Not the one that attacked me.”

“Good point, but he’s not exactly a demon, though they used to call his kind that. When I saw him mirror your powers so perfectly, I suspected he was another kind of creature. As a scientist among my kind, I possess more knowledge than most about the many experiments from the early years of humanity.”

While Rasmus talked, he gently turned me away from him. His hands rose to massage my shoulders and neck. Relief came instantly and I nearly wept.

“Are ya sure he’s not a demon? Gale sure thought he was one. Plus, he partially possessed Mulan’s family and Conn. Gale said Conn was purging the creature’s essence from his system. She also said the process was painful.”

“I believe the Wu Shaman’s brother-in-law is a jiangshi. That’s an immortal Chinese vampire zombie. They drain energy from the people they align themselves with. It’s done mostly to survive, but they can also possess a person’s energy and jump bodies. The zombie theory concerning them is they were terrible people in their first life and got punished by never dying. Over time, many Chinese creatures became classified as greater or lesser demons. But that was just a label to encompass many beings.”

“Jiangshi.”

“Yes. They’re called black ghosts as well.”

“I think he looks like a giant Ewok from the Star Wars movies, especially with that giant white mustache dragging the ground.”

It was hard to listen to Rasmus with his magickal hands working steadily on my muscles. My poor abused head kept wanting to find a pillow or lean back against him. Jack had not been the nurturing type. None of my lovers before him had been, either. Rasmus had offered me physical comfort even before he’d offered me himself.

I cleared my throat. “What do ya think he wants from Mulan’s sister and parents?”

“I don’t know. We would have to ask him.”

“Ya mean Mulan would have to ask. He doesn’t seem to speak any more English than her family does.”

When Rasmus moved his fingers to rub my temples, I slumped in relief. The headache fled from his touch. I felt like I could sleep for days. “Ya’re a miracle worker.” The compliment earned me a masculine chuckle, which brought a smile to my lips. “Thank ya for the massage.”

He moved his fingers away as he stood. Before I could protest the loss of his touch, the guardian scooped me up and carried me to one of the two new chairs. He sat down with me still hugged against his chest.

Goddess, I loved his strength.

I felt a slight movement before finding my face pitched forward into the side of his throat. The guardian’s grateful sigh was loud when he relaxed in the seat. He wrapped his arms around me and held me tight. I could have stayed like that with him for the rest of my life.

“Both chairs are recliners. They’re one of humanity’s greatest inventions,” Rasmus said in a contented voice.

It was such a human-male thing for him to say that I nearly laughed, but right then, I was too comfortable to challenge his other lack of emotions. Instead, I snuggled in closer and let my eyes drift shut. “Wake me in five minutes, will ya? I want to talk about the fairy too.”

“We’ve got a few more days with the fairy.”

“But not with the Chinese demon—I mean, the jiangshi?”

“No. He could wake up any time.”

“Then I don’t have time to be napping.”

Rasmus squeezed me. “You need to rest while the Wu Shaman is sitting in the foyer watching him. We’ll tell her what he is later. She’s trying to reconcile her feelings for her family with her dedication to her magickal work. They’ve ruled her decisions for too long already. This is something she needs to think through.”

“How do ya know all that? I just left her at her house. She was brooding and drinking tea.”

“Orlin gave me back my omniscience because of Zara. That way no matter where I am or what I’m doing, I can still observe her. Right now, she’s got the demon wolves in the blue house with her while she’s researching. They’re getting along now. I had Dylan explain the ruse to the demon wolves because they understand him best. They’re playing along with Zara just as we are.”

“Should I be grateful ya’re working behind the scenes and keeping our normal things going?”

Rasmus ran a hand down my back until it rested on my hip. “I could keep you going too if you’d stop being mad at me. All I want is to take care of you, Aran. I’ve done my best to show you I wouldn’t interfere with your work decisions. What else can I do to make things up to you? Watching you get hurt is not on my list of favorite things to do.”

I sighed against him. So he’d kept away from my problems on purpose and not gotten involved intentionally. Sometimes I was my own worst enemy. I still didn’t know how I felt about his damned guardian neutrality but I could see he meant well.

I lifted my face and kissed his jaw before dropping my tired head back down in the curve of his neck. “Will we need to put a camera in Zara’s room when ya move back to mine?”

“I don’t know what to do. We’ll figure something out that works for both of us,” he said in a husky whisper before brushing his mouth gently over mine.

Our nap didn’tlast long because Gale arrived with dinner sooner than we expected. The new coffee table held everything with room to spare. We coaxed Mulan out of the foyer and into eating with us. I needed to run Rasmus’s theory by her and see if she agreed but was trying to wait until she got some food into her stomach.

Mulan only picked at her food but it wasn’t because it wasn’t delicious. Gale was a master chef and so were her kitchen crew. It was going to be quite an adjustment for me when we sold this place. Cooking for myself again held no appeal after getting to eat Henry and Gale’s offerings.

I told myself I was eating to heal and shoveled in another big bite while Mulan ate an infant-sized morsel off her fork. A knock at the door to my quarters had us all pausing to see who was interrupting dinner.

“Conn!” Mulan exclaimed, dropping her plate on the coffee table to jump up and run to him.

He swept her up and hugged her tight. “I’m sorry I turned you away earlier. I thought you had enough on your mind without worrying about me.”

I smiled and kept on eating. Good thing I did too, because it didn’t look like Conn intended to turn loose of her anytime in the next century.

“I’m glad to see ya survived yer purging,” I said between bites. “Do ya want some dinner?”

For the first time since I had known him, Conn looked ill at the mention of food.

“Do you remember having morning sickness with Fiona?” he asked.

“Yes. All too well,” I said with a grin. “How long is yer nausea going to last?”

“According to Henry, it will last a day or two. If that creature is a demon, he’s a very powerful one. I felt completely drained after purging his essence. I strongly regret not paying more attention to your warnings.”

“He managed to fool a lot of people. The stone warned me.”

Conn raised an eyebrow. “How often do you talk to it?”

“As often as it feels inclined to get involved in my business,” I pointed to Mulan. “I can talk to her staff as well. I’ve learned they have a lot in common.”

Conn glanced down at Mulan and then back at me. It made me wonder how much of the truth he knew. I could see The Dagda holding back from both of us until he was good and ready to tell us. Zenos, on the other hand, didn’t play by anyone’s rules but his own.

As Conn studied me, I inclined my head to Rasmus who was eating the vegetarian version of my beef stew. “Rasmus thinks Mulan’s creepy brother-in-law is a jiangshi and not a demon.”

Mulan gasped. “A jiangshi?” She pulled out of Conn’s arms and dashed back out into the foyer.

Conn looked after her and sighed.

I moved to the second chair and motioned him to come sit on the couch. “Sit with us if ya can stand to watch us eat. I’m sure Mulan went to see if Rasmus was right.”

Conn’s chuckle was soft. “Did the two of you finally settle things between you?”

I rolled my eyes at a smirking Rasmus. “Let’s just say the guardian and I are adept at reaching truces.”

“What she means is that Aran and I have an understanding,” Rasmus said to the most important demon in my life.

“Is that the understanding that you both have needs that only the other can meet, which you finally decided was more important than your grievances?”

I rolled my eyes at Conn’s summary. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Rasmus grin at Conn and nod.

Mulan rushed back into the room. She threw herself on Conn and kissed his face. When he kissed her back, I actually blushed.

Where was the reserved Wu Shaman today? Not in my sitting room. That was for sure.

She finally turned to look at me and Rasmus. “Guardian is right and I know many fixes. You can help me. We do more Wu Shaman training. This satisfies everyone.”

More fascinated with Mulan’s excitement than my food, I set my plate down and stared. “So Rasmus is right?”

“Yes. Most jiangshi were hunted and killed. Chinese emperors paid magickals to destroy them for good. Our jiangshi was never captured. He possessed a demon, which is why he has a demon form now. It all makes sense. And seems right,” she said, patting her chest.

Mulan didn’t have an artifact there, but she used the energy of her heart in her work.

To my utter shock, Mulan jumped up again and ran to Rasmus. She took his plate away, set it aside, and slid onto his lap to hug him. “Thank you, guardian. Thank you. This solves all problems for me.”

“Uh...” Rasmus uttered in shock as he awkwardly patted Mulan’s back.

He stared at me over her shoulder with pleading in his gaze. Conn and I both dipped our heads to hide our smiles. Mulan was happy, which was a very rare sight. Rasmus would just have to suck up the embarrassment of hugging her.

Then, just as quickly, the happy Wu Shaman slid off his knees and nearly skipped back to the couch. She put a hand on Conn’s shoulder. “I go tell family now.”

“I’m going to be unhappy with them if they don’t go along with your plan.”

Conn gazed up at Mulan in adoration as he spoke. I was glad that I’d stopped eating because my throat closed up with emotion. I would have choked if I had tried to swallow.

Mulan squeezed his shoulder. “Rasmus and Aran trust me. You trust me. I am Wu Shaman. I will do what is right no matter what my family thinks. I bend to them no more.”

Conn nodded. “Then that makes all this torment worth it.”

“When you feel better, I will apologize well for pain they caused you.”

Conn’s chuckle seemed to be all the response she needed to her coy offer. She reached into her bra and pulled out a decorative fan. Flicking it out while she smiled at me, it transformed into her staff. “Thank you for dinner, Aran.”

“Ya’re welcome, Mulan. If yer family business doesn’t take long, come back.”

“I will because I must take Conn home after. My demon needs pampering.”

“Good Goddess, Mulan. Never sound that eager. It goes straight to a man’s head.”

“I know, silly witch. It goes to other places too,” she said with a giggle before trotting out.

This... this was exactly why I’d made the stupidest deal of my life with these people and now lived in a stupid museum of a house. They provided me with both a family and fun.

The love they had for me equaled my own for them. It provided me with the most essential thing a person could ever discover in any lifetime.

I wiped away a tear before noticing Rasmus and Conn were both staring at me. I extended my finger and pointed it between the two of them. “If ya say one word to Mulan about me crying over her being happy, I’ll torture the two of ya until ya beg me to end yer lives.”

Both men grunted and held up their hands. Powerful woman that I was, I grinned and accepted their total surrender.