Chapter 4

Dinner was a tense affair. Zara refused to hold my gaze for more than a few seconds. Rasmus glowering at me across the table made nothing better. I was tired of the guardian’s snippy attitude and pleaded a headache as I excused myself. I’d had all I could handle of his snide comments and haughty glares.

I had nearly escaped the foyer when a throat clearing caught my attention and made me pause mid-flight. Since all my guests were still at the dinner I’d just run away from, I nervously turned only to sigh in relief when I saw Dylan sitting on one of the foyer couches.

The far darrig was in his tall, blond, and muscular human form, which always made me want to ask where his surfboard was.

“Well, hello, Dylan. Why didn’t ya join us for dinner?”

He shook his head. “I didn’t want to interrupt so I asked Henry to let me wait for you. I’m sorry I left the other day without saying goodbye. It was rude of me to leave the way I did.”

So much had been going on for me that day and every moment since that I had lost no sleep over Dylan’s departure.

I waved the apology away. “Let’s take this discussion to the library. Are ya hungry? I’m sure there’s food left. Rasmus and I were too busy fussing at each other to eat much.”

Dylan smiled at me. “I sort of heard your fussing through the doors.”

I blew out a breath. “The guardian is acting like a bear because he didn’t get the warm welcome he was expecting from me. Lately, all my headaches have been caused by him. I’m truly not feeling my best.”

“You’re probably still hurting from the fight and still grieving the fairy’s betrayal. ”

I nodded and smiled. “Yer sympathy far outshines the token concern I got from most people in my life.”

“I believe I’m showing empathy rather than offering sympathy. But I’m not feeling my best, either.”

I looked at him as we entered the library. Soft lamp lights came on automatically. Leave it to Henry to make the room even cozier. The library was a room a person couldn’t help but love.

“Ya’re making empathy sound ominous. I want to hear all about it.”

“It’s not entertaining, though. It’s just... sad.”

I went to the mantle of the fireplace and found a remote. It worked like the one in my sitting room. Clicking it on set giant flames full of heat and light blazing in the grate. This fireplace was the mega version of what I had in my quarters. The ambiance improved my mood. If I’d hid in my quarters, I would have missed sharing this with Dylan. I was glad he caught me.

I quickly turned and rushed back to the door. “While I’m gone, change to yer true self and get comfortable. I’m going to ask someone to bring us tea and food. Everyone in this place can read my mind at the moment but I want to shock them with my presence. I haven’t been in the kitchen since Henry and Gale moved in. I’m sure they’ll think I’ve gone mad.”

Dylan chuckled. “You’re such a strange person sometimes.”

His comment made me smile, and his teasing lifted my spirits. I realized how starved I was for a kind soul to show me they cared. “My strangeness makes me likable, though, don’t ya think?”

“Oh, yes,” he agreed. “It makes you very likable.”

“Don’t move from this room then,” I ordered as I raced out.

Five minutes later, I returned to the library with someone pushing a tea cart right behind me. There were two vegetarian plates from the dinner I’d left, which I knew the far darrig preferred.

“They were working on our tea when I got there. Let’s eat before talking.” I landed in a chair and positioned the cart between us. “Are ya planning to stay the night? Yer room is still available. I’m glad now that I asked Henry’s people to hold off cleaning it for a few days.”

Dylan froze in his seat looking like I’d slapped him.

I lifted an eyebrow as I sat in the chair across from him. “Why would the offer of a place to lay yer head make ya look at me like an animal caught in someone’s headlights? Ya’re making me think I’m not the only one needing a friend.”

“You aren’t,” Dylan whispered. “And I’d like to stay here. First, though, I need to tell you my story.”

The headache I had from dealing with Rasmus was gone. I picked up my plate and dug in before a new one could bloom out of my worry for Dylan. The nurturing thing I did instinctually needed to stop. Helping everyone I met was wearing me out.

“Eat, Dylan. Yer life can’t be any crazier than mine.”

“Are you sure? Because my parents disowned me.”

My fork full of food stopped halfway to my mouth. “Why? Ya did exactly what they told ya to do.”

Dylan waved my praise away and picked up his plate. “I shouldn’t have blurted it out like that. Thank you for feeding me. I haven’t felt like eating since I argued with them.”

My fork found its way to my mouth again. I resumed my starved shoveling until my plate was empty. Dylan ate much slower but finished his as well.

I busied myself making us tea while I waited for him to collect his thoughts.

“Do ya still take honey and milk in yer tea?” I asked.

Dylan nodded as he ate his last forkful. He set his now empty plate on the cart next to mine.

“Before ya get into the details, I have one burning question to ask first. Am I going to need a shot of Jamieson’s to hear this without getting angry?”

Dylan tilted his head as he studied me. “I don’t know. What is it?”

“Jamieson’s is the best Irish whiskey in the world,” I said with a smile.

“Well, that’s appropriate. You’re sounding very Irish today. But I still don’t know how to answer that question.”

Laughter loosened the tightness in my chest. “Some people think me sounding too Irish is a bad sign.”

“You’re the first I’ve heard that wasn’t on television. I like the way you talk.”

“Thank ya,” I said with a grin as I handed Dylan his tea. “Alright. So what happened with yer parents? I figured ya’d return home to a hero’s welcome.”

Dylan snorted. “Yes, I thought I would as well. It was why I hurried there as soon as I dropped off the snake shifter at the zoo. Instead, my parents were upset that the angel gifted me with powers. They also weren’t happy that the artifact played dead whenever they touched it. I tried to explain it wasn’t anything I was doing on purpose but they didn’t believe me.”

“My daughter is the guard of a relic as well. Because of that responsibility, she’s saddled with that wicked angel as a magick teacher. I don’t like the situation but there is nothing I can change. Guarding the relic is Fiona’s destiny. Maybe working with yer relic is yours. Ya have a kind soul, Dylan.”

“I’m not even sure it chose me, Aran. That angel—if he truly was one—didn’t give the artifact much choice.”

“Does it still talk to ya?” I asked.

Dylan nodded.

“And do ya get a sense that it’s happy with yer actions in using it?”

My second question barely got a shrug. I’d seen him communicating with the relic his family had been charged with guarding all those years. What he did with it pleased an angel, for Goddess sake. His parents should have been nothing but proud of their child. I had half a mind to look them up and tell them so, but Dylan needed to embrace his role enough to defend it.

I set my tea on the tiny side table between our chairs. “If yer relic didn’t want to work with ya, it would go silent and that would be the end. Ya can trust me on that one. I babysat Fiona’s relic for a while. It talked to me because it found me entertaining, but I had no control over what it did. If yer animal stone works with ya, Dylan, that means it’s chosen ya. Now ya need to choose it back.”

“Do you think my parents will ever accept that?”

I picked up my tea again and held the cup for comfort. “I don’t know. Nobody can judge ya quite like a person ya’re related to.”

He nodded vigorously at that.

I waved a hand in the air. “I can’t fix yer parents. Time might. But if ya want to stay here until ya get things figured out, ya need to know some things. Mulan’s parents are coming this weekend, plus her sister and husband. From what I hear, they’re all prima donnas but foreign ones who don’t speak any English. Henry and his people will watch after them so ya won’t need to do anything except avoid them for a couple of weeks.”

“It was nice of you to let them stay with you. The Wu Shaman’s house is tiny.”

I chuckled low and drank more tea. “And I guess ya already figured out the guardian is back.”

“Are you too mad to even say his name?”

I shook my finger at the far darrig’s grin. “What ya don’t know, Mr. Comedian, is that Rasmus brought his sister back with him. Zara and I fought during a job several months ago. I chose not to kill her and that somehow led to me offering her a place to rethink her life.”

“So you collected another semi-villain like me to rehabilitate. You need a therapist to help you stop that habit.”

I rolled my eyes. “Ya sound like my mother. Being devious and determined was yer only crime. That”s a stark contrast to the evil person Zara used to be before. The guardians can work miracles when it comes to changing a person.”

“Better miracles than wicked angels?”

When I mock-glared, Dylan laughed. “I guess it was too soon for that comparison.”

I grunted at him. “Tony changed yer life, but I’m not sure I’d call what he did a miracle. It was more of a compromise to keep me from murdering Hisser while he watched. What ya used yer relic to do to Hisser worked well enough for me.”

Dylan smirked but I saw pride in his expression. “Yet there’s a fairy with a sword in your foyer that you aren’t planning to imprison or kill. You could drop him into a volcano or slice him into pieces with your sword. Plus, you’re playing probation officer for a guardian who tried to kill you. Neither of those are rational reactions for someone with yer level of power.”

The far darrig’s conclusions made me laugh. He was not wrong about me being irrational. But it was sort of my natural state.

I shrugged. “I know it seems like I’m running a halfway house for reformed criminals, but trust me, that isn’t what’s going on. This is merely the madness of my life manifesting. If ya stay, Dylan, the risk is that ya’ll become a bigger part of my mess. I’d tell that to anyone.”

I stopped rambling and laughed at my attempts to explain my craziness. “What I’m trying to tell ya is that I’d be happy to have ya stay with me until ya get things figured out. There’s a time limit of five years on this house after which Conn, Mulan, and I intend to sell it. Surely yer parents will get over themselves during those five years.”

Dylan lifted his gaze to mine. “I would have to find work here in Salem. This is not the life I planned.”

I lifted both hands. “Ya’ll be in good company, Dylan. I’m not living the life I planned, either. Instead of creating a sanctuary, I wound up living in a museum. After what ya did to Hisser, I imagine Ben will see yer talents as an asset and want to hire ya. He’s a lot better boss than Ezra was, but I’ll lie if ya ever tell him I said that.”

The far darrig sighed. “You joke, but I will make myself useful to you, Aran.”

I waved away his offer. “If Ben hires ya, contribute some money to Henry’s housekeeping fund so they can keep feeding all of us.”

“So...” Dylan said, “What did Rasmus do to make you so mad at him? I’m being nosy because I never, ever want to upset you as much as he has.”

My snort was loud. “No worries, my far darrig friend, since the two of us are not sharing a bed. Rasmus and I are having a spat that I don’t think he’s taking seriously enough.”

Dylan’s olive complexion turned pink. “Oh... well, that makes me... uh... feel much better about staying here.”

Ignoring his blush over my revelation, I snapped my fingers. “If ya want to have an overnight guest in yer room, ya need to check it with both me and Henry beforehand. I’ll have to clear her... or him. It’s a matter of safety for all of us. One of my greatest fears was Hisser showing up here.”

Still blushing, Dylan shook his head. “I don’t see that ever happening—having an overnight guest, I mean. I think I would take the person elsewhere for the night or go to her place. Just so you know, I’m a her kind of guy. ”

“I wasn’t prying—truly. I don’t even ask my daughter many questions about her love life. Please keep Henry informed with a text of yer comings and goings. He uses the information for planning dinner and other events. Also, until I tell ya differently, everyone is to monitor the female guardian. I’ll introduce ya to her tomorrow.”

Dylan nodded in agreement, bowing his head. “I’m fine with all your rules.”

“Good,” I said. “I’m looking forward to seeing a friendly face across the dinner table. That way I can ignore the annoying ones.”

“Thank you for letting me stay, Aran.”

“Things have a way of working out as they’re meant to, Dylan. A good friend used to tell me that whenever I was struggling with some life lesson that wasn’t pleasant. I’ve never forgotten her advice.”

“I hope your friend is right.”

“Me too,” I said. “Me too.”