Chapter 9

Chapter Nine

T he dangerous and powerful being Conn lectured me about was currently snoring in my bed. Rasmus sprawled among the bedcovers, temporarily sated.

Or at least I hoped that was the case. I'd given it my best effort and walked away from the snoring guardian with a smile on my face.

My mind couldn't rest. It kept going back to Ben's problem. That was why I was sneaking out of bed instead of being curled around him.

Glancing at my handsome, naked guardian one last time, I headed to the library to retrieve a book on animal shifters Dylan had borrowed. A flurry of texts between the far darrig and me had hinted that it was likely on the desk Conn and Dylan both used.

I giggled when I caught myself humming as I walked. Then I spied Dylan hovering outside the library with a female demon who looked no older than Fiona. Being a demon, she was likely hundreds of years old, if not thousands. It was the absolute attention Dylan paid her that had me grinning. He was in his tall, blond human form. I suddenly wondered if she understood it was not his real one or if she cared. I well knew ya couldn't judge other species by human tendencies, not even when they took human form.

Not that any understanding between Dylan and his demon was any of my business.

Still grinning, I ordered myself to stop being nosy and go search for the book. I planned to take it back to bed with me and read until I fell asleep or the guardian woke up.

The search took less than a minute. The book lay exactly where Dylan said that he left it on the desk. There was another book with it that looked equally intriguing, so I took both.

Still humming, I left the library and headed back across the tiled foyer to my quarters. Dylan and his lady were no longer hovering outside, which made me smile.

"Madame? May I have a moment?"

When I turned, I saw the woman speaking to me. She was dressed entirely in black and the only noticeable thing about her was a porcelain and very youthful complexion.

Was she a new demon? I didn't read her that way. But dressed as she was, she could have easily passed for one of Henry's or Gale's people.

The hair on the back of my neck rose in mild alarm. I didn't recognize her, and yet she was here in my home.

The woman picked up her pace as she neared me. I got no demon vibe from her at all. No, she was something else. And she was radiating power.

"How can I help ya?" I asked, trying to stop her advance. "Are ya lost?"

"No," she said. "I'm looking for Aran of The Dagda."

She had to be one of Henry's guests. Was she truly lost? Or trespassing on purpose? Conn's teasing about me investigating Henry's guests now irritated me even more.

"This level of the house is my personal space. Please return to the rooms Henry showed ya. If ya don't know how to get there, ya can wait here until I call Henry. He'll show ya the way."

I looked around for Dylan and the demon he'd been wooing. Was she supposed to be guarding this level? Henry had said he'd send someone to guard the floor while the strangers—those he called guests—were staying for the weekend.

"Please, I need to speak to you for a moment. I promise it won't take long," she said.

Her ocean-green eyes stared hard at me as she neared. She was beautiful and looked vaguely familiar, but her gaze was neither friendly nor kind. It wasn't her eye color confusing my brain, though. It was the arrogance in her gaze. I'd seen that arrogance before but my brain couldn't place it.

I should have called an energy sword right then. But I didn't. However, I did move one book to my empty hand as a reflex. The strange woman in black carried no weapon at all, or none I could see. Since I didn't want to scare off the first of Henry's guests, I restrained my urges to whack her with my reading material.

While my home wasn't what I considered a true sanctuary, it wasn't a paranormal battlefield, either. We'd set house boundaries for good reasons. I had expected Henry's guests would honor them because Henry and Gale always did.

"Stop. That's far enough," I said, holding up a hand to stop her from coming any closer.

"I have a message to deliver. It's essential that I share it," she said.

My mind considered the situation and once again found it strange. My anxiety climbed a bit, and I nearly called an energy sword.

Then it was too late to act wisely.

The woman rushed me at the end of her walk, plowing her larger body into my smaller one with enough force to knock me flat.

Instead of falling, though, her grip held me upright.

I stared into her eyes and felt the cool blade of a knife sliding into my gut.

At the last minute, I finally remembered to fight, so I lifted the books in my hands and brought both against her head with all the strength I could summon.

As I fell to my knees, the books fell too. One of my hands clutched the protruding knife handle as if I might pull it out.

I heard Rasmus calling my name, but he sounded very far away.

I glanced up at her. She was holding her head and cursing me in her native language. Fairy, I thought. Henry had told me she was a fairy, but I had paid no attention to the details. In retrospect, I guess I should have.

"Is yer dagger in my gut the message ya brought me?" I asked.

"No, the dagger is from me. The message is from my brother. He always was a polite male. Ezra wanted me to tell ya goodbye if I ended up killing ya."

I fought the wrenching pain from the stab wound as best I could. "The two of ya are giving all Fairy Folk a bad name."

Then suddenly, Rasmus was there. "No. This is not how you will die," he said to me.

I tried to laugh at his stern pronouncement, but the pain in my stomach kept me grimacing instead. Whether or not Rasmus liked it, I was going to die wondering what on earth the guardian meant.

Ezra's sister swore aloud, turned, and sprinted across the foyer. I watched her running and wished I could stop her.

"No!" Rasmus said, his guardian voice booming with command in the space.

His words made my ears hurt. Raw guardian power vibrated in them, and he hadn't even shifted his form. Goddess, no wonder one word from Orlin had shattered my eardrums. Could Rasmus do that kind of damage as well?

Conn was right. Rasmus was dangerous.

Ezra's alleged sister—and my fairy assassin—froze mid-stride at his command. Then she turned as if she had no choice and moved back toward us, all without her feet seeming to touch the floor. She struggled to free herself, but her efforts weren't working. Her limbs seemed to work against her. I thought it was fairly amazing that she was even aware of Rasmus using his magick. I don't think I would have been.

When the fairy slid within touching distance of us, Rasmus put one hand on her and the other on me. I heard a rushing sound in my ears.

Then, I was suddenly standing with the books back in my hands once more. I looked down at them in shock.

Rasmus stepped away from me and looked as well.

I put a book over where the stab wound had been moments ago and then lifted it away again to see if it reappeared.

The fairy woman rushed forward once more. Instead of plowing me down this time, Rasmus stepped in front of me, and she hit him full-on instead.

"No!" I shouted, worried about what the dagger she'd pulled from her dress might do.

What had the fool guardian done?

The fairy stabbed him near his groin instead of his stomach because of his extreme height. Is this what the bloody guardian idiot decided would fix things?

Not only had he played with time in my house, he'd taken my place in his revised version of events.

Goddess, they were a bunch of fools, and I would tell Orlin that the first chance I got.

Rasmus drew in a painful breath, gripped the dagger by the handle, and fell to his knees. The fairy woman screamed in frustration when she saw that she'd stuck her blade into the wrong target.

"Conn, I need ya right now!" I yelled, throwing the books I held at the fairy.

I circled Rasmus until I was standing between the fairy and him. I drew an energy sword with the sole purpose of dividing her into two pieces. It didn't matter that I saw no other weapons on her. I hadn't seen the dagger either, and she'd gutted me with it.

"Die, witch," the fairy spat. "Yer power will be mine, and I will avenge my brother."

Gone was the diplomat the fairy had pretended to be. Gone were all pretenses.

I advanced on her. Behind me, I felt Conn in demon form pop into place.

"Call yer father. Tell him his fairy guest is an assassin sent to kill me. And see that Rasmus gets help. This harpy stabbed him."

Behind me, Conn growled loudly. He sounded like an angry lion. Demons poured through doorways moments afterward and ran both ways on the stairs until they surrounded us. None of them dared to intervene because my energy sword hung in the air, emitting a low, menacing hum.

"Why can't ya die like a normal person?" the fairy demanded.

I glared back at her. "Actually, I've died several times lately, but I keep coming back. Want me to show ya how immortality works? First, ya have to stop running so I can kill ya."

The fairy spat a spell into the air that put most of the demons face down on the floor.

What in bloody hell was that ? I swung to look at Conn. His fangs were showing as if he intended to eat Rasmus instead of helping him.

"Are ya okay?" I demanded.

Conn pointed instead of answering my question. "She's getting away."

"Not today," I promised, before tearing after her.

I chased the fairy outside where a portal was already forming. I raised my sword and pulled back to throw it at her. Before I could release it, the fairy froze mid-stride again.

I lowered my sword and looked around for a guardian, an angel, or even a dragon. The only thing I could see was a furious Wu Shaman with her usually flawless hair now in complete disarray.

Idiot that I was, I looked away from the frozen fairy to gawk at Mulan's appearance. The sight of her rat's nest hair rendered me nearly speechless. It took me a moment to find my voice again.

While I was pondering Mulan's new look and wondering what had caused it, the fairy's escape portal collapsed and closed with a pop. I'd seen nothing and no one on the other side of it. I had no idea where she'd planned to go, and now I probably never would.

Blinking away my shock, I summoned a smile for Mulan. All that mattered was that my fairy assassin was still here in some form, which meant at least one thing had gone right today.

"That's a nice trick," I said. "Is yer freezing skill a new one?"

"Must be," Mulan said flatly, holding up her shaman staff to glare at it. "Is fairy woman the reason high demon got ripped off my body before we finished?"

Well, that certainly explained things. I covered my mouth with my hand. I didn't want to end up frozen like the fairy, so I decided this was a good time to lie.

"Yes," I said, pointing at her. "She said she was Ezra's sister. She came to kill me."

Mulan huffed and pointed. "Guess I made you new fairy statue. Tomorrow, you will be grateful."

I winced. "I'm grateful today, Mulan. I promise. Rasmus took a knife for me. Conn is helping him. How long will the fairy stay frozen?"

Mulan shrugged. "No idea. Are we done here? I need cold shower in worst way."

I looked at the frozen fairy woman and nodded. If I kept looking at Mulan, I was going to burst out laughing. And that would not be good.

"Thanks for stopping her, Mulan. I was planning to kill her, but yer solution was better."

"We are partners. Stopping bad guys is what partners do," Mulan said as if I'd forgotten.

Then she turned and trudged back toward her house. She was wearing a man's expensive t-shirt and sweatpants that scrunched above her ankles. Good Goddess, the woman had thrown on Conn's clothes to come help me.

Remembering Conn's comment about not being able to keep his hands off her, I could only assume that Mulan's clothes had become a pile of unwearable rags decorating the floor. I'd lost a few pieces to the guardian's enthusiasm so I could empathize.

I ran a hand through my hair and sighed. No matter how funny my sick sense of humor found this situation, the saner part of me was furious at the interruption of their lovemaking. That could easily have been Rasmus and me. We were powerful paranormals. Our home should guarantee uninterrupted rest and have few emergencies.

I dreaded going back inside. Conn was going to be angry at me... and rightly so. He was also going to make me vet every guest Henry invited from now on. I wouldn't fight him on it this time nor would I laugh. I should have taken him seriously when he first mentioned it, but I thought he'd been exaggerating.

Henry could never have known the lengths someone in Ezra's family would go to in order to kill me. I hadn't known, either.

I wasn't even sure why when Ezra's actions had been so clearly in violation of his vows not to harm any humans while he was in the human realm.

I was well within my rights to take his life, and now I wished I had. The angel initially stopped me, and later, the dragon recommended I show mercy. What about the fairy made everyone want to save him?

Also, there was the odd thing Murray said about it being important for Ezra to remain alive. Three people had talked me out of taking Ezra's life, but after this, I would not listen to a fourth.

The fairy still lived because he'd received my mercy time after time. Would I do the same for his assassin sister? Mulan had taken the choice from me tonight, but what would happen when the female fairy came around?

No, even Conn hadn't been able to predict this situation, and he was always warning me to watch my back.

Now I just had to convince my demon that none of this was Henry's fault.

Based on Ezra fooling me and the Shadow Breakers all these years, I'm sure Ezra's sister had covered her real agenda well.

The Fairy Folk were as skilled as demons at deception.

After all the yelling had subsided, I went to my bedroom and lay down beside a resting Rasmus while trying not to jostle him. Thanks to Conn and Zara, the knife wound Rasmus had gotten was already healing, even though he couldn't comfortably turn onto his side yet.

Zara had further eased his pain with her magick, but whatever she'd done for Rasmus had cost her greatly. She'd been very weak afterward, and I'd actually felt sorry for her. The female guardian hadn't been that vulnerable since we'd fought and she'd lost.

Despite the hour—and Goddess only knew what I was interrupting—Dylan came instantly when I texted him. He gladly helped Zara climb the stairs to her room.

Dylan looked like he'd bounded out of bed, though. His eyes were hazy and clouded with sleep-deprived confusion. Evidently, it was my night for interrupting everyone's sleep. It was nearly two in the morning and most of the household remained awake.

I retreated to the foyer to let Zara work on Rasmus in privacy. Sparing everyone else, I'd listened to the centaur bellowing in rage from the floor below. Henry had brought him up to see me and the stabbed Rasmus. He inspected the assassin's weapon, sniffed at the fairy assassin's scent on it, and snorted loudly in disgust.

His shocked perusal of the frozen statue of her lasted a few long minutes. I wasn't sure if he believed our story or was done with messing with her.

We offered to let the centaur stay to speak to the authorities tomorrow. He declined, settled his account with Henry, and walked outside. Conn mentioned the centaur opening a portal around one-thirty, but the significance of him having that kind of power had barely registered.

What I cared most about was that the person currently lying next to me still lived and breathed. My worry for him eclipsed all other concerns.

I pressed my face against my guardian savior's arm and sighed. I had given Conn, Zara, and a shocked Henry the same abbreviated story of how Rasmus had gotten stabbed.

Conn retrieved the cage we used for Jack, and we stashed Ezra's sister inside it in case Mulan's magick didn't hold.

When I asked him to bring the cage, I'd taken Conn aside and quietly told him Mulan was responsible for the statue and not me. He hadn't said a word about it but hadn't had to. I knew what his worried frown meant. We were both wondering how Mulan could suddenly do something only an angel, a guardian, and an immortal dragon mage could do.

But Mulan hadn't been the only one dropping a surprise tonight.

Even with my face pressed against his arm, what Rasmus did for me lay between us in the bed. It was this great unsaid thing. One of us needed to speak it aloud so we could deal with it.

I finally decided it was up to me. "Ya stopped time and restarted it again, Rasmus. And I knew exactly what ya were doing the whole time ya were doing it. I know what happened before that. The fairy stabbed me. It was a mortal wound because I felt my life fading."

Rasmus nodded against his pillow and blew out a long, soft breath. "I shouldn't have done it, yet I would do it again."

"I'm not intending to reveal yer power over time to anyone."

His sigh of resignation was soft, but I heard it. "The three of us will always know. It only worked because the fairy assassin was so highly motivated to kill you that she attempted to stab you a second time when given the chance. She did not expect my intervention, but she could have if her mind had figured things out quickly enough. Luck was on our side that she did not do so."

I rubbed my cheek against his upper arm like a cat. I wanted him to pet me and say I was worth all the trouble. I wanted to soothe him and show him how much his intervention had meant to me. And there was one other thing I wanted.

"What if there were only two of us who knew what happened? There don't have to be three. I'm within my rights to take her life."

"Killing the fairy will not change the fact that one day my memory of it will betray my actions. The revelation can be delayed but not stopped."

"Are ya saying that ya can't hide it from yer brethren forever?"

"Yes. When you are gone from this life, and the brethren restore me to my full guardian self, I will mentally merge with them once more. My team will learn it then, and I will be held accountable for my actions and my lack of regret. But I would do it again, Aran. I could not stand by and watch you die. Your loss would be the end of me in ways I cannot explain."

I sniffed against the tears burning my eyes. "I love ya too, Rasmus. I could never stand by and watch ya die, either. This painful conundrum is what happens when humans love someone so intensely. If ya died, I would have killed the fairy for sure."

"Would you have killed someone for trying to kill Jack?"

I sniffed back the tears I refused to cry and laughed as much as I could manage. "Yes, but only because of Fiona. He's her father. That's a fact I have to live with. But ya're the one I would give my life to protect. I would miss ya if ya left this world and never came back to me. I don't want to live my grandmother's sad life. Please don't just disappear and never return. If something bad happens to ya, make sure someone tells me the whole truth so I won't die wondering."

Rasmus couldn't turn to me, but he reached down and pulled my hand into his. "I have great empathy for Orlin's suffering now. He suffered through his own death and then the death of the human female he loved. Orlin's resurrection could not restore the most important things he lost."

"Why couldn't he have turned back time for her?"

Rasmus shook his head. "The lapse in time between his healing and her death was too large. What happened is sad. Missing each other so completely is even worse. Though he never mentions her, I think Orlin secretly looks for your grandmother's return."

"Will he be able to tell when my grandmother's soul reincarnates?"

"I don't know. She definitely will not be the same person. Murieann lived the life she was meant to live as a Daughter of The Dagda. Orlin found her, loved her, and lost her. Similar events happen to many beings. Losing someone is as much a part of life as finding them. That is especially true for guardians."

I was glad I had found Rasmus and that he was here with me. And if I was honest, without the trouble Jack had caused both of us, we might never have met. Never meeting Rasmus seemed like an impossibility, but I could still picture it as a frightening reality. I wondered if Murieann had felt finding Orlin had been worth the heartache she suffered when he disappeared and never returned.

Thinking of my grandmother, I swallowed hard and forced words out through a dry throat. Conn was right. Rasmus would never think about things the same as me, but we belonged to each other. I wanted every second with him I could have.

I cuddled him as best I could. "Jack's destructive behavior made me lie to him and hide my truths to protect myself and Fiona. Ya draw my soul out into the light and show me who I am beneath my power. The two of us have a genuine relationship, not a fake one. And I respect ya, Rasmus. Tonight, though, all I want to do is cry because ya broke one of yer sacred guardian rules for my sake. I'd rather be mad at ya forever than worry that saving my life might cost ya yer own one day."

Rasmus squeezed my fingers. "Is this what human love feels like?"

I smiled and nodded. "Yes. This is what genuine love is like," I whispered, squeezing back. "Ya do whatever ya have to in order save the people ya love. Then ya weep over yer fate afterward for things working out like they did. Yer people are lucky that humans lack yer time-altering abilities. I'm sure ya would be appalled by our choices and have to wipe us from the Earth."

"Not all guardians can do what I can, Aran. Some can stop time in a small room. Orlin has that ability—also Zara and a few others. I can affect much more... or even less, which is trickier. In your case, I rewound only a few moments, and then I pushed time forward again to replay the same events that already occurred. Disrupting your fate was only possible because I'd already watched her stab you. I rarely use those talents, and yet I've stopped time for you twice."

"It was a fatal gut wound the fairy gave me with her dagger. I knew it was fatal because the stone stayed silent and didn't interfere. Tonight, I learned the hard way that all the power in the world can't help if ya fail to help yerself. I should have called an energy sword the very instant I saw a stranger walking around my house. Next time, I won't hesitate or question my instincts just because I'm in a place where I normally take my safety for granted."

"We'll tighten the security so you will be safer."

I thought of the initial discussion Conn and Henry had about the fairy's treachery. It had needed to be had, but making Henry that unhappy still bothered me. I didn't blame him for the fairy's treachery. I blamed myself for not doing what I should have done when instinct warned me.

I wasn't Fiona's age. I was forty. And I knew better than to go against my instincts. "When ya're healed, we'll talk about what Zara and ya might be able to contribute to shielding our home. I should have asked ya earlier but I was too proud to insist ya get involved. Any of ya could become the next pawn in the chess game they're playing with my life. Goddess only knows what Ezra has done."

"What kind of contract would require your death?"

"One that falsely claims the person who kills me will collect the power I'm packing inside my body. It's not like ya can explain to would-be killers that the Dagda stone and my agreement with Conn will never be theirs. It will pass to a family member until it can pass to one of Fiona's children."

"So Ezra has put you in danger for no good reason."

I shrugged. "It's not a reason anyone will ever profit from, but there's still my life on the line. I'd prefer to keep living. My life has been of great value to me since I met you."

"I like being the man in your life. I would prefer you keep living as well."

"I love you too," I said, patting his chest. "Get some rest now. We made it through this one. Tomorrow will surely bring another threat until I can figure out how to stop the bad guys from trying to kill me."