Page 4 of Zachary

What the fuck is going on?

ONE WEEK LATER

If I have to hear one more overenthusiastic rendition of an eighties hair band song from my cousins-in-law, I won’t be responsible for my actions. Will karaoke night never end?

I hate my family.

No, scratch that. I hate my family, my village, and my whole fucking life. And I especially hate that mopey, miserable dragon. Ronan’s been nothing but trouble since he got here, and it’s only been six days. He’s completely managed to fuck up my life just by existing.

First, there was the fact that Garrett volunteered me to introduce him and Fabian around town. I honestly didn’t mind that when I heard about it, and Fabian is a hoot. But Ronan manages to cast a shadow on everything and everyone. Can’t he at leastpretendhe doesn’t hate being here?

He pissed Grandmother off so much that she wouldn’t even listen to my idea for the ski resort the next day.“Stop wasting time on dreams, Zachary. The village needs you for more important things.”

My grandmother has never struck me, not even back when it was an acceptable form of discipline for children. At that moment, it felt as though she had. The village needs me for more important things? I do everything that’s asked of me. There’s no job description for ranger in Hortplatz, no salary… nothing. Officially, the role doesn’t exist. And yet, I’m the one who fills it. I’m the one who makes sure the terrain around the village is safe. I’m the one who keeps track of the local wildlife. I’m the one who trains everyone in wilderness safety. I lead the search and rescue teamandthe local volunteer fire department.

Sure, I love that work, love being able to spend all my time outdoors in nature, but I’m sick of having itexpectedof me.

The village needs me for more important things? Then maybe the village should show some appreciation instead of taking me for granted. Because the only things keeping me here are family and duty, and I can always visit my family. But if nobody is ever going to let me have any input, I can’t say my sense of duty won’t run out.

I’ve been giving to this village my whole life. I learned an entire new ecosystem half a century ago so I could help this settlement get its best start. Nobody can tell me I haven’t done my duty. All I want now is to help the village grow and prosper, and having that brushed aside as a foolish dream… well, fuck that.

And finally, Garrett and Cam came up with the asinine idea that they need to help me find “someone special.”

So, yeah, I’m in a shitty mood. And yeah, I know my cousins and their men have guessed. Cam even cornered me about it earlier. I dodged him for a while, but then I thought, maybe Ishould tell him? Get it off my chest? He and I are friends—we would be even if he wasn’t dating Micah. He wasn’t born into our family, hasn’t lived with Grandmother’s pervasive opinions on duty for his whole life. Maybe his is the perspective I need. Maybe he could give me some ideas for how to approach it again or even just validate whether I’m doing the right thing.

Except that was when Arne at the pub interrupted to complain about Ronan. Fucking Ronan. Who managed to upset half the town so much within just a few days that they actually want him out. That’s going to begreatfor future demon-dragon relations.

Garrett and Asher went to talk to him and said Ronan was going to fix things, but by then, Cam was all distracted and stressed—the cave project is his baby—and he’d forgotten all about me and my problems. Not that I’d admitted to him that Ihadproblems, but still.

“It might be time we call it a night,” Asher suggests hopefully as the last note of “I Drove All Night”—the Celine Dion version, Garrett informed us as though we cared—finally dies away. “It’s late, and we want to be on our game tomorrow when Ronan starts apologizing to people.”

Garrett stands immediately. “Yes. And we’re all going to be supportive, right? This can’t be easy for him. We practically had to ask him straight-out if he was speciesist.” He stares pointedly at me.

“I’ve been nothing but supportive,” I say flatly. My family looks doubting. “What? I introduced him to everyone and answered his questions. I’m not the one who’s such an ass to everyone that people thought he was speciesist.”

“Maybe don’t help tomorrow,” Asher advises. “You’ve had a busy week. You deserve a day to yourself.”

That would mean more if I didn’t know he doesn’t trust me not to make the situation worse. A situation I had nothing to dowith causing in the first place. I change the subject. “So who’s the tournament winner?”

As Cam and Garrett immediately begin bickering over that, I head toward the stairs and the sanctuary of my suite. Micah stops me. Asher’s attempting to referee the dispute, and we have a rare moment of privacy.

“I haven’t had a chance to talk to you this week,” my cousin says, “about the ski resort project you were working on last Sunday. Have you had a chance to find someone to do a land survey?”

My heart stutters. This is my chance. Micah’s like my brother. He loves me, and he believes in me. Better, he’s an engineer, and if he thinks the idea’s feasible, the council will listen. I open my mouth to tell him I need his support—

“Micah, tell them I’m the best diva!”

He’s instantly diverted by Cam’s voice, and my hope fades. Micah’s like my brother. He’d back me on this, but he’s got other priorities right now, and it would be selfish of me to demand his time. Already he’s juggling his regular job with Grandmother’s demands. “I shelved the project,” I say. “Go help Cam.”

He frowns, and it looks like he’s going to ask a question, but the volume of the “discussion” rises, and my cousin goes to rescue his boyfriend.

And I go to bed.

CHAPTER THREE

Ronan

After Garrett and Asher leave,I sit for a long time staring at nothing. It’s only when my limbs begin to cramp that I blink and realize how much time has passed. It’s become dark.

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