Page 41 of Zachary

Hope explodes in my stomach. “Really?” It comes out on a wispy breath.

“Yeah. I’d want an updated report before works actually begin, but based on this, I’d be happy to recommend the planning and scheduling could take place. There are a few issues this report highlights that wouldn’t be relevant anymore, given modern machinery, and the costs would definitely be lower.”

I look at my friends. Garrett’s staring at me intently and drops his gaze toward… my lap?

Um…

“Do you need to…” His thumb wiggles.

Oh! He’s wondering if we should send this report to Hagen. I shake my head. “Micah knows what he’s talking about.”

“Thanks? I think.” Micah shakes his head in bewilderment.

Cam stands abruptly, banging his hip on the table. “We need a secret conference. Come on.”

That’s a good idea. Zoe, Garrett, and I get up and follow him toward the living room. Garrett turns back in the doorway and glares at the demons. “Don’t try to listen, or you’ll regret it.”

“Is it too early for a fucking drink?” I hear Asher ask as the door closes.

We crowd in a tight circle near the couch and keep our voices down.

“Well?” Zoe asks. “Now what do we do?”

“We need to find out why Zac shelved the project,” Garrett says. “It seems completely viable to me. And a good idea. It’s exactly the kind of thing we should be moving forward with.”

“You really don’t know why? Think hard,” I urge. “Exactly what was said?”

Cam and Garrett exchange a long look. “Zac was looking at the papers,” Cam says slowly. “Micah looked at some of them. He seemed to think it was a good idea, but I think he said something about a survey.”

“Like Hagen did.” I nod. “Okay, that makes sense.”

Garrett chimes in. “Zac and Asher talked about it too. I wasn’t there, but Ash mentioned it to me. He thought it would be a good part of our growth plan. I agreed. And then the next time I asked him about it, he said Zac shelved it.”

“That was just a week later,” Cam adds. “I remember because Micah was quiet. He wasn’t sure if he should ask why. And Zac’s been a grump since around then.”

“Didn’t you say last night that Cam brought it up at dinner last week?” Zoe asks. “What did Zac say then?”

“Damaris was on the warpath,” Garrett says immediately. “From the minute we arrived. Dinner was awkward. Uh… Cam asked Zac about the plans. Zac said it was shelved. I asked why, I remember that. And that’s when Damaris blew up about… that other stuff.”

Cam shakes his head. He’s frowning, and it looks oddly out of place on his usually cheerful face. “Didn’t she say something about Zac not wasting time on dreams? It seemed like a really weird thing for her to say. And I’m sure he said something else about how the resort would be a good idea, but then she did her thing.”

Certainty settles inside me. “Damaris is on the village council”—I know that for a fact—“and she played a huge part in the resettlement all those years ago, didn’t she?” That’s something I found out during my chats with the villagers.

“I wouldn’t hesitate to say that she’s the most influential person in the village,” Garrett says grimly. “Even though this is officially Jesse’s home, he’s often away visiting other demons. And he frequently will defer to her about the village, since he knows she has its best interests at heart.”

“So it’s a safe bet that if Zac wanted to pitch this idea to the council, he’d have run it past his grandmother first?” Zoe sounds sad. “And she said no. So he shelved it.”

“Fuck that.” The words are louder than I expected, and I wince, lowering my voice again. “This is a good idea, right? We all think it can work?”

They murmur agreement.

“And Asher and Micah, they thought it could work?”

“Micah did,” Cam says confidently.

“Asher was definitely intrigued,” Garrett adds. “As a business proposition, he was prepared to invest, subject to the land being usable.”

“Which we now have the answer to. So we have two experts in agreement on this. Three, if you count Zoe as a winter sports expert. Four, with Garrett as the social anthropologist. Zac’s the nature and wildlife expert—he never would have suggested this if it would cause problems there.” Of that, I’m certain. “We need to find out what problem Damaris has with the idea and work out a solution.”

---