Page 6 of Zachary

How do I even approach these people again? They hate me. And worse, dealing with demons ishard.Garrett warned me that their faces can be hard to read because of their heavier muscle mass, and I’ve been terrified ever since that I’m misinterpreting what they’re saying.

I need advice. Fumbling my phone out of my pocket, I stare at it. Who would I even call about this? Usually when I need advice, I ask Brandt, my wingleader—my savior. But I’m not willing to let him know how badly I’ve mangled this already. I’m not exactly awash with friends… and anyway, I was told that at this stage in the process, the project shouldn’t be discussed too widely.

I call my brother.

“If you’re being hunted, don’t say anything. This line isn’t secure.”

It took me a while, but I’m now used to having him answer the phone this way. Apparently his paranoia is much better than it used to be, but it will never completely go away.

“I’m not being hunted.” Not yet, anyway. Thankfully, I didn’t offend anyone quite that much. “But I’ve made some mistakes and I need advice.” I explain the situation. “So what do I do next?”

“Give me some names,” he says promptly. “Let me investigate these people and see if there’s anything shady goingon. They might be causing this fuss to drive you out because they know you can discover their secret plot.”

I’m about to ask what secret plot but hear Wil in the background. “Who are you talking to?”

“Ronan,” Steffen says. “The villagers are causing him trouble.”

“No, that’s not exactly right,” I start, but Wil’s already talking.

“Let me talk to him. Don’t start investigating anyone yet. Let’s get some more details first.”

As usual, I’m impressed by the calm way Wil deals with Steffen’s paranoia. He never talks down to him or makes it sound like he’s being ridiculous. His respect for my brother—and protectiveness of him—are what I like best about him.

A second later, Steffen says, “You’re on speaker, Ronan. Wil’s here. Tell him what you told me.”

I repeat my story, feeling shame well up. I know I can trust Wil, but it’s still not fun telling him how poorly I’m doing at the first job Brandt’s ever given me.

“It sounds like a simple misunderstanding,” he says thoughtfully. “I know you’ve been… unhappy about having to be there, and they probably misread that.”

I swallow hard. Great. I guess I’m even worse at hiding my feelings than I thought. “Yes. But… how do I fix it?”

“An apology, I guess? I might not be the best person to ask—I’ve been a soldier for six thousand years, and we used to just fight it out and buy each other a drink after.”

“One of them owns the pub,” I mumble glumly.

“Then that might actually work,” he surprises me by saying. “Go see them all, tell them you had to move in a rush and leave some stuff unfinished at home, or something that they can relate to and sympathize with. You’ve been distracted and you realize you haven’t made a great first impression, but you’re excited tobe there. Then tell them you want to make it up to them by paying for their first drink next time they’re at the pub. Anyone who accepts the offer has forgiven you. The publican definitely will—just make sure you organize the tab with him before any of them turn up to cash in.”

“Apologize, get sympathy, offer drink,” I repeat. “You’re sure that will work?”

“Positive. Anyone who’s still mad after that has other issues, and we can work on them individually. Just make sure you sayfirstdrink. You don’t want to be paying for the whole town’s drunken night out.”

He has a point there. Though maybe getting the whole town drunk will help them like me more.

CHAPTER FOUR

Zac

TWO WEEKS LATER

I thoughtthe only thing worse than having my grandmother slap down my ideas was when she slapped me down—metaphorically—in public a week later, demanding I fulfill my duty to the village and community because I have nothing better to do. I was wrong, though. Worse than that is having to spend my days with Ronan Draco.

Damn his handsome, sexy, uptight self.

Finally I understand the human concept of Karma. I was a prankster as a young demon, and now I’m being punished.

The rest of the village may have been mollified by his apologies and bribe—I have to admit, that was clever. And to give him credit, heistrying harder with them. But now that we’re spending most of our time in the cave and vault, just him, me, and sometimes Garrett, his true nature is really shining through.

And that true nature is repressed, snobbish, and irritating.

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