Nice, jackass. “Are you fucking kidding me? That’s all you have to say?” My angry words take us both off guard, but I don’t think my ‘demon puberty’ is to blame for the outburst. On my drive to town, I imagined what it would be like to see Garrett again, but that did nothing to prepare me for the hailstorm of emotions battering me right now. Part of me is relieved he’s safe. The rest is fuming he’s been doing so well while I’ve been alone all this time.
“Wait, you two know each other?” Hux asks, gaze ping-ponging between us.
“I thought you were dead.” Hux’s mouth snaps shut, and Garrett’s forest-green eyes go wide. They might have nothing to say, but my anger has no problem filling the silence. “Years of friendship and you just disappeared. Nobody knew where you were. For two weeks I thought something terrible had happened. I was worried sick. Then what do I get? A text. Afucking text,Garrett.”
“Jared. Don’t you know who he is?” Hux hisses, laying a restraining hand on my shoulder. “You shouldn’t be talking to him like that, especially not in here.”
I shrug off his warning, scoffing, “I know exactly who this arsehole is.” I glare at Garrett, who’s finally recovered from his shock.
“I’m sorry, Jared, but if you’re here, then you know why I couldn’t tell you what was really going on.”
He can’t be serious. “Right. You couldn’t tell a human that you were supernatural and moving back to your secret magicalsanctuary hometown. Except you knew I wasn’t human, didn’t you?” I challenge.
“Oh damn,” Huxley breathes, not at all subtly sliding as far away from my righteous anger as his barstool allows.
“I didn’t know for sure?—”
“Bullshit,” I snap. “You knew the truth the moment I remembered your stories about this place. You just didn’t care about me enough to tell me the truth.”
“Hey, that’s not true.”
“No? Then tell me, what was so important you had to bail without so much as a goodbye and a ‘by the way, pal, you’re a demon’?”
“My dad died. I had to come back to take over the pack.”
Oh. Right, then. Don’t I feel like an insensitive arsehole.
“Shit, Rett, I’m sorry.” The once-familiar nickname slips out without thought.
“It’s alright. You didn’t know, and it was years ago.” Yeah, but the death of a loved one never stops hurting. Time only transforms the sharp agony of recent loss into a different kind of pain, one that sneaks up on you when you least expect it.
“Even so, I know you were close. You’re still a dick, but I am sorry.”
He huffs out a small laugh. “Apology accepted—as long as you accept mine too.”
I sigh in defeat. He’s got me there.
“Fine.”
Garrett grins, and it’s then I see the younger version of him I used to know. Maybe it’s a mistake to give in so quickly, but after everything I’ve been through lately, the chance to have my friend back is too much for my resolve. I’ve been fortunate to meet some great people during my first week here, but there’s nothing like old friends.
“Here.” Garrett places three beers on the bar between us. “Let me put your food order in at the kitchen, and then I’ll join you two.”
He’s waylaid by a few other customers as he tries to make his way out from behind the bar but soon enough, he balls up the black apron from around his waist and tucks it under the bar.
“So, you’re a demon?” He asks, settling on the stool next to mine.
“Yeah, didn’t you know?” I thought that was why he told me about Crystal Lake.
Garrett shakes his head. “No. I suspected you might be supernatural, but I couldn’t get a read on what type.”
“What tipped you off that he wasn’t human?” Hux asks. “His amulet completely blocked his magical signature.”
“Nothing at first, but eventually I started noticing small things that didn’t add up. His reflexes were quicker than a human’s should be. He never got sick. Not even when a nasty bug went round everyone else we worked with—we were the only two unaffected. Then there were his gut feelings. They were too accurate not to be supernatural in nature, but I had to be sure.”
“So you told me about Crystal Lake, knowing if you were wrong and I was human that the sanctuary town wards would make me forget.”
“Yes.”
