He rolled his eyes. “Same difference.”
“It’s really not, but given you’re a bit stressed right now, I’m just going to agree to disagree,” Zach said.
“Keep that up and I might makeyoudo all the cooking from now on,” Drew threatened.
Eyes twinkling with mirth, Zach said, “That might actually be the safest option at this point.”
Drew was going to thump him on the arm, but at that moment, Leila flapped her wings and launched herself onto Zach’s shoulders. She made a long, lowcawnoise, turned around, and then shat all the way down his back. Once she was done, she hopped back over to Drew’s shoulder and sat herself down.
Zach gaped at her. “She did that deliberately!” he accused.
“I’m sure it was an accident,” Drew argued.
“Look how smug she looks!”
“She’s a chicken! Chickens can’t look smug.” A glance down at her belied that, but he wasn’t going to admit it.
“Your familiar hates me,” Zach said, sounding very put out by this.
“She just doesn’t know you yet. It won’t take long for her to see how wonderful you are.”
Leilabokkedin disbelief and turned her beak up.
Zach held up a hand as if to say,“Your honour—Exhibit A.”
“Stop being such a baby,” Drew said instead.
“Your loving care and devotion to me just warms the cockles of my heart,” Zach drawled.
“If you ever want me warming your cockles again, maybe you should find us somewhere to shelter for the night?” He looked around at their surroundings, which were growing darker by the minute.
“Let’s head for the settlement. There should be an inn there.”
“Will they let us stay there? And do wewantto? Since, you know, the last demon we met mentioned I was kind of tasty looking? An inn sounds good in theory, just as long as I’m getting familiar with the bed and not the inside of the pot on the kitchen stove.”
“It’s mostly low-level demons in this area. I should be able to glamour us so they won’t recognise you as a human and me as an angel,” Zach said, sounding confident. “There’s no need to worry.”
Drew wasn’t experienced enough with his magic to know how possible that was, but he was happy to try. He really didn’t want to have to sleep on the rocky ground out in the open in a hostile place if there was another option. Of course, the other option might simply trap them for the hungry hordes in a convenient room-sized takeout box, but he guessed they’d cross that bridge once they got to it.
It didn’t take them long to reach the edge of the settlement. Drew hadn’t really known what he’d been expecting, but it wasn’t this. It was a small village, and wouldn’t have been out of place in a British murder mystery television show. It was the quintessential English village, with cobbled streets, half-timbered houses with gabled roofs, and vintage lantern streetlights. He stopped, his mouth agape as he stared at the settlement.
“What’s wrong?” Zach asked, eyes darting around to scan for threats.
“Is Hell actually the Cotswolds?” Drew demanded.
“Considering how many murders Agatha Raisin stumbles across, that’s a distinct possibility,” Zach drawled.
Before they entered the outskirts of the town, Drew’s ears popped—a sure sign Zach was accessing his magic. When the air pressure around them returned to normal, Drew turned his attention inwards, trying to tell if he could feel any difference. After a few moments of not detecting anything out of the ordinary, he gave up and decided to put his trust in Zach. He had thousands of years’ experience under his belt. If his magic didn’t work the way he intended, he’d resort to other measures to keep Drew safe.
No one looked twice at them as they started along the main street of the settlement, so Drew took the opportunity to goggle at the inhabitants. They were as different from one another as could be, though all were vaguely humanoid in that they walked on two appendages. From what he could see, some of them were feet, some hooves, and some paws. Skin, fur, and scale colours varied, as did the number of arms, horns, and teeth. It was fascinating, but also terrifying.
They soon reached a large square which was surrounded by storefronts. “Inn, inn, inn,” Zach muttered to himself as his eyes scanned the area. There was a loud shout, and then the windows of a premises across from them exploded outwards as a body was hurled through it. The demon tumbled across the cobblestones, coming to a rest not too far from where Drew and Zach were standing. “Ah, there it is,” Zach said, and led Drew around the prone body of the demon, towards the inn.
“Um, will they be alright?” Drew asked, turning to look back at the demon.
“They’ll be fine,” Zach assured him. “They’re just drunk.”
They pushed through the front door of the inn, and Drew blinked several times to help his eyes adjust. The room beyond was vast, with multiple long wooden tables with bench seats in what appeared to be a dining area. On the right-hand side of the room was a large fireplace, in front of which were several smaller tables that had demons surrounding them, playing card or dice games. There was a counter at the rear of the room, and Zach guided them around the tables and their occupants towards it.
