“No, and that’s a good thing.”
“It is?”
“If we could leave anytime we wanted, this world would have been destroyed long ago.” He paused, wondering how to phrase what he wanted to say. “Drew . . . I’m notlikeother demons. You’re extremely lucky you accidentally summoned me and not one of the others. I’m an anomaly.” He shuddered at the thought of what could have happened to this sweet kid if it had been literally anyone else but him.
Drew looked at him for a long moment, assessing, and then he smiled, lighting up his entire face. “Well then, I’m glad I was lucky enough to get you.”
They shared a smile under the bright summer sun, and for the first time in eons, Zach felt . . . happy. He had done some terrible, terrible things in his very long life—things that would horrify Drew—but right now, in this very moment, Zach didn’t feel like his soul was weighed down by those actions. He didn’t feel the creeping, persistentguiltthat had prevailed over him, day in, day out, since Oberon had chained him with the power of the gem. Drew made him feel free, and perhaps if he was very, very lucky, he might one day soon actuallybefree.
“Is that a Timmy’s?” Drew asked, peering down the road.
Zach glanced further down the street and nodded. “It does appear to be one.”
“Could we maybe get a drink?” Drew asked, tentatively. “If that’s okay?”
“I thought you weren’t a fan of Canada’s iconic coffee chain?” he teased.
Drew blushed and shrugged. “It’s notallbad. It’s a nice day, so I thought maybe we could get a cold brew?”
Zach grinned and linked his arm with Drew’s. “That sounds delightful. Lead the way.”
They had used a rideshare service to get to Ladysmith, since the buses were infrequent and time-consuming, and they called for another to take them back to Nanaimo. Zach glanced at his watch as they slid into the back seat and saw it was past midday. They’d gotten their coffees and wandered back up First Avenue, stopping by the thrift store and reading the plaques on the historic buildings for another hour. Zach was about to suggest they grab some lunch when they got back into town, when Drew’s phone pinged with a message. He pulled it out and frowned a little as he read it and then cut his eyes to Zach.
“What is it?” Zach asked.
“Oh, Gwen and Dom are going out tonight for drinks with some of the others and they wanted me to come along.”
“Do you not want to go?”
“No, it’s not that, a drink would be kinda nice after the past week. It’s just . . .” He trailed off and couldn’t meet Zach’s eyes.
“It’s just that I’d have to come along and since there’s no way you could explain bringing a cat along, I’d have to come in this form,” Zach finished for him.
Drew chewed on his lower lip and nodded. “Yeah.”
Not entirely sure of the reasons behind Drew’s reluctance—and ignoring the pang of hurt as he worried that Drew was ashamed of him—Zach decided to make an offer instead. “It’ll be a bit difficult, but I can try and stay ten feet away the whole night? I could follow you in and find a seat close by but far enough away that you’d have privacy with your friends. It’ll be tricky to make sure we don’t get separated, since it would be hard to explain us getting yanked back together by the tether, but if the bar they’ve picked is small enough that we can stick close to one another but busy enough I’m not noticed by your friends, we could make it work.”
Drew’s brow furrowed. “Why would we do that?”
Zach gestured with his hand, hoping to encompass everything he was trying—and failing—to articulate. “Well, so you can have a night out.”
“Why can’t you be part of that night out? Do you not want to come along? I thought you might need a drink as well after today.”
The flutter in Zach’s stomach was ridiculous. He was aware of the attraction Drew felt for him of course, but the mere thought that Drew mightwantto spend time with him was altogether different. “Yes, I’d like to go,” Zach told him. “I just thought you might not want me to be there.”
The look Drew directed at him spoke volumes about what he thought of Zach’s intelligence. “Of course Iwantyou to be there.”
“Then why the conflicted face?”
Drew sighed and looked away. “You know why.”
“I really don’t.”
There was a long moment of silence as Drew battled with his thoughts, and then he said in a rush, “Because people will wonder who you are and what you’re doing there with me. They’ll ask if we’re dating.”
“So?” Zach placed his hand on Drew’s knee and squeezed gently. “Why would that be a problem?”
“I’ve told you before,” Drew said. “No one will believe that someone like me managed to land someoneas hot as you.”
