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“Fairies?” Elijah frowned.
“We’re all fairies.” Tido burst out laughing and then covered his mouth, clearly remembering that Elijah’s grandparents were asleep. “Sorry, bad joke.”
“Funny joke,” Gage said. “But, yes, I do, Elijah. Why do you ask?”
Elijah wasn’t sure if he should say anything. He’d known his friends since forever—except Gage who was new to their group—and never kept anything from them, but this was different. Spilling what he witnessed might get him killed. His instincts told him not to breathe a word of what had happened when Julian’s ex-boyfriend’s father had tried to kill Julian.
“I saw a guy change into a snow leopard.” Crackers, he shouldn’t have said that. “I also saw a wolf change into a man.” He shouldn’t have said that, either. It was as if he couldn’t get his mouth to shut the hell up. He was shocked he’d held out two weeks without telling his best buds.
“So I’m not crazy,” Tido whispered. “I could have sworn about a year ago that I saw a guy change into a lion.”
“And you never told us?” Drake asked.
“And have you guys tease me relentlessly?” Tido asked. “No way. Do you know who the men were, Elijah?”
“No.” He might not have been able to keep his mouth shut, but he wasn’t going to say it was his boss and some other guy who’d attacked Julian. Elijah might not be the brightest bulb, but he knew when to keep his lips sealed.
Most of the time, anyway.
“Wait.” Drake looked between them. “You guys are serious?”
“Yes,” Elijah and Tido said at the same time.
“Mind blown,” Drake replied. “Why can’t I see something cool like that?”
Elijah hadn’t thought it was cool. He’d been downright terrified when it happened. But now that he had time to think about it, yeah, it was pretty darn cool.
“No pics, no proof.” Drake sat back. “Did I tell you my uncle is a gargoyle?”
“You don’t have an uncle,” Tido argued. “Besides, we’re being dead serious.” He turned to Elijah. “You’re so lucky you saw it twice, with two different species.”
“I want to be lucky once,” Gage complained. “Tell me where it happened. Maybe I’ll hang out there and get to see it for myself.”
This was not the reaction Elijah thought he would get. He’d expected pure disbelief, some ribbing, and then they would watch a movie. He hadn’t expected Tido to say he’d witnessed a shift, too.
“It happened in an alley downtown.” Elijah was going to hell for lying to his best friends. He just knew it. “Aren’t we going to watch a movie?” He grabbed one of the boxes without looking at the title and popped in the DVD. Everything was streaming these days, but something about an actual DVD felt nostalgic.
His grandparents even had a few VHS tapes in their attic. Elijah didn’t feel that nostalgic.
“Oh!” Gage jumped up. “I almost forgot. I stopped by my job and picked up some barbeque.”
“Barbeque and pizza?” Elijah asked. “Where do you expect us to put all that food?”
Not only was Elijah thin, but so were his friends, everyone but Drake, who carried a few extra pounds.
“Have you ever heard of leftovers?” Gage asked. “Besides, the place has been open for almost a year, and you haven’t come to my job once.”
“I work at a diner,” Elijah argued. “I’m not leaving work to hang out at a food place. Besides, who are you to bitch? You’ve never once stopped at the diner, Gage.”
“You know I like cooking at home,” Gage replied. “Except when I eat at work.”
“You clearly haven’t met his boss, Elijah,” Tido said. “Mason is hot as fuck and has a ripped body.”
Like Elijah would stand a chance with someone that good looking. Kyle was decent in the looks department, but no one who was above a six ever looked Elijah’s way. “Hard pass.”
“He’s still fun to ogle,” Drake said. “He also gives us free food because we’re Gage’s friends.”
“Gee.” Elijah tapped his chin. “Do I want to go somewhere for free food when I get free food at work?”
