Page 18 of Private Exhibit (Gentleman Hackers #4)

DEVON HAD to start off slowly. His legs felt unsteady beneath him as waves of relief rushed through his body.

Gods . He'd admitted he was trans, and Andy hadn't run away.

Devon took a deep breath as he steadily regained his rhythm.

The pain from his fall wasn't that bad. Gods knew he'd had worse.

At least he hadn't broken any bones this time.

When they reached a street corner and had to wait for a light to change, Devon took a moment to reassess himself, carefully shifting his legs and flexing his hands.

He shook his head. Just a few bruises. That, he could live with.

They crossed the street, and Devon heard Andy breathe a laugh.

“What?” Devon asked, sneaking a glance at him.

Andy shook his head. “I really, really never realized just how much plant life there was in this city. My gods.” He paused at a planter box out in front of a restaurant. “What about these?” he asked, gesturing at the flowers growing there.

“Actually,” Devon said, “I've never been fond of pansies.

I'm not even sure why. I mean, the colors are interesting, but…

maybe it's the shape? I don't know.” He paused, then gasped and looked ahead.

“Where's–” He continued down the sidewalk, Andy right on his heels, and came to a stop in front of a bookstore.

“They're still here! Snapdragons. I love snapdragons!” He reached out and gently touched the petals, admiring the variety of colors growing there.

“These were my favorite…” Devon paused again, thinking back. “Four jobs ago.”

A heavy silence followed. Devon peeked up at Andy and saw a thoughtful look on the man's face.

Then Andy seemed to realize Devon was looking at him and pulled a double-take before chuckling.

“Hey, don't look at me. I'm one of those guys who doesn't know anything about flowers beyond buying a girl some roses from time to time.” He paused, then added in barely a whisper, “Or a guy.”

Devon blushed, and his eyes went wide.

Andy whispered something else that Devon couldn't make out, then said, “Show me another favorite.”

“Um.” Devon quickly looked around. “Oh! There's a really pretty willow over by the fishpond in Divinity Square.”

Andy held out his arm, and Devon once again led the way. Divinity Square was one more block over, and just beyond it, University Hospital was already coming into view. They crossed the street and stepped up onto the marble plaza, right in the heart of downtown New Haven.

Divinity Square covered the space of two full city blocks.

At one end, marble statues of the gods stood twenty feet tall, arranged in the traditional teardrop shape with The One at the point and the six lesser gods making up the curve.

The other end of the Square was dominated by seven starglass Gates, one for each of the other Isles in the world.

The Gates were tall and wide, arranged in a slight semicircle.

Each one was framed in gold. The starglass itself was breathtaking, a cosmic substance that, when molded within a gold setting, turned from a solid, glass-like material to something almost liquid.

From what Devon had read, the Gates were cast in back-to-back pairs and then magically separated down the middle.

Once apart, the two Gates could be placed anywhere in the world, yet still maintain their connection.

A person could step through one Gate and step out of its partner, wherever it might be.

“Gods, I've always wanted to try one of these,” Devon breathed as they approached.

“We could,” Andy said. He glanced from Gate to Gate, probably reading the labels on them. “Where would you go? Andria? Erostil?”

Devon blushed. Erostil sounded intriguing as hells, from what he'd heard.

A voyeur's paradise, where the weather was always warm and most people walked around entirely naked.

But other places sounded interesting, too.

Ceynes hadn't evolved past a sort of feudal monarchy, which would be like walking through history.

Indisar was supposed to be a desert land where everything smelled of spices.

And then there was Jadu'n, the land of the magi, where everything supposedly looked like something out of a storybook fantasy and magical creatures abounded.

Devon wanted to go there just to see if half the rumors were true.

He paused, eyeing a Gate that was nothing more than an empty frame. “Tanas,” he said with a frown. “What happened to this one? I never did find out.”

Andy crossed his arms over his chest as a slight furrow creased his brow. “It was broken from the other side. The Tanasian government didn't want anybody getting through again.” Andy slowly shook his head. “Fucking Crawford,” he whispered.

Devon blinked. Crawford? What did Dr. Crawford have to do with the Gate? “Why do you hate Doctor Crawford so much?” he blurted out, then felt his cheeks go hot. “Sorry. You don't have to answer that if you don't want to.”

Andy was silent for a long moment, then let out a heavy sigh. “No, it's fine.” He dropped his arms to his sides, then reached up and rubbed the back of his neck. “And I apologize for that again. I should have taken that argument to another room so you wouldn't have to hear it.”

Devon smiled shyly.

“But I suppose I do owe you an explanation after all that,” Andy went on.

Devon waited, watching the man as he stared at the empty Gate before them. Andy was silent for so long, Devon thought he wasn't going to answer after all.

He was about to change the subject when Andy finally whispered, “My son died.”

Devon whirled around to face him. What? His jaw dropped as he tried to process that, wondering what it had to do with the conversation. Then he saw the pain on Andy's face. Oh gods. Poor Andy .

Andy started to walk away, then put his hands on his hips and hung his head.

Devon shifted from foot to foot. Should he leave? Should he say something? Before he could decide what to do, Andy turned back.

“I need to be sitting down for this,” the man mumbled. He hesitated, giving Devon a strange, intense look, then held out his hand.

Devon gulped. He trembled as he slowly reached out and took Andy's hand, sending an electric shock all through his body.

Andy gave his hand a squeeze and let out a shuddering breath, then turned and led Devon across the Square to the fishpond.

The pond had a raised, marble surround that served as one continuous bench where people could sit and admire the view or feed the fish.

Andy led them around to the far side, where there were fewer people at the moment, and helped Devon to sit.

He paused there, looking up. “This the one?” he asked, pointing at the willow tree that shaded them.

Devon nodded, still too caught up in Andy's confession to really appreciate it at the moment.

“It's beautiful,” Andy murmured. He stood there for a long while, then finally let out a heavy sigh and sat down.

Devon turned slightly towards Andy and pressed his hands between his knees, waiting in silence.

“There was an expedition–” Andy began, then shook his head.

“No, I should really start from the beginning.” He blew out a heavy breath.

“I was sixteen when I met Lydia. My ex-wife.” He gestured at himself and quickly added, “Bisexual, in case that wasn't obvious.” Andy barked a quick, almost nervous laugh, then turned utterly serious.

“I had no idea what I wanted to do with my life back then, but I knew I wanted her. She was all I could think about, day and night. The start and end of all my ambitions.” He paused.

“We were eighteen when we found out she was pregnant.

Most guys my age would have been terrified—and I was, don't get me wrong—but I was also thrilled.

I'd had a very happy family life, growing up, and I couldn't wait to experience that with my own kids.

It was sooner than I'd anticipated, but I just ran with it.

Started making plans. We talked about where we were going to live.

How we'd raise him. What our life would be like.” Andy shook his head. “It all sounded so fucking perfect.”

Devon glanced at the man out of the corner of his eye, seeing tension in every line of Andy's body.

“Then something went wrong in the middle of the pregnancy,” Andy murmured.

“We thought she was having a miscarriage, so we rushed to the hospital. By the time we got there, everything was fine. All the scans showed normal, so they chalked it up to a fluke or indigestion or some such nonsense. The day he was born, though–” Andy clasped his hands, his knuckles turning white.

“It was obvious, right away, that something was wrong.

Junior didn't come out crying. He came out screaming . And he failed a few of those tests they run on newborns, checking for reflexes and whatnot. So they ran some more tests and even took a blood sample for analysis.” Andy swallowed hard.

“When they came back and asked for blood samples from both me and Lydia, my heart nearly stopped.”

Devon fought the urge to squirm. Andy's tension was palpable, getting under his skin. But he couldn't walk away. Not now. He looked down at the ground, letting his vision go hazy, and focused on listening.

Andy took a deep breath and whispered, “Gods-damned Ashworth-Grahams.”

Devon gasped. Oh my gods . He looked at Andy, who stared resolutely down at the ground. Holy shit . What could he even say to that?