Page 24

Once his brother left, he went back to sit next to Hawk on the bed, hand on Hawk’s warm belly. He was like a furnace.

“What’s wrong, sweet?”

“It’s obvious, huh?”

“A little bit, yes.” Hawk sat up, dragging Cosmo into his lap. “Talk to me.”

“So…the veil opened, and a bunch of dragons went in, most of them.” That was the easy part.

“Yes, I assumed that was what happened. I missed it, I realize.” Hawk gave him a wry sort of smile.

“Yeah. Yeah, you did. Anyway, that was where I wanted to go for breakfast. But dragons who cross the veil don’t seem to be able to come back.”

“Ah. You are worried I would be stuck.”

“Yes, I just found you. I don’t want you to go off into this big, huge, magical, wonderful dragon space and not be coming back, especially not when I have to be here to be like Super Guardian Man. And let me tell you how unfair it is that I have to be all Super Guardian Man with my brothers when we’re not very big.I don’t know if you’ve noticed. I mean, we’re very, very smart and we’re kind of mean and we’re super good at really screwing things up and making people miserable. But like. Guardians, no.”

He just thought Hawk should know.

Hawk blinked at him, kind of frowned a little bit, leaned in. “I have no wish to leave you.”

“Well, that’s nice.” And it was comforting, although it didn’t actually answer any questions, because how long could anyone be happy just staying in this one house? I mean, he could go toodling over to the Land of Summer and see his mum; he could go out and see Arielle. He could go out into the human world, even though everyone thought that he was a little strange and possibly permanently flushed. If he had a dime for every human person that had asked if he had rosacea, he would have a lot of dimes.

“So what does that mean in practicality? Because you and I both know that no one can just stay in a house.”

“I do not know.” Hawk spread his hands. “I mean, I woke up in a cave recently. And…” Those dark cheeks flushed even darker. “I am sure your brothers would not be pleased to hear that some say I am not stable, my love. I have slept a great deal since the dawn of the new century.”

He frowned. “Like since the early 2000s?”

“Oh, have we changed, then?”

“Oh yeah that was a while ago. Not too terribly long, but a while.”

Regardless, that didn’t answer the question about what they were going to do if Hawk went over to Lunastra and then couldn’t come back.

Cosmo didn’t want to live in a casita. He wasn’t one hundred percent sure that he wanted to live where it was winter in June.Just like he didn’t know if he wanted to live where it was summer all the time.

But he did know that he wanted to live with his brothers. They’d always been together, and he wasn’t ready to discuss them not being that way.

“At any rate, I told them to bring breakfast back. We at least have to discuss this.”

Although maybe they didn’t have to discuss it. It wasn’t like Hawk was officially his, or even unofficially his. It was sort of like not a thing.

People and dragons and fae, they did what they needed to do, and just because Cosmo wanted him to stay, didn’t mean Hawk wanted to stay.

Goddess, his head hurt.

“We are officially ours.” Hawk touched his cheek. “At least that is how I feel. But if you find you cannot reconcile me with your life, my little rose, I understand.” Hawk’s expression shut down some. “I am difficult.”

“You are?”

“Yes.” Hawk didn’t elaborate, but he could tell this was going to be a thorny subject.

“Why? I mean, is it a choice? Because we could all just be easy for a while.”

Hawk’s laugh was like a rusty gate swinging. “I will try for you, but Cosmo, I am old. I have forgotten many things. I hurt sometimes. I was born in Lunastra and I was thrust out and I never could get back. I think it tore something in me.”

Oh.