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“A bad idea,” Cosmo finished.

“Sure.” Orion shrugged casually, but Cullen could feel the hurt feelings emanating from him.

“We don’t get out much anymore,” Cosmo said. “It’s just too dangerous. We’re guardians here.”

“Can’t you just call him?” Cullen asked.

“Yarrow is low-tech. Still uses pay phones or phones at like, hospitals to call me.”

“No shit?”

“Yeah. I mean, he does retreat to a beaver lodge all winter, eating and sleeping and just—” Orion looked at Elliot. “Er, enjoying himself.”

“Oh. I guess that would cramp his style to have a cell phone or a sat phone.”

“Something like that. But if it’s cool with you guys, I’ll just go down and come back on the same day.” Orion wasn’t fooling him. The elaborately uncaring pose meant he was desperate for them to accept him.

“Of course it is,” he said, glaring at Hawk. “Maybe I should just go with him.”

“I don’t think this is a good idea.” Hawk was scowling again. “I don’t like the idea of you out with a stranger.”

“I could go too,” Corbin said. “If we went together, we could get some shopping done and put in a really good load for…uh…the winter.”

“That’s an awesome idea.”

Cosmo blinked at him. “Might not be terrible. You know, eventually it will be winter.”

“You know what I mean.” Cullen’s cheeks heated. Okay, that had been stupid. “You know that…somewhere they’ll be wanting something.”

Lunastra was in the middle of winter right now, after all, and while the calls for things from this realm were lessening at kind of a steady rate, they were still coming—Doritos, olives, marshmallow fluff, and Campbell’s chicken noodle soup.

“I go.” Elliot ran to him, hands held up to be lifted. “I go bye bye wif Cuncle.”

“Oh, little gargoyle. I don’t know that that would be such a good idea to go this time, but we can go together and see your seanmháthair soon.” Elliot loved to visit Mom.

“Seanmháthair. Go see daideo too?”

“That’s right. Why don’t we do that?”

Elliot beamed, and Cosmo relaxed with a sigh.

“Let’s just do it. We’ll go out, do some shopping, talk to the beaver. Then come home.” Cullen thought that was a fine plan.

“Sounds good.” Orion beamed at him. “I would like that.”

“Do you have anything you need to pick up? Surely you live somewhere around here. If you’re going to come stay for a bit, you’ll need things.”

Everyone was staring at him now, and only Orion didn’t seem like he was in shock.

“No worries. I’ll arrange to have them deliver my things here.”

“If you have house spirits, you need to make sure that they coordinate with ours, because you know, we don’t want them having a little war or anything.” Cullen wasn’t sure that was a thing, and he also wasn’t sure how or why he was inviting this man who he’d known for like two hours to come stay with them.

In their house.

Something was very weird.

Very.