Page 54

So, he played, and he danced about as he played the flute, and the magpie bounced about with him, flying from perch to perch, calling out as if singing.

“Sing it, Ed!” he cried, taking a bit of a breath, which was when he heard the knocking at the main door of the house. The door to the human world.

“Oh, shit, Ed. What the hell? No one knocks at this house.” Not even Amazon. They just left shit in the weatherproof box at the end of the driveway…

Ed screeched, then flew out through the hall of Cullen’s house, heading to the front door.

“Okay, fine.” He held his flute more like a weapon than an instrument, stomping out to the front door. There was no camera or even a weird offset mirror thing to see who was out there. Just a peephole, and Orion had watched enough horror movies to know better than that.

“Who is it, Ed?”

The knock sounded again, and then the thump of a beaver tail sounded on the boards.

“Yarrow? Is that you?”

“Let me in! I brought doughnuts!”

“Just a moment!” He did look then, simply to make sure Yarrow was alone. When he saw no one else, Orion opened the door, smiling at his friend.

“How are you doing, old friend?” Orion wasn’t sure if he should let Yarrow in. It wasn’t his house.

Well, this part wasn’t his house, but he didn’t know any way to get to his house except for through this door, this way.

“Okay, I’m good. Real good. I just thought I’d stop by. I’m fixing to go to ground for the winter. It’s going to be a harsh one. I can feel it in my bones.” Yarrow held up the box of doughnuts. “Anyway, I thought that I would share my bounty, say hello.”

“Do you have a good place to stay for the winter?” Orion hated the thought of his friend being miserable for the cold season—which was weird because he had been friends with the beaver for years, and he’d never worried before.

“Define good.”

“I mean is it safe?” Orion asked.

“Well, it’s warm, it’s deep, and I can sleep there. So I like that. It’s a little dank, but you know. It’s a den.”

He nodded as if he understood, even though that was a lie. He really didn’t understand dens. Or dank. Oh really, no. That wasn’t his thing. Still, it was his job to acknowledge and agree, right? “Okay. Well, that’s good.”

He couldn’t just not let Yarrow in. It just felt wrong.

Cullen?He wasn’t sure Cullen could hear him from across dimensions, but it was worth a try.

Yes, mate?

Okay, that was easy.Can I let Yarrow come in?

It’s your house too; just don’t let any vampires in, because that’s creepy.

He looked at Yarrow. “Are you a vampire?”

“A who what?” Yarrow’s breath made a whistling sound through his teeth.

“Are you a vampire?”

Yarrow bared said teeth, which were absolutely huge, but blunt. Not for sucking, just for gnawing.

Totally not a vampire.

Then let him come in.

“Come on in, have a seat. This is our shared living area.”