Everyonefinallymoved. Joe followed them into Uriel’s house. Once they all sat down, Joe looked them over, making sure they all knew he was onto them. Well, not really, considering he had absolutely no idea what was going on, but still, the look got him three sheepish grins and one confused new boyfriend. Poor Gabriel. He was the only one who deserved any sympathy. He’d not even been in town a week. York totally deserved the scary dog-man.
“Why are you glaring at my cousins?” Uriel asked.
“Because I want them to know I’mserious.”
“It’d be easier to take you seriously if you weren’t dressed like that,” Edgar grumbled.
“Don’t you make fun of Uriel’s clothes. You’ll never get a triple-shot iced mocha again, young man. Wait, young man? What’s wrong with me? Maybe I should sit down.”
Luckily, Uriel had taken the seat near the fireplace, so Joe plopped down on his lap.
“And finally, we broke him,” Uriel said.
He wrapped his arms around Joe, which was very nice of him.
“I’m very confused,” Joe confessed.
Uriel rubbed his hip. Also nice.
“We’re supposed to be working on tomorrow’s project,” Edgar said. “Can we please get on with it?”
“Will you please get that snow cone out of your behind? I’m in shock here, Edgar. Have some sympathy.”
Edgar sputtered but didn’t argue. Joe nodded his approval, then leaned back against Uriel.
“Just tell me already.” He quickly sat up and turned to stare at Uriel. “Wait. That was ahellhound. Hellhounds are real too?”
“I told you.”
“You told him about hellhounds?” Leif asked. “Uriel! Why would you do that?”
“Oh, don’t be mad at him. I didn’t believe anything he was saying, anyway. I’m always having to look up stuff he says.”
“Why?” Leif asked.
“He’s sneaky, that’s why.”
“It’s what we do,” York said. “Kinda part of the job description.”
“Oh really?” Joe said. “And what exactlyisthe job.”
“Uh…no comment,” York said.
Gabriel sighed. “They’re called Yule Lads and the other cousins, including your boss, are called Sprites. You know the whole naughty and nice thing?”
Joe nodded.
“Well, these guys are naughty, and Nyall, Oberon, Eldon, and Linus are nice. Magic requires balance. I don’t know. None of it makes sense because all of you seem perfectly nice to me.”
“No, that totally makes sense. I mean, can you picture Nyall throwing carrots all over town? I think not.”
“Linus kidnapped a goat last year,” Uriel said.
“Nice try, hot stuff.” Joe turned back to the cousins. “Now, exactly how naughty is naughty, because there are levels. If I need to talk to the three of you about what’s acceptable behavior—”
“Thethreeof us,” Edgar protested. “There arefourof us!”
“Well, yeah,” Joe said, “but I obviously know exactly how naughty Uriel is. Come on, Edgar. Catch up. You can do it. Leif, you tell me.”
