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  Charon pulled on one of his own silk pajamas, the hemlock-colored ones, and slid carefully under the covers, trying not to wake Az. He nearly managed, though Az rooted toward his warmth the moment Charon lay back.

  "Mmm, yr'home," Az murmured as he snuggled close and nuzzled up Charon until he was using Charon's chest as a pillow.

  "I'm here, Az." Charon wrapped an arm around him and kissed the top of his head. "Go back to sleep."

  Another nuzzle while Azeban slid his arm across Charon's stomach. "Is himself coming back tomorrow?"

  So much for not waking him. "No. His recovery time from near death is impressive but not quite that impressive. He'll need a few days."

  "Should I clear out before then?" The uncertainty in Azeban's voice threatened to break Charon's heart.

  "I suppose if you have some pressing appointment, yes." Charon gave him a squeeze. "Otherwise, no. This is where my family lives. If I've decided to add you to that rather exclusive list, my lord will understand and welcome your addition."

  "Mmm. I think I'd start annoying himself eventually."

  Charon considered this, stroking Azeban's back as he pondered. Lord Hades would accept Azeban for his sake, he had no doubt, but quarters might start to feel a bit on the close side soon enough. "We'll figure it out, Az. I have an idea or two to run past my lord when he comes home. Now, certain gods who just saved the world need to go back to sleep."

  The only answer from Azeban was soft, contented snoring.

  Epilogue

  Azeban offered the crowd an exaggerated theatrical bow as he caught his juggling balls one by one in his new hat. It wasn't quite broken in yet, just like his new coat wasn't, but it was a perfect catching hat. His poor old torn-up hat served as the collection box, since it was so easy to fold up and stuff in a pocket.

  Central Park in late February wasn't the best time for crowds, but there'd been enough to gather some pocket change. Enough to keep his ferryman in ice cream sandwiches. He smiled and let the humans think the grin was for them and held out his arm so Kau could land. Juggling items secured, coat buttoned, earnings retrieved, he strode off down the path, whistling with Kau perched on his shoulder, enjoying the sunshine and the lack of wind.

  When he reached an azalea thicket, he nudged a foot through into the Ways, turned himself out of reality carefully, and re-emerged on a wooded hillside sloping down to a chatty little river. At the bottom of the hill, a wooden-and-chain footbridge crossed the water, leading to the path on the other side and the lights of the building beyond.

  Kau launched from his shoulder with an excited series of caws.

  "Hey, no fair! I can't fly!" Azeban laughed and raced after him, just as eager to reach the white gleam of the building.

  He pelted around to the side heading for the tree Dio had specially grown for him there. The little oak wasn't as tall as the building yet, but Azeban didn't need to reach the top, just the fifth floor. Once he'd clambered up, he made the short leap to the balcony and perched on the railing a moment. He lifted his head to better catch the scents of pot roast and potatoes drifting out the kitchen. The door was open, of course. He was expected, so he slipped in and hung his coat and hat on their designated pegs. His shades went in the basket by the French doors, his shoes on the mat underneath.

  Kau had already beaten him to the kitchen, smug and happy on his perch by the counter island, eating cherries from the attached dish. At the stove in his shirt-sleeves, Charon was just getting plates out of the cupboard. He turned his head to accept a kiss and didn't object when Azeban hugged him from behind, breathing in his rushing-water scent, closing his eyes on this heart-warm, still unfamiliar sensation of home.

  "How was today?" Charon's voice rumbled through Azeban, making him sigh and squirm.

  "Not bad for the season. It's not the same without the knives though. No showstopper beats flaming blades." Azeban rubbed his cheek along Charon's spine. "I think I'll try in the Keys tomorrow though. Someplace with more tourists right now."

  Charon pointed with a serving spoon to the table. "Lord Hermes returned your juggling knives this evening. They are, as he says, clean now."

  "Yay, cool!" Azeban let go and bounced over to unwrap the bundle on the table, overjoyed to feel the familiar weight of his knives again.

  "And how soon I'm abandoned." Charon's voice had that dryly amused tone though, so his feelings weren't hurt. Azeban was learning this stuff bit by bit.

  He hadn't considered how much there might be to absorb in this whole relationship deal. Initially, he'd had some vague notion that they would see each other regularly, but then Charon had bought the condominium directly below his lordship's. A whole condominium in the same swanky building. Azeban has assumed that Charon had wanted to give Lord Hades more privacy, a little distance. When Charon had insisted the new place was their house, he'd been completely thrown. A base, Charon had said, a place for Azeban to come to when he wasn't wandering. A round magical door, invisible to the magically insensible, had been built into the ceiling of the new condo that led up through the floor of Lord Hades's living room. Hephaestus had forged a beautiful and ingenious set of rolling stairs with a flowering-vine banister of wrought iron. It normally occupied the space beneath the door in the ceiling but could be collapsed and folded when they needed to call the building super or a tradesperson. Far easier than trying to explain the stairs to nowhere.

  While Charon had wanted more physical space, he didn't want to be far from his lordship, and Azeban completely got that.

  After rewrapping his despelled knives carefully, he put them on the sideboard so he could set the table—and wasn't that incredibly domestic. It had been his firm intention to keep wandering as he always had, returning to Charon and his cozy home when he needed to. But he'd come with Kau the first day Charon moved in and still hadn't left. Every morning after breakfast—glorious, homemade breakfast that they had upstairs with Ti and Lord Hades—Charon would go to his funeral home or go off to help with an investigation, while Azeban went to do as he pleased. By dinnertime, Azeban always found his steps returning to the building by the river, where he knew a certain ferryman would be.

  Regular dinners were an added bonus, sometimes upstairs and some nights by themselves. The pot roast smelled so good, Azeban gazed at it in dazed wonder when Charon brought the plates to the table and took the seat beside him.

  "Don't like pot roast?" Charon asked as he unfolded his napkin.

  "Love pot roast."

  "What is it, then? Do you miss dumpster diving? I can dial back the cooking if you want to, ah, eat out some nights."

  "Oh, hell no. I mean, finding good stuff in the trash is always fun, but nothing like this. I'm just appreciating first."

  "I see. Pardon me for interrupting." Charon picked up his knife and fork, then slowly set them down again. "I nearly forgot. I have something for you."

  Azeban stuffed a piece of pot roast in his mouth, manners be damned. He couldn't wait anymore. "Is it a good something?"

  "That will be entirely up to you." Charon set a rectangular object on the table and pushed it toward Azeban.

  "You're giving me your phone?" Azeban stared at the device as if it might jump up and snap his nose off.

  "No. This is a new one. For you." Charon gave it one more nudge with his index finger. "This way, if you need me, you can reach me wherever you are."

  Azeban gave the phone a tiny nudge back. "So this is a way to check up on me? Keep track of me?"

  Charon sighed and set his hands in his lap. "I was afraid you might see it that way. No. It's not intended as a tether. Or a trap." Charon stared at his hands. "Az, I can't expect you to come home to me every night. I'm simply saying that… if you would… it would be nice to know instead of wondering."

  "Oh, hey." Azeban scrambled up from his chair and wrapped his arms around Charon, pressing the snow-haired head to his chest. "You're trying to have the what happens if Az wants to be a wandering tramp again conversation. I get it. I'll t
ake the phone, okay? So if I do stay out or want to do some wandering, you won't think someone ate me or something. Just so you know, I don't feel like wandering, but I don't want you all worried if I do, either."

  Long arms circled his waist to pull him closer, Charon's voice muffled against his sweater. "I'm all right with it, you know. I know you'll want the outdoors at some point, and even though you can travel quickly to come… back, that you may want to go raccoon for a few days. Or explore another city for a bit. I do understand that. As long as you let me know."

  "Promise. If it ever comes to that, I promise. No sneaking off." Azeban put a finger under Charon's chin and gave him a soft kiss. "But right now, this, what we have right here, is perfect. Really. I don't just say it to make you happy. "

  "But you've never—"

  Azeban stopped his words with another kiss. "But now I do. I'm thinking you were gonna say I've never had a home. Never had a reason to before."

  "By all accounts, you've wandered farther than Odysseus." Charon had recovered some of his dry humor.

  "Yeah. I'm a legend. Though he was trying to get home, right?" Azeban grinned at Charon's lifted eyebrow. "All the time I've been wandering? It's been this thing is good here, and that thing is good there. While with you, it's all the good things."

  "That's quite a few things."

  Azeban nodded and slid down to kneel beside Charon's chair. He took both slender, clawed hands and kissed each knuckle. "So many things. I know I'll get itchy feet sometime. I'm not being delusional. But I promise not to drop off the edge of the world. And I'm always coming back to you. Because you're my first."

  A laugh got away from Charon, one he cut off short. "Your first what, exactly?"

  "My first home." Azeban squirmed closer and buried his face against Charon's stomach. "You are."

  Charon sniffed and pulled Azeban up into a crushing embrace. "Then I'll always be here waiting. I swear on the dark waters of the Styx."

  "That's some pretty serious swearing." Azeban's heart swelled, threatening the integrity of his ribcage.

  "The absolute, most serious. You have to be when you swear to a god, you know."

  Azeban laughed while his eyes swam with tears. Somehow he'd arrived here from being the god who stole food from old blind men and who lost arguments with waterfalls. For Charon, he would do his best to be what his death-guide lover had named him—Azeban the Clever, Azeban the Brave.

  * * *

  THE END

  Dear Reader

  Thank you for purchasing Brandyswine Investigations: Family Matters. Oh, and if Angel had you laughing with the Brandywine boys, you should check out her Offbeat Crimes series—who doesn't love a paranormal misfits squad?

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  Please consider leaving a review where you purchased this ebook or on Goodreads. Reviews and word-of-mouth recommendations are vital to independent publishers.

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  Want to hear the latest news about Angel and other Mischiefer releases and titles? Join our newsletter to get updates from us (only once a month.) We love hearing from our readers. You can email us at [email protected]. To read excerpts from all our titles, visit our website: http://www.mischiefcornerbooks.com.

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  Sincerely,

  Mischief Corner Books

  About the Author

  While Angel Martinez is the erotic fiction pen name of a writer of several genres, she writes both kinds of gay romance – Science Fiction and Fantasy. Currently living part time in the hectic sprawl of northern Delaware, (and full time inside the author's head) Angel has one husband, one son, two cats, a changing variety of other furred and scaled companions, a love of all things beautiful and a terrible addiction to the consumption of both knowledge and chocolate.

  For more information on Angel's work, please visit:

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  Official Website:

  http://angelmartinezauthor.weebly.com/

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  Email:

  [email protected]

  Also by Angel Martinez

  BRANDYWINE INVESTIGATIONS

  Brandywine Investigations: Open for Business (Omnibus)

  Brandywine Investigations: Family Matters (Omnibus)

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  BRIMSTONE

  Potato Surprise: A Brimstone Prequel

  Hell for the Company #1

  Fear of Frogs #2

  Shax's War #3

  Beside a Black Tarn #4

  Brimstone: Demon Owned & Operated (Omnibus #1 - 3)

  The Brimstone Journals: Collection One

  The Brimstone Journals: Collection Two (2018)

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  THE ENDANGERED FAE SERIES

  Finn

  Diego

  Semper Fae

  No Fae is an Island

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  ESTO UNIVERSE

  Vassily the Beautiful

  Prisoner 374215

  Gravitational Attraction

  Also by Angel Martinez

  INTERPLANETARY MULTISPECIES PACT (IMP)

  A Christmas Cactus for the General

  A Message from the Home Office*

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  *Currently awaiting republication

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  OFFBEAT CRIMES

  Lime Gelatin and Other Monsters

  Pill Bugs of Time

  Skim Blood & Savage Verse

  Feral Dust Bunnies

  Jackalopes & Woofen-Poofs

  All the World's an Undead Stage

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  SINGLE TITLES

  The Color of His Crest

  Hearts & Flowers: A Tale of Hay Fever and Bad Decor

  Restoration

  The Line

  Meteor Strike: Serge and Een

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  AURA UNIVERSE (with Bellora Quinn)

  Quinn's Gambit

  Flax's Pursuit

  Kellen's Awakening

  About Mischief Corner Books

  Mischief Corner Books is an organization of superheroes… no, it's a platinum-album techno-fusion group… no, hold on a sec here…

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  Ah yes. Mischief Corner Books is a diverse group of authors who met on a mountain in Tennessee and decided since they were probably too easily distracted to rule the world that they'd settle for causing a bit of mayhem instead.

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  In addition to making mayhem, we publish books with a diverse range of genres and topics... we live to break molds.

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  MCB. Giving voice to LGBTQ fiction.

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  Website:

  http://www.mischiefcornerbooks.com