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Jay took a deep breath and felt himself relax a little. A wave of relief rushed over him as he reached out to take the vase. “Thanks, Camden,” he said, and heard his voice come out a little shaky. “This is really kind of you.”

It was a good reminder: no matter what was going on with cults and gods and signs and the end of the world, there were still good folks who wanted to help each other. It was easy to get caught up in all this, and in the paranoia of not knowing of who he could trust or what they wanted from him. But there was more than just that.

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Jay stared at Ashesh’s closed door and tried to process what had just happened.

Okay, he thought distantly. So he met a guy with an unnaturally overpowering presence who mysteriously implied he’d been ‘invited’ here, magically made keys and books appear, and apparently was affiliated with a cult without being part of a cult. And claimed the world was about to end, that also was a thing.

Was it crazy for him to think that this guy might not be human? Normally, yes, it would be nuts. But under the circumstances…

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Part of Jay tried to analyse this feeling of overwhelming presence. His impulse was, oddly, to trust it. The woman in the library had mentioned having an agent in town; perhaps this was that person. And if not, maybe it at least meant it was related to that dream in some way. He should, he decided, try to pay attention to that feeling when it happened.

The rest of him was finding that attentiveness, that attraction, to be really damn hot, and it was very quickly overruling the rest of him.

“Good, great,” Jay found himself saying. “Fantastic. Love the shirt.”

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Panic, Jay decided. Panicking a little was maybe the best bet.

But not here. Breathing shallowly, he pushed himself to his feet, stumbling back down the drive, breaking into a staggering run as he headed back to his own house, his bastion of dubious safety.

Once inside, he leaned against the door and sank down, trying to catch his breath as it tried to outrace him. Okay, he thought, with a bit of hysteria, Everything is terrifying. But I wasn’t poisoned or murdered, I got a good breakfast, and I have a bit more of an idea of what’s going on. It’s just that what’s going on is local cults to elder gods.

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Jay considered his options, and quickly decided that he might as well be straightforward here, and just ask everything that was on his mind. After all, Louis had basically told him to.

“I guess I do have a lot I want to know,” he admitted wryly. “Everyone here seems like they’ve lived here for generations, and here I am wandering into the middle of all these situations I know nothing about.”

“Oh, you certainly are,” Louis agreed. “More than you probably realize. I’d like to, hm.” He glanced Jay over. “Throw you a bone?”