Total pages in book: 36
Estimated words: 33643 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 168(@200wpm)___ 135(@250wpm)___ 112(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 33643 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 168(@200wpm)___ 135(@250wpm)___ 112(@300wpm)
“You’re amazing.” Sky sighed, and heat seared the tips of Nolan’s ears. He didn’t feel amazing. Sky was the amazing one with his magic and interesting friends.
Thankfully, they arrived at the meeting spot a couple of minutes later, and they moved away from talking about who was amazing and how.
Maddox parked his truck behind Nolan’s car a few seconds later, and they all climbed out. Old trees filled the block, their dark-green leaves nearly blotting out the streetlamps. The houses were a mix of small cottages and ranches that appeared to be at least seventy years old. Lights glowed warmly from the windows as people were settling behind the TV and children were being sent to bed ahead of another school day.
“Sky, can you tell if the dogs are here?” Red inquired as they all gathered near the edge of the woods.
“Yes, definitely here,” Sky replied, each word sharp and tight.
“What’s wrong?” This time Sky hadn’t done any of his normal feeling the air for magic. He answered immediately.
“Nothing. Only, now that I’m near them for the first time, they feel…intimidating. Hungry.”
That did not sound good.
But it wasn’t enough to stop Nolan from following the other witches as they tromped through the brush at the end of the block and disappeared into the dark woods. Silence dropped over them. There were no bird calls, and it was too early in the year for crickets and frogs to send up their evening songs. Even the distant sounds of cars on the road and life outside the woods were muffled as though someone had stuffed cotton between the trunks.
“So…Sky,” Mad began, huffing as he stepped over a fallen log, snapping old twigs as his foot came down. “We probably should have asked this earlier, but will we be able to see the dogs like we can see your minions? Or are these more like ghosts—invisible to everyone that isn’t a necromancer?”
Red stopped walking and Nolan almost tripped over the man. “Wait! There’s a chance these assholes are invisible? Fuck that shit!” Red swung around as if he were going to march back to the car.
A disgruntled noise escaped Sky, and he snagged Red’s hoodie, pulling him forward. “They won’t be invisible. They’re dogs. Just enormous dogs.”
“I’m assuming you don’t mean an oversized chihuahua either,” Moon chimed in.
Mad snorted. “What would that be? Like a hairless border collie with a complex?”
“Fuck, you’re all assholes.” Sky moved into the lead and Nolan remained a step behind, so Sky couldn’t see him fighting his own grin. It was a funny mental image.
“We’re the assholes, but you’re the one who hasn’t told us yet what the dandy dogs look like,” Mad pointed out. “I mean, with a name like dandy, it paints a particular picture in the mind that is nonthreatening.”
Sky grumbled. He clutched his bag to his chest as he picked his way through the brush. Very little moonlight leaked through the leaves, forcing them to rely on their own night vision and the flashlights on their phones. Nolan was attempting to keep his directed in front of Sky’s feet, considering the necromancer had his hands full with his equipment.
“Maybe I’m not one hundred percent sure what they look like because I’ve never been insane enough to summon them. And neither has Grammy,” Sky groused.
“I’m gonna say they look like Anubis mixed with a nightmare,” Moon interjected in a low, soft voice.
Nolan jerked around to gaze at the blood witch. That was a unique description. But Moon wasn’t staring at any of them. He was gaping at a break in the trees where one of the golf fairways stretched in a pristine green carpet under the twinkling stars.
In the clearing stood three lean and wiry black figures that could have almost passed for skinny horses. Their heads were sculpted with long, pointed muzzles and even pointier ears. The dogs jerked their heads in their direction, eyes glowing like white moons as they reflected the thin moonlight.
One of them stood on their hind legs.
Holy fuck.
Nolan’s heart stopped for a second and then leaped into his throat, trying to escape and make a run for safety. The dog was over seven feet tall when standing. A chill swept through his body that had nothing to do with the chilly night air.
The dandy dogs were the things of nightmares. They made the behemoths Kevin and Bob seem like cuddly bunnies in comparison.
“Sky, you need to call a minion or a demon to handle these things right now,” Red demanded in a harsh, strangled whisper.
“We’ve got this,” the necromancer snapped, but Nolan was close enough to hear him swallow hard after he bit those words out. “Go slow. No sudden movements. Mad, flank to the left. Red, on the right. I need you to get the barriers up if they try to run. Moon, stay near Nolan. Keep him safe.”