Total pages in book: 34
Estimated words: 31462 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 157(@200wpm)___ 126(@250wpm)___ 105(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 31462 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 157(@200wpm)___ 126(@250wpm)___ 105(@300wpm)
Sky clenched his teeth and barely suppressed the urge to stomp his foot. “But I promised Nolan no magic tonight. We haven’t even gotten into the car yet, and you’re making me break my promise.”
A gentle hand landed on his shoulder and Sky jerked, twisting around to find Nolan watching with warm brown eyes. “Does Maddox need your help with something?”
Sky pulled the phone away from his ear and winced. “Just a mishap with a spell. He wants me to bring him a cleansing kit.”
“It’s on the way!” Mad shouted as if he were trying to convince Nolan rather than Sky. “He just needs to drop it off!”
Nolan shrugged. “If it’s on the way, it’s not a big deal to drop it off, right? We’ll have enough time to check out a little art before dinner.”
“But I promised no magic. A normal night,” Sky whined.
Nolan leaned down and pressed a kiss to the center of Sky’s forehead. “I won’t hold this one against you. This is all Maddox’s fault.”
“Okay. Just a quick drop-off, and we’re gone again. I swear,” Sky said to Nolan and then put the phone to his ear again. “You hear that? We’ll be there in about ten minutes. And you owe both me and Nolan so fucking big.”
“Fine. Fine. I’ll plant watermelons for you this year. Just get your ass here,” Maddox grumbled and ended the call.
Oh, that was a nice win. A date with Nolan and he was going to get watermelon from Maddox this year. The man grew the best, sweetest watermelons in existence, but he bitched that the vines took up too much room in his garden, so he didn’t often plant them.
They crossed the street to Sky’s house, and he unlocked the door to his car so Nolan could get comfy while he raced inside and snagged the small pine box filled with witch’s spell-cleansing essentials. Both Mad and Red were big on spell-prep boxes. Everything needed for particular practical spells in one handy spot. Mad’s cleansing spell box was the best. As much as he hated to admit it, Sky was also a huge fan of Red’s hex in a box. Not that he ever used it.
No. Never.
It was a little strange that Mad didn’t have one of his own cleansing spell boxes on hand. This whole thing was strange.
Sky paused in the foyer and frowned at his own leather spell-supply bag. Should he grab it? Just in case?
He reached for it, only to jerk his hand back as if it had started spouting hellfire. No. Not tonight. He’d promised no magic. There would be no emergencies that required him to cast a single spell. Normal humans went their entire lives without casting a spell. He could go one night.
Sky hurried out to his car, dropped the box onto the rear seat, and grinned at his date. “This’ll take five, ten minutes at most. No big deal.”
“It’s fine, Sky. Really. Jennifer has asked me to drop everything a few times to come over and kill a spider. She lives fifteen minutes away and knows how to wield a shoe just as well as I do.”
Sky hit the brakes, stopping their reverse down his driveway. “Seriously? You offer a spider-killing service?”
Nolan’s smile turned oh-so-smooth and suave as he leaned against his door. “Only for my close friends.”
Sky resumed pulling out from the driveway as he chuckled. “Hot and you kill spiders. You are never fucking getting rid of me.”
They talked easily on the relatively short drive across town to Mad’s house, discussing their wildly different music tastes. But at least Nolan was open to trying new things. Sky’s own tastes bounced all over the place depending on his mood.
As they sat at a red light just a few blocks from Mad’s house, Nolan leaned forward in his seat, his brow furrowing heavily.
“Um…I’ve got a wild guess as to where Maddox’s house is.”
Sky shifted closer to the steering wheel, following Nolan’s line of sight toward the sky that was darkening with the setting sun.
“Fuck. Me. Sideways,” Sky muttered, dropping his head onto the steering wheel.
“I’m guessing that’s bad.”
Sky turned and just stared at Nolan for a second with his mouth hanging open. “Do you think there’s ever a time when a big neon-purple cloud is a good thing?”
“I honestly can’t say I’ve ever seen that before.”
A sharp horn honk jolted them both. Sky looked up to find that the light had turned green. He stepped on the gas and cruised through the intersection, drawing closer to Mad’s house and the purple cloud. Judging by the size and shape, there was a good chance that it was hanging only over Mad’s house. Yeah, that didn’t appear suspicious at all.
“To be honest,” Sky started again as he fought to keep his eyes on the road and not on the cloud, “I’ve never seen anything like that either.”