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)
“Oh, shit! Did you get caught?”
Nolan snorted. “Of course we got caught. His mom flipped on all the lights and peered out the window to see what all the noise was about since it was after midnight. She made his brother return my clothes and ordered me home. She was also nice enough to call ahead to my parents and give them a heads-up as to what happened.”
Both Red and Sky dissolved into snickers and giggles. It was a horrible night, and Nolan had given Joseph Tanner the cold shoulder for six months after. His dating life had dwindled to nothing in one night, but he was glad that he could look back on it now and laugh.
Sky lifted his eyes to the rearview mirror. “Red, you sure Damon is good as a pig? We’re a good distance from his ex’s place, right? You can change him back.”
The other witch shook his head. “I’d rather have him on Moon’s turf first. He’s got a handful of protective wards around the place. Plus, I need to have Damon standing still in a casting circle to undo the spell. It’s just safer if we wait.”
“Weird question,” Nolan began, and both Sky and Red snickered.
“Really? You think anything you ask can be categorized as weird after the night you’ve had?” Sky chortled.
Okay, he had a good point. “Probably not. How about, this is a question I never thought I’d ask? When Damon is in pig form, is he still having human thoughts, or does he have pig thoughts now?”
“Both. Sort of.” Red tipped his head toward the center of the car, his red hair falling in front of his eyes—his hat having fallen off in the scramble to settle Damon when they’d stopped for the cop. “He has human thoughts and reasoning, but those can get overridden by piggy instincts. Particularly fight-or-flight instincts. That’s why he panicked when Sky talked about his hellhounds.”
“Screw you!” Sky snapped. “My sweet minions are not hellhounds! They’re just a little misunderstood.”
“Reaper?”
It was all Nolan had to say to get Sky to shrink in his seat, tucking his chin against his chest.
“Okay, Reaper is scary and not misunderstood at all,” he mumbled but popped up to continue in a stronger voice. “But Frank isn’t bad. Just food motivated. Kevin and Bob are sweethearts! They’re oversized tourists interested in all things human.”
Nolan grinned at Sky’s protectiveness when it came to the underworld minions. Would he be this protective of a dead army if he ever chose to raise one? There was a good chance the answer to that question was a very big yes.
Sky drove them farther away from town and into a rural area with winding roads that gently dipped and rose with the contours of the earth. The sky was fully dark now, but it was nice that even if his mind drifted to thoughts of vampires, he felt safe. How could he not? Two powerful witches were in the car with him.
After about ten minutes, Sky turned down a rutted, gravel driveway that meandered deep into the woods. Within seconds, they lost sight of the main road and drifted deeper into nature. What in the world was going to be at the end of this road? A little witch’s cottage that was overgrown with vines and surrounded by wildlife? A double-wide trailer? A rotting Scottish castle transplanted stone by stone to Connecticut? All of them felt like equal possibilities.
Just as his brain was conjuring up more options, the trees pulled back to reveal a quaint two-story farmhouse with a huge wraparound porch. A variety of lights on poles glowed against the darkness, shining on nearly a dozen cars parked along the driveway and in front of the house.
“What the fuck?” Red whispered. “I thought Moon was out of town.”
“He is out of town,” Sky stated, his hands tightening on the wheel. “I got a picture from him this morning with a giant doughnut from his favorite bakery. Who the hell are all these people? Why are they here?”
Sky parked the car in the center of the driveway because there was nowhere else to put it. From behind the house, Nolan could just barely make out the flicker of flames as if someone had lit a bonfire. Shadowy figures moved through the light, and it appeared that someone was approaching them.
“You guys stay here. I’ll go check it out,” Sky commanded as he unbuckled his seat belt.
“I’m coming with you,” Nolan announced as he unfastened his own belt. There was no way in hell he was letting Sky go out there by himself against that many people. Even if he was a fucking scary necromancer who’d taken down vampires. Nolan might not know how to use magic, but he’d been forced to use his fists to get out of trouble in the past. He could do it again to help Sky stay safe.