Total pages in book: 27
Estimated words: 25630 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 128(@200wpm)___ 103(@250wpm)___ 85(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 25630 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 128(@200wpm)___ 103(@250wpm)___ 85(@300wpm)
Sky huffed and rolled his eyes. “Okay, so maybe he helped me finish up some of my holiday shopping. I was running behind.”
Nolan bit his tongue to hold in his laugh. Sky had been so adamant about shopping locally and getting it all done himself, but this was also their first Christmas together, so they might have been going overboard. Nolan was jealous that he didn’t have a minion he could hire out for things. He’d attempted it once when cooking for Sky, and he’d learned the hard way to never, ever try that again.
“I need you to get me two medium-sized bundles of sage and six fresh sprigs of mistletoe. Got it?”
Frank said something in his chittering language that also included a shaking fist, but in the blink of an eye, he was gone.
“Is he angry?” Nolan inquired.
“Nah. He thinks he should get two sandwiches because he has to gather two things.”
Nolan snorted. The little underworld minion was always weaseling to get more than one sandwich. Somewhere along the way, he’d learned that humans also served their sandwiches with a dill pickle spear on the side, and he’d tried requesting that. At this rate, he was going to request more complicated sides, such as coleslaw or macaroni salad.
While they waited for Frank’s return, Sky finished making the sandwich, and Nolan got him a brown paper bag to put the sandwich and chips in. By the time Sky had the sandwich wrapped up in some parchment paper and in the bag, Frank was back with a bundle of fresh sage under one arm and a ball of mistletoe with tiny white berries under the other.
“Don’t witches need the sage to be dried in order to use it for smudging and burning?” Nolan asked as he followed Sky into the dining room, where Frank was standing.
Sky whipped around and hugged him suddenly. “Awwww! I’m so impressed with you. Look at what you’ve picked up hanging out with me and my disreputable friends.”
Nolan chuckled softly as he pressed a kiss to Sky’s forehead. “I’m a sponge.”
“You’re my sponge,” Sky stated possessively as he tipped his head up for a kiss.
Nolan’s lips had barely brushed Sky’s lips when a great noise exploded behind Sky. They broke apart at the screeches and squeals to find the tree and Frank fighting. The minion’s spidery arms and legs flailed wildly while the tree’s roots punched out and grabbed for Frank. Both were chittering and making horrific noises.
“What the hell!” Nolan shouted.
“Frank! Tree! Stop! Stop right now!” Sky cried. He snatched up a dish towel and snapped it at the two, trying to break them apart.
Nolan rushed across the kitchen and snagged the broom. He hurried to Sky’s side and attempted to shove the broom between the two combatants as they hissed and rolled into the dining room. Sky’s fresh sage and mistletoe were trampled in the fight. Some ornaments fell from the tree and slid across the floor. Nolan could only be grateful that Sky had switched everything to plastic after they’d discovered that the tree would not be staying in one spot.
It took a couple of minutes, but they separated Frank and the tree. Nolan bravely stood in the middle, his battered, teeth-chewed broom held at the ready. The tree continued to hiss and bristle while Frank hopped up and down, shouting and shaking his bony black fists.
“Holy fuck! What was that about?” Sky demanded. Nolan wondered the same. This was not the first time Frank and the tree had been in the house at the same time.
Frank growled and turned his ranting toward Sky. He’d stopped jumping but was still shaking his fists.
“What’s he saying?” Nolan inquired.
“He says the tree attacked him first and that I should burn it in the yard,” Sky answered as Frank continued to shout. Sky suddenly went pale. “Fuck.”
“What?”
But Sky didn’t have to answer. A large black doorway formed in the middle of the kitchen behind Sky, and a seven-foot-tall demon—not counting the horns—stepped out of the darkness. Frank must have called his boss.
This was Zalramon, King of the Underworld and leader of all the demons and minions. Nolan had seen him twice when he’d come personally for his regular offering of sandwiches and snacks from Sky. Standing in the demon king’s presence always sent an icy chill through Nolan. Even without an ounce of magic to call his own, he could sense the massive power that emanated from him.
“What is going on?” Zalramon roared as soon as the doorway closed behind him. The words had barely finished booming through the house as the giant figure screeched and stumbled back a step. “What in all the realms is that?”
Nolan’s heart seemed to stop in his chest as he slowly turned his head to look where Zalramon pointed.
At the tree.
The demon king was pointing at the tree.