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)
“I—will you stop that!” Red hit his hands, finally jerking free of his grip. He glanced over at the vampire standing just a few feet away, closely flanked by a pair of shifters. Not to mention more than a dozen other shifters not all that far away. “He’s a Varik.”
He was going to kill him.
He was going to kill one of his best friends.
Sky smacked Red on the top of his head. “Bel isn’t just a Varik. He’s one of the four Varik brothers and son of the king. They’re close. You think the Variks—not to mention most vampires—are going to let it slide if something happens to him? And let’s not forget about the fact that Bel has two shifter mates.” Sky held up two fingers right in front of Red’s face and waved them. “Right now, we have a whole mess of shifters. You think those mates and that pack are going to be happy if something happens to Bel? Even if it is just an accident?”
Red’s face turned so pale even his sparse freckles were washed out. His wide eyes snapped from the approaching witches to Bel, who was now looking a little uncomfortable. This wasn’t Bel’s fault. He was an incredibly sweet vampire who didn’t get asked to be the possible start of a war. But there was no way he could promise to keep the shifters or his own family under control if he was injured.
Fuck, if he was killed? Just kiss the world good-bye.
“Please, Red,” Damon pleaded in a small voice from behind Red, and Sky’s heart broke. “Don’t give me back to Theo. He’s going to be so pissed at me. There’s no talking to him when he’s like this. He’s been growing more irrational by the day. I don’t know what his problem is, but he won’t listen to me.”
This wasn’t fair. Why was it the humans who were constantly getting stomped on in his world? First there were all the humans sold by the Sandor clan as pets. He suspected that the Variks would fight to find them and save them as much as they could, but they were only one clan. There would be no saving them all.
Now there was Damon. Assholes could argue that Damon should have known what he was getting into by dating another witch. He’d agreed to the risks. That was still bullshit. Dating was a risk, period. If no one took risks, they would miss out on so many great things in life.
It just wasn’t fair that there was no law enforcement out there for witches. Some way of bringing them to justice when shit went sideways. When things went wrong, they tended to go very wrong, and there was no way to make them right.
Sky’s eyes found their way to Nolan, who was standing back near Bel, concern digging furrows across his brow. Was it cruel of him to drag Nolan into his world? No, Sky was in no danger of turning into a stalking, controlling, abusive boyfriend. If things didn’t work out, Sky knew how to let go and move on.
But Nolan was here, right now, and in danger yet again, because he was associated with Sky. Was that fair to him? Nolan wouldn’t be in this kind of danger if he’d dated a normal guy. They probably would have had their art walk, Italian dinner, and nightcap at the little whiskey bar. Instead, he got magical fungus, rotted strawberries, and an ex-boyfriend turned into a pig.
Nolan clicked his tongue, making a tsking sound as he walked over to Sky. That amazing man booped him on the end of his nose and smiled. “I don’t know what you’re thinking, but you need to stop right now.”
“But—”
“Stop.” Instead of booping him again, Nolan kissed his nose. “Everything will be okay. I’m sure Damon’s boyfriend is just upset because Damon was kidnapped. How did you feel when I suddenly disappeared? I’m sure it’s a misunderstanding. We need to talk this out. That’s all.”
Okay, sexy Nolan was also incredibly wise and insightful. He had a good point. There was a good chance Sky had looked exactly as pissed and scary when he’d discovered Nolan missing. But Sky had been willing to talk things through—sort of. Theo didn’t look like he was in the mood to do any talking.
Reaching down, he patted his pockets only to remember that he’d brought nothing with him. Not a candle or any of his herbs for spellcasting. Not even his handy notebook for minions. He could remember a few spells offhand for emergencies, but most of them wouldn’t actually defuse this situation. They’d make it much worse.
“Fuck!” he whispered.
“What’s wrong?” Nolan asked.
“I got nothing handy for magic on me. This was supposed to be a non-magic night. Non-magic!”
“Dumbass,” Red muttered, but his glare was locked on Theo.