December 21
Sky was in a cooking frenzy, and Nolan had learned from dating this amazing man for the past eight months that the best thing he could do was to stay out of his way.
Tonight, they were attending a winter solstice party at Maddox’s house. As far as he knew, it wouldn’t be much different from the pre-Christmas BL Watch Party they’d had a couple of weeks ago. They would drink a lot and eat a lot. They would likely play some games or watch some sweet holiday shows.
“Is it going to be just the four of us?” Nolan inquired from the kitchen doorway.
“I don’t know. Maybe. Probably not,” Sky called out as he pulled a pan of something that smelled delicious from the oven. “Red said that he reached out to all those witches that helped us this past spring. Audrey and the others. He invited them. Mad invited Fox and Winter, but I think they can’t make it. However, I know Fox was going to pass an invitation along to Zelda, but no one ever knows if Zelda is going to show up or even where in the world she is.”
Nolan’s hand automatically went up to the blue stone with the letter Z that had been carved into it by the incredibly powerful and supposedly ancient witch. He was never without it if he could help it. There was no telling whether the talisman she’d given him had actually improved his luck. All he knew was that his life was definitely happier and more interesting since he’d started dating Sky. In his book, that was better than good luck.
“Shit!”
Nolan’s head popped up at Sky’s sudden frantic curse. “What’s wrong?”
“I totally forgot to send Frank out for the fresh sage and mistletoe.”
“I’m assuming you mean getting stuff out in the woods and not at a local shop.”
“Yessss,” Sky moaned. He stomped over to the counter, his shoulders slumped and his face pulled in a sad puppy expression. “Part of winter solstice is a bunch of witches getting together to cast some spells. Nothing too big. But we all agree to supply some spell ingredients to swap.”
Nolan lifted an eyebrow. “They let you cast spells with them?”
Sky huffed and rolled his eyes. “No, not really. Earth witches get so pissy when you introduce dead magic into their earth magic. But they let me hold some seances and see if there are any ghosts in the area who want to party.”
“This isn’t one of those…dancing-naked-in-the-moonlight parties, right?”
The necromancer slid him a sly grin. “Do you want it to be?”
Nolan folded his arms across his chest and glared at his boyfriend. “It’s twenty degrees outside. No, I don’t.”
Sky cackled. “That’s fine. Sometimes the winter solstice one has a little naked dancing, but only when it coincides with a full moon. Most of the time, they save that for the spring and summer holidays. Besides, necromancers don’t much go for the naked dancing outdoors. We like our naked time in the bedroom.”
Regardless, it was clear this was going to be an interesting party. The nice thing was that they didn’t mind Nolan attending, although he didn’t have a single magic bone in his body. Sky and his friends tried hard to make sure that he didn’t feel left out. They were happy to explain all their magical traditions and spells.
“Do you have enough time to send Frank out now?”
“Maybe.” Sky darted to the fridge and began riffling through the deli meat-and-cheese drawer.
“I picked up some ham and salami. Don’t you dare give him the sharp cheddar. That’s my favorite. He can have what’s left of the Colby Jack,” Nolan called out. “There’s also the chicken salad you didn’t much care for. Do you think he’d like that?”
“Yep. Yep. That all sounds good.” He gathered what he needed to make the sandwich while Nolan headed to the pantry to snag a snack bag of chips. Sky had just finished drawing the symbol with mayo on the bread as Nolan turned back. With a puff of black smoke and a hint of brimstone, the three-foot-tall black fuzzy ball with spindly arms and legs appeared. He immediately chattered at Sky and Nolan.
“Holy crap.” Sky sighed. “It hasn’t been that long since I last called you for a job. Only a week.”
Nolan set the bag of chips next to the sandwich and out of Frank’s reach. “You did?”
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.”
