“That would explain why I can’t understand its speech,” Sky mumbled, but he just as quickly shook his head. “But it can’t be fae. The fae all went through their doorway. If it were fae, it would have died once the door was closed.”
Nolan turned his attention to Zalramon, who was appearing less skittish now. He’d actually inched closer to the dining room, peering at the tree. “Is it an escapee from the underworld?”
Zalramon glared at Nolan, and Nolan glared right back at him. It was not like this would be the first time something had escaped from the underworld.
“I’ve never seen its like in the underworld, but I agree with Sky. It’s not fae.”
Nolan released one hand from the broom and rubbed his forehead. He was developing a headache. They’d allowed a magical thing to live in their house and follow them around for three weeks while assuming it had been a “safe” gift from Zalramon. It was more likely they’d allowed the equivalent of a magical wild animal in their home. They were probably lucky they hadn’t been killed in their sleep.
“Sky, baby, could you give Frank his sandwich so he can return home?” Nolan murmured.
“Oh, yes! Of course!”
Nolan dropped his hand in time to see the grumpy black fluff ball seize his brown bag and disappear in another puff of smoke. At this point, they were going to need to open a window to air the place out.
“Are you sure this isn’t from the underworld?” Sky asked Zalramon.
“Positive.”
An idea formed in Nolan’s head, and he let out a groan.
“What?” Sky demanded.
“What if…what if the tree is like your roses?”
“No! What? No! It can’t be. No!” Sky denied immediately, but Nolan didn’t miss that his second ‘no’ sounded a hell of a lot less confident than the first.
“Like the roses and the dahlias in the backyard. And the lily of the valley.”
“But my magic only affects flowers. It’s never done anything like this to the trees!” Sky waved his hands at their tree houseguest. “Besides, I don’t have any trees or shrubs like that in my yard.”
“Do any of your neighbors?”
Sky didn’t have to say anything. His face just grew paler and paler. Zalramon chuckled as he wandered over to the pantry. The big demon stuck an arm inside and snagged their last bag of chips. “Well, it looks like you don’t need me here. Good luck, Nolan!”
After using their pantry as his personal grocery, the demon king stepped through another black doorway and closed it behind him, leaving them alone with the sentient tree Sky’s magic had accidentally made.
“I think it came from the Carmichaels’ yard,” Sky whispered. Those were the neighbors to the left of Sky. They weren’t all that friendly, and James Carmichael took great pride in his perfectly manicured yard. He was going to notice a missing shrub.
“Your magic is leaking outside of your yard.”
“But I have barriers in place. That can’t happen.”
“It has,” Nolan stated, sending one last look at the tree. He felt silly holding the broom now. The thing had been living somewhat peacefully with them for nearly a month. If it were going to kill them, it would have done it already.
“But it can’t!” Sky repeated.
Nolan set aside his broom and closed the distance between himself and his panicking boyfriend. He wrapped his arms around him, pressing a kiss to his temple. “Didn’t you say that magic got all screwed up because of the fae? Maybe holes formed in your barrier without you knowing it, and your magic leaked out. You’ll have to recreate your barrier before your magic wakes up any more local plant life.”
“But what about the tree? It’s not like we can put it in the spot it came from. It’s supposed to live in the neighbor’s yard. The thing barely listens to us in here.”
Nolan snorted. “It would probably try to strangle one of the Carmichaels. Or eat one of their cats the first time it pissed near it.”
As if sensing they were talking about it, the tree slowly crawled to where they were standing together, moving across the scattered sage and mistletoe. As soon as it was less than a foot away, it reached out one of its little roots and pinched the hem of Nolan’s jeans.
Against his better judgment, his heart softened. The tree was intensely territorial. It didn’t like when Sky put up another Christmas tree. It had likely been trying to protect them from Frank, or at least warn the minion away from its territory. Regardless of the insanity it had brought into their life, it was a cute thing and seemed happy in their living room, shining brightly with its white lights and ornaments.
“We can’t let it out of this yard,” Sky declared.
