That much was obvious. If people saw the thing scuttling about on its roots, they’d burn it or chop it up.
“Tonight, we go to Maddox’s house for the party. We’ll also talk to Maddox and Red about how to cleanse the neighbor’s yard, reinforce your barrier, and plant a new, nonmobile tree to replace the one you woke up. Preferably after the holidays because my brain can’t take more right now.”
“Stealth tree replacement!” Sky cackled.
Nolan rolled his eyes. Thankfully, Maddox ran a landscaping business. He had to know where they could get a shrub like this one. If they were lucky, they’d get it into the ground before James noticed his was missing.
His boyfriend hugged him while resting his chin on Nolan’s shoulder. “What about this tree?”
Nolan gazed at the tree that was still holding on to his pant leg. “It can stay in the house during the winter if it agrees to stop attacking the underworld minions and anyone who comes to the house. But as soon as the weather turns warm, it’s an outside tree again!”
“Yay!” Sky shouted in Nolan’s ear. He pressed a loud, smacking kiss on Nolan’s cheek. At the same time, the tree wrapped a root around his ankle and let out a happy purring, chittering noise, as if it were celebrating as well.
“Merry Christmas, my poor suffering human!” Sky said, nuzzling Nolan’s cheek.
A slow smile spread across Nolan’s lips as he squeezed Sky. “Merry Christmas, my crazy necromancer.”
“Do you regret dating me now?”
“No, never,” he replied without a breath of hesitation. “You keep my life interesting.”
“And I always will.”
Chapter 8
December 27
The winter solstice witch party was a success. They might have all drank too much, but they’d devised a rough scheme to meet after the holidays prior to the passing around of the wine. Maddox and Red might have also gotten a few good laughs over the stories Sky had told about the tree. It was clear they didn’t entirely believe the tales, but they would soon enough.
Christmas Day was a blissful event with his sweet boyfriend surprising him with some of the best gifts. Sky couldn’t begin to figure out how Nolan had gotten his hands on an actual spell book from an old necromancer who’d lived in the area more than a hundred years ago. So far, Nolan wasn’t saying a peep, but Sky had ways to wringing the truth out of Nolan. In addition, there were more books, soft sweaters, and random weird gifts exchanged that had earned belly laughs.
Both Sky and Nolan had also made sparkly ornaments covered in glitter and sequins for the little tree. It seemed a safe assumption that the tree liked its gifts, considering how it moved its branches to get the lights to bounce off its new, flashy swag.
Grammy had appeared to share in their fun for a few hours, and then her ghost was off to cavort with her friends, giving the young, living couple time to cuddle in front of a fire and eat way too much delicious food.
After Christmas, when the United States fell into a sort of sated, sluglike state where people were content to live off of leftovers and binge endless amounts of TV until they were forced to return to work at the start of the new year, Sky gathered his coven mates Redstone and Maddox for some magic and mischief. Former blood witch Moon had already left for his new home in China with his vampire mate, but he’d promised to make regular visits to see them.
Nolan had wisely chosen to remain out of the way and make margaritas, because midnight margaritas were a necessary thing for magic and mayhem with Sky and his coven.
The doorbell rang, and Sky hurried to let in his friends. He cast an eye toward the tree as he passed the living room. This was going to be the first time his companions had seen the tree in person. All their get-togethers in December had been held at Red’s or Mad’s homes.
“Holy fuck, it’s cold!” Red complained as soon as Sky opened the door. “Has anyone looked into whether earth witch magic is stronger in tropical climates? I’m over this winter shit.”
“Like your pale skin could handle that much sun,” Mad muttered. He stomped on the welcome mat twice to knock the snow off his boots and then entered the house.
“I would rather spend time slathering on sunscreen than freezing my nuts off,” Red replied. He pulled off his knit hat to reveal a wild mop of fiery red hair. The pale skin in question was tinted pink from the kiss of the cold winter wind.
“Sky, I put the tree you wanted me to find on the porch. Would you rather I brought it inside so we can?—”
“No!” Sky shouted, and Nolan echoed it from the kitchen. Red and Mad froze, eyes wide as they stared at Sky.
“Ummm…” Red began, seeming hesitant to continue beyond a single syllable after that emphatic response.
“Please leave it outside. Our new tree is territorial and doesn’t like other trees in the house,” Sky stated.
Red snorted. “You were serious about that?”
“Yep. It totally trashed the artificial tree Sky tried to put up. I’m still finding fake pine needles in weird places,” Nolan stated as he strolled down the hall from the kitchen. “I’ve got strawberry margaritas all lined up. Do you want a drink before or after you start casting?”
