Total pages in book: 38
Estimated words: 34989 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 175(@200wpm)___ 140(@250wpm)___ 117(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 34989 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 175(@200wpm)___ 140(@250wpm)___ 117(@300wpm)
Nolan has been keeping a secret.
In his defense, he wasn’t sure if he could trust Sky at first.
And then, well…his life got pretty crazy for a while. He might have just forgotten.
But that secret has come calling and it’s about to take a big bite out of Nolan.
Of course, there’s no way Sky’s going to let anyone hurt his neighbor, friend, and possibly one-day baby daddy. He’s hitting back hard to keep Nolan safe.
Even the roses are angry in this one. (Just trust me on this one. Beware of the roses.)
*************FULL BOOK START HERE*************
Chapter 1
Nolan Banks
Talk to the witch, and I will kill him.
There wasn’t a second of the day when Christoph’s words weren’t echoing through his head. As much as he hated it, he was putting Sky off with dismissive text messages about being behind on work and needing some time to catch up. It sucked, and he hated himself a little more every time he hit Send, but he wasn’t willing to risk Sky’s life.
It was bad enough his brother’s mess had pulled the necromancer into this nightmare. If anything, this proved that Nolan wasn’t any better than Owen.
Fuck, he was probably worse because his ego kept shouting that he had all his shit together. Clearly, he’d been lying to himself.
His conscience was further bruised thanks to the fact that he’d sent the same messages to his best friend, Jennifer. He was just glad she was used to him climbing into his writing hole and not coming out for a while. She shrugged it off. But it was going to buy him only a week or two. Eventually, she’d ignore his texts and come over anyway.
There wasn’t a doubt in his mind that one of Christoph’s daytime minions was keeping a watch on his place, waiting to report that Sky had visited him. So far, Christoph hadn’t said anything about anyone else talking to him, but it was better if he didn’t know Jennifer existed.
Panic ripped through Nolan when the doorbell rang three days later. Was it Christoph or an irritated Sky? Christoph had agreed that he could remain in his home and work like a good pet if he stayed away from the witch. If he tried to leave the city or talk to the witch, Christoph or his people would be there to snatch him up.
That couldn’t happen. So long as he was in his own home, Nolan believed he had a shot at escaping the vampire.
Knees weak, Nolan shoved to his feet. He’d been sitting at his desk, glaring at his screen for hours, getting nothing done. Sleeplessness, cold sweats, and panicked web searches filled his life the past few days as he tried to find some way to contact the Variks. Sadly, they weren’t listed in the white pages.
Taking in a settling breath, he opened the door to find a smirking Christoph standing on the other side. The vampire was impeccably dressed in a sharp, dark suit. He was only missing a tie. The collar was open, exposing a thick, strong neck.
No, he wasn’t a fucking neck man.
But since being bitten by Christoph twice now, he found his eyes drawn to that body part more.
It was unfair that this creature was so attractive. It was only skin deep, though. Christoph was a pompous, domineering asshole who always thought he was right and that everyone should bow and scrape when they were near him.
Huh. Just like his fucking ex.
Was there a chance Alan had been a vampire?
Nolan shoved aside that weird stray thought. Alan was not a vampire. They’d hung out during the day plenty of times.
“Not happy to see me?” Christoph mocked. He tipped his head down and pushed out his lower lip in a fake pout that left Nolan wanting to roll his eyes. Christoph could be sexy, but he lacked the ability to be adorable. No one could do that better than Sky.
“What? No. I—” Nolan stopped his stammering and clenched his hands into fists at his sides and growled softly. “What do you want? Why are you here?” He bit out each word carefully when he had control of himself. Part of his brain cursed Owen all over again. If it hadn’t been for his fuckup brother, he would never have encountered vampires. He wouldn’t have Christoph in his house right now.
But Sky…
Hell, maybe he would have pulled his head out of his ass and talked to Sky without needing a catastrophe to happen.
Probably not.
This disaster was his own making. He should have said something to Sky that first night, but he’d been too scared, too ashamed, and too confused. He hadn’t been sure Sky was someone he could trust.
Even after he was positive Sky was the most trustworthy person he’d ever met, the shame had gotten in the way.
“I’m here to check up on my precious pet.” Christoph stepped into the house and closed the door behind him while Nolan automatically retreated, his heart thudding painfully. “I wouldn’t want my pet to think I didn’t care for his well-being.”
Every time Christoph used the word “pet,” it was like a cheese grater was being run over Nolan’s nerve endings.
Nolan stomped past Christoph in the living room, waving his hands in the air. “You don’t care about my well-being. You don’t care about me at all. I’m a toy. Something to play with. Or maybe you want to use me as leverage over Sky.” Not that he was going to let that happen. He’d escape before he allowed Christoph or anyone from the Sandor Clan to hurt Sky.