Total pages in book: 36
Estimated words: 33643 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 168(@200wpm)___ 135(@250wpm)___ 112(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 33643 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 168(@200wpm)___ 135(@250wpm)___ 112(@300wpm)
But that was just part of the problem.
“What about the humans?”
Sky’s shoulders slumped, and he stared at his phone until the screen went black. That was a huge problem. The humans were freaking out. He’d skimmed the various news outlets and social media posts before closing all of them. Humanity was freaking the fuck out.
With good reason.
Average, non-magical Tom, Dick, and Janet didn’t know magic was real. They had no idea creatures such as vampires, shifters, and witches were real. They didn’t believe in magic.
That meant that what people believed was falling into one of three categories:
This was a big prank by a shit-ton of asshole kids.
Magic was real, and someone was raising the dead.
It was the end of the world. Time of the rapture. God was pissed, and the devil was coming for all the sinners.
The first one was ridiculous but the most harmless. The third option scared the crap out of him. Not because he believed it, but because he was terrified of the people who did believe it.
The second one was scary, too. Only on a smaller scale. He was afraid of all the bad things that could happen if someone forced all the magical creatures of the world to come out. It already worked so well for the gay community. They were making strides forward.
Now humanity would have a new group to fear and hate.
“Sky?” Nolan prodded, pulling him from his dark maelstrom of thoughts.
“Sorry.” Sky shook his head hard to dislodge the rest of those bleak shadows. “Humans aren’t handling this well. They’re scared and confused. A good chunk are in denial, and I hope they stay there. How are you doing? You seem…strangely calm about this.” Sky narrowed his eyes at his driver. Did Nolan seem too calm?
The sexy man winked at him, turning his head to the road. It was unfair that Nolan was looking so collected and sexy. He was in a pair of jeans and a plain black T-shirt. His hair appeared washed and styled, even if it was windblown now thanks to the car windows being down. Nolan had probably even gotten at least six hours of sleep. Bastard.
Nolan lifted one hand from the steering wheel and extended a finger for each item he ticked off. “Vampire made me a pet. My neighbor is a necromancer who pays underworld minions with sandwiches. I met a witch who turned himself and his whole house purple with a fungus. I met another witch who turned his ex-boyfriend into a pig. And I’ve seen humans turn into wolves.” He stopped and chuckled. “And that was all in less than a month. This is just another day in my life now.”
Sky grabbed his to-go mug of coffee and drained half of it. Nolan had even learned how to doctor his coffee. He needed to fucking marry this man before someone else snatched him up.
“Wait a minute!” Sky gasped as soon as he swallowed a mouthful of coffee. “You’re putting all of this in a book, aren’t you?”
That evil author grinned. He actually grinned at him. “Would you hate me if I did?”
“I won’t if you promise to name one of your characters after me.”
Nolan barked out a laugh and slapped his palm on the steering wheel. “The hero, right?”
“Fuck, no! I want to be the villain. Make me super evil and scary. Everyone has to hate me. And I have to die a gruesome death, like dismemberment or exploding organs or being shredded by piranhas.”
“You’re a twisted man, Sky.”
He turned in his seat and flashed gigantic eyes at Nolan while sticking out his bottom lip. “But you still want to go on another date with me, right?” he asked in the most pathetic voice he could muster.
Nolan made a face as if he were thinking about it. Wicked man. A smirk lifted one corner of his mouth. “I was going to see if you were free this Friday.”
“Yes! Yes! I’ll clear my schedule. Yes!”
Was he shameless? Abso-fucking-lutely.
When they arrived at the graveyard, there were several police cars, a coroner’s van, two news SUVs, and a shit-ton of nosy onlookers. Sky instructed Nolan to drive right past it. There was no way he was getting into that cemetery with no one noticing him.
Luckily, there was a smaller graveyard about a mile away that was older and mostly forgotten by the world. Sky had stumbled across it while searching for a particular wildflower that loved to grow in wooded areas near cemeteries. Not that he could blame it. The area where he found it was relaxing. The perfect place for a Sunday picnic, if you didn’t mind eating where the dead were resting.
They almost missed the turnoff for the narrow side road that was rutted. The asphalt had sunken in places and someone had halfheartedly patched it with gravel that now pinged off the metal undercarriage. Nolan slowed to a near crawl to avoid the bigger potholes and to protect the suspension of his poor car.