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Moon lifted one eyebrow and smirked. “Acrobatic sex with Nolan doesn’t count in this instance.” Sky flipped Moon off.
Yichen jumped in before this could continue. “Rei? What about Rei? Have you heard from Winter?”
Moon’s smirk turned into a soft smile, and he placed a hand on Yichen’s shoulder. “Rei is fine. I got a call from Xiang. Rafe and Winter got Rei loaded up in the car. Meimei has Rei’s neck all bandaged up. I’m guessing the fae heal fast, like vampires. She said the cut wasn’t deep and already closing. They’re headed to the clan home now.”
The news was the best he’d heard in what felt like forever. His knees attempted to buckle under him, but Moon was right there, grabbing his arm and slinging it across his shoulders while wrapping an arm around his waist.
“Speaking of,” Nolan interrupted, “shouldn’t we get going? I’d rather not wait for the fae to tire of fighting Sky’s skeletons.”
“Shit! Yes! Let’s go!” Sky jerked away from his boyfriend and scurried off to the car, jumping into the passenger seat while Moon and Yichen climbed into the back.
“Sky, is it a good idea to leave your dead army running on its own?” Moon inquired while Nolan started the electric vehicle.
The necromancer waved a hand at them and sighed. “It’ll be fine. They’ll run out of magical steam as we drive away. The spell needs me close by to keep powering it.”
Moon rubbed his forehead, lines digging into his face as if he were in pain. “And you’re not worried about people stumbling across a shit-ton of old corpses in the woods?”
Twisting to face them, Sky stuck his head between the seats. “Normally, yes. But first off, humans aren’t going into the woods right now because of the fae. And second, there’s so much weird magic shit happening right now, no one is going to think ‘Oh, no! A necromancer is raising a dead army with my old meemaw and peepaw!’ I’m the least of anyone’s worries.”
“Sky, babe, the map,” Nolan thankfully interrupted before Yichen had to worry about what Sky was doing with the locals’ dead ancestors.
“That’s right!” Sky whipped around, opened the glove compartment, and pulled out a cell phone. He tapped on the screen for a few moments and returned his attention to them. “Moon, I’ve sent you a video. It maps the movements of the fae over the past two weeks for the entire state of Connecticut, as well as significant changes in…well, I guess you could say nature. Like when the trees took over an entire subdivision in Taylor’s Crossing.”
“What?” Moon screeched as he snatched up his phone.
“How do you have this information?” Yichen demanded.
Sky winced, a lock of his golden-blond hair falling across his forehead to almost block his left eye. “So, I might have begun this secret sandwiches-for-information program with the minions.”
Another strangled, high-pitched noise escaped Moon, but Yichen shook his head. “I don’t understand.”
“As a necromancer, I have access to the minions of the underworld. I can speak to them and send them on errands as long as I pay for their services. Most of them are happy to receive nothing more than a homemade deli sandwich and some chips. No big deal,” Sky explained.
“Except it is a big deal!” Moon snarled. “The king of the underworld specifically told you he doesn’t want the underworld involved in fae matters. They have a truce, and you’re threatening to break that truce. Zalramon is going to be fucking pissed. One of your sandwiches won’t get you out of this mess.”
“I told you so,” Nolan sang as he drove them out of the woods.
Sky glared at his boyfriend, then turned his attention to them. “Look, I haven’t ordered any of the minions to monitor or spy on the fae. I just mentioned to them that if they happened to see a member of the fae or a change in nature, I would appreciate the information. I would appreciate it so much that I might give them a sandwich. No one is interfering with what the fae are doing.”
Moon sank low in his seat and groaned. Yichen might not understand what was going on, but he didn’t have to understand to know the necromancer was on thin ice.
“Thank you, Sky. We greatly appreciate your efforts, but please take care not to put yourself in danger with the fae or the underworld,” Yichen said.
Sky flashed him a big grin. “I’m not too worried about it. As long as I don’t push it any further, Zal should let it go. The big guy knows everything happening in his realm. I really doubt I’m getting something by him.” He jerked his chin toward Moon’s phone as he watched the time-lapse video of the fae movements. “I figured that since we now have an elf on our side, he might be able to make something out of what’s happening. I’m a necromancer and a greeting-card artist. This stuff is beyond my expertise.”
“Don’t worry. I’ll get it into Rei’s hands. He might understand what’s happening.”
But that was only going to happen after he reassured himself that the elf was alive and well. Maybe hold him for a few hours.
This wasn’t the first time they’d been separated after Rei had suffered a severe injury. The last time Yichen hadn’t handled it so well either. Not knowing whether Rei was still alive, if he was suffering, had driven him insane. Several of his elf captors had died when he’d lost control, waiting to see Rei again.
That time, they were kept apart for three years, six months, and fourteen days.
Not their longest separation after meeting each other, but definitely the most painful.
However, this hour-long trip to the clan house felt like a close second. It didn’t matter how irrational it sounded. He needed to see Rei, to hold him in his arms. That was the only way he could convince his heart and brain he was safe.
They arrived at the house and Yichen jumped from the back seat before Nolan placed the vehicle in Park. He charged across the driveway and into the house, his hands balled into his fists at his sides.
