AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Sky?” Nolan called out, nervous about going any farther into the house with so many minions present. If the necromancer was in the middle of work or a spell, he didn’t want to disturb him. That might explain some of the weird shit he’d seen on the morning news, though.
“I’m in the kitchen,” Sky replied. His voice was muffled and sleepy, as if Nolan had woken him up.
Nolan walked down the hall and stopped in the kitchen, where even more creatures like Frank filled the open space, washing dishes and putting them away. Meanwhile, Sky was slumped over on the table, his head resting on his folded arms. He was still in his pajamas, and his golden hair was standing up in every direction as if he had a severe case of bedhead.
“Sky? Are you okay?” Nolan darted past a minion moving a mop across the floor and dropped into the chair next to Sky. He ran his hand over the man’s head, trying to smooth out some of his unruly locks.
“Mn. Tired. So fucking tired,” he mumbled.
“Then why aren’t you in bed? Did something happen last night?”
Sky lifted his head enough that Nolan could see the dark circles under his eyes as he opened them. “The King of the Underworld was pissed at me for the sandwich thing, so he dragged me to the underworld last night to settle a bet. I won, and I get to keep using the minions for my work.”
“That’s…good, right?” Nolan asked because Sky’s tone didn’t make it sound like a good thing in the least.
A disgruntled sound rose from Sky’s throat. “He was so happy with the sandwich that he returned to my place with a bunch of his demon buddies. I was up all night making sandwiches and watching Japanese BL shows.”
Nolan blinked. There was too much to unpack in all of that. His brain was struggling to sort through it.
His necromancer neighbor didn’t seem to notice and continued. “Demons are a riot to watch TV with. They love to talk back to the shows and argue with the characters. It’s hilarious. But they made such a mess. I got rid of them a few hours ago and caught a little sleep, but Zal sent all these minions to clean up the mess they made last night.”
“Zal?” Brain still computing words, Nolan was trying to figure out if Sky was even using English.
“Zalramon, King of the Underworld. He’s the ruler of demons and minions. Everything and everyone that passes through that realm.” Sky laid his head on his arm and lifted his lips in a small smile. “Pretty nice demon, too. He tries to be a hardass, but you can tell he wants to be fair to everyone as much as he can.”
Nolan reached out and threaded his fingers through Sky’s messy hair, pushing it off his forehead and out of his face. “Honey, I think I’m going to need you to explain all of that to me again in far more detail, but later. You look dead on your feet. Why don’t you go to bed for a while?”
Sky lifted his head, his eyes somehow turning anime huge and even glistening. “Did you just call me honey?” he whispered.
He wanted to laugh. That would be the one thing that Sky’s sleep-deprived brain caught in all of that. “Yes, I cannotif you would—”
“No!” Sky grabbed the hand smoothing his hair and pressed it to his cheek before laying his head on it. “I love it. You can call me honey all you want. I’m happy to be your honey.”
“Then,honey, why don’t you go to bed? You don’t have an appointment, do you?”
Sky rubbed his cheek on Nolan’s captured hand. “No. I thought I should be awake to monitor the minions.”
That wrung a snort out of Nolan because Sky’s eyes were closed and had been for most of Nolan’s visit.
“Send the minions home. Your place is spotless. Get some sleep.”
A huff escaped Sky, and he sat up, releasing Nolan’s hand. “You’re right.” He shoved to his feet and called Frank to his side. “Send everyone home. The place looks great.”
The black creature jumped and waved his hands in the air as he chittered.
Sky was shaking his head before Frank even finished. “I don’t have to make anyone sandwiches. First, I’m all out of bread, meat, and cheese. Your boss and his friends cleaned me out last night. And second, I didn’t summon you. He did. If you need payment, you take it up with him.”
That last sentence silenced Frank. The minion pressed his folded hands to his chest and cowered in front of Sky. He didn’t seem too keen on asking the king for payment.
Without further argument, Frank ran through the house, shouting at the other minions. One by one, they poofed away to nothing, leaving the two of them alone. Nolan leaned in and pressed a kiss to the side of Sky’s head. “Get some sleep. I’ll come check in on you later in the day.”
Sky grunted and shuffled to the stairs but stopped and spun halfway around. “That’s right. Why did you stop by in the first place? Did you need something?”
“Oh, shit! I forgot!” Nolan smacked himself in the middle of the forehead. The unexpected presence of a horde of underworld minions was enough to knock the morning’s disturbing news from his brain. “I wanted to ask you about the weird shit that’s being blasted across the news this morning. At first, I thought it might have something to do with the upcoming Moving Day, but I guess it was related to the demons you had partying at your place.”
As he spoke, Sky grew pale, and his eyes widened, the sleepiness vanishing from his posture. “What weirdness?”
He didn’t even wait for Nolan to reply. He darted into his living room, muttering to himself, “Where the fuck is my phone? Gotta find my phone.” Sky lifted pillows and pulled aside cushions until he came up with his phone buried in the couch.
