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Out of all the members of their tiny coven, Moon felt closest to Sky. He liked Mad and Red. He’d do anything to help them out. But with Sky, there was the added kinship of them both being the only ones of their kind in the area. Moon could go to Sky and bitch about not having anyone to turn to with his magical questions, and Sky would understand. Even if the death witch still had his grandmother, in ghost form, to ask about magic.
It also helped that Sky wasn’t disgusted by or uncomfortable with Moon’s style of magic. Most people didn’t want to see their best friend cutting themselves or sloshing around a big jar of blood for a spell. By the same token, Moon had learned to not be squeamish when he watched his friend dealing with corpses—though he still got shivers every time he saw Sky raise more than one corpse at the same time.
More than an hour slipped away as they sat talking about his adventures with his witch friends. For a time, they forgot about the fae and enjoyed spending time together.
At least, that was until something round and black popped up in the clearing where they were waiting for Sky. The creature looked like a demonic Pokémon and was frightening enough to scare them both to their feet.
Chen snagged his sword from the cave and shoved Moon behind him.
“Is it a fae?”
Moon frowned at the creature. It didn’t seem all that interested in them now that it had discovered the snow. The monster was a black puffball on stubby legs with tiny stubby arms. A pair of horns curled out of its head like a ram. Liquid silver eyes glistened in the sunlight over a mouth full of jagged teeth.
It was terrifying except for the fact that it let out this squeal of delight before plopping down in the snow. The thing continued to chitter excitedly, tossing the snow up in the air, letting it crash on the top of its head.
“Greg? Greg, you can’t run so far ahead of me!” An angry voice called out. A voice Moon recognized.
With a chuckle, he stepped out around Chen and placed his hand on the vampire’s wrist, getting him to lower his sword. “Not a fae. An underworld minion.”
“That’s a demon?” Chen demanded, pointing his sword at the black figure playing in the snow.
“Eh. Not so much a demon. A minion. Think of them as like the worker drones of the underworld beehive.”
“Greg, I—” Sky stepped out from under a low tree limb and stopped, a smile growing on his flushed face. “Oh! There you are!”
The adorable necromancer was wearing a white T-shirt under a sparkly yellow vest as if he were trying to be a second sun. His blond hair was sweaty and sticking to his temples from his trek through the woods. Moon wanted to laugh. The stylish, cheerful man shattered every preconceived notion of what a necromancer was supposed to look like. Oh, he owned black clothing, but he always paired it with bright and colorful things. Skylar Wallace had most definitely been a peacock in a previous life.
“You brought along a minion for your hike?” Moon teased as Sky picked his way through the snow-slicked field.
The necromancer paused and glared at Moon. “Do I look like someone who can easily find his way through the woods? Hell, no. Greg is a natural tracker. I gave him that old T-shirt you left at my place the last time we had a binge night. He followed that.”
“And Greg…is the…minion,” Chen stated slowly, as if he were still trying to wrap his brain around what was happening.
Sky nodded. “Yep. I typically use him for things like tracking down rare herbs and fungi, but he can follow the scent of just about anything.” The necromancer leaned closer to Chen and lowered his voice. “And he really appreciates the snow. They don’t get that much in the underworld.”
“You still got that shirt on you?” Moon inquired.
Sky’s nose wrinkled. “Yeah, but it’s dirty,” he said even as he was sliding his backpack from his shoulder.
“Is it dirtier than I am now?” Moon motioned at his current shirt streaked with blood, sweat, and dirt.
The necromancer took another look at Moon and nodded. “You’ve got a point.” He kneeled and pulled out the shirt that was emblazoned with giant psychedelic mushroom and bubble letters that said “Magical!” Mad called it his hippie shirt. Didn’t matter if it smelled funky. It was better than wearing crusty blood. He stripped off his shirt and tossed it aside. A sigh slipped from his lips as he pulled on the new one.
“Are you feeling better, Chen?” Sky asked. “Moon mentioned you were injured.”
Chen nodded, tearing his eyes from Greg to look at Sky. “I am. Thank you for your concern. And thank you for coming all the way out here to help us.”
