Page 75 of Did It Have To Be Gnomes?!
Chaos, quicker than I expected, slapped Lyric’s chopsticks with his own, and Lyric’s went flying out of their hand. The two stared at each other for a few beats before the whole table erupted in laughter.
I laughed so hard and so freely, and when Winter wrapped an arm around my back and tucked me close to his side, I couldn’t help but wonder when the last time I’d laughed like this with friends was. Had I ever?
I knew for a fact that I’d never had a group of friends who accepted me so easily into their ranks. I’d never had anyone to laugh with, at least not in over five years… unless you counted Odin, and I doubted most people would count their cat.
After swallowing a bite, Chaos said, “So there’s a quick way to break the curse and a slow way. The quick way will likely break the concrete itself, so it could damage the integrity of the foundation. The slow way will take a lot longer, but there will be no harm done to the house itself. But… you’ll have to keep the gnomes and whatever else the curse throws at me off me.”
“Whatever else?” Lyric squeaked as they grabbed a fork from the pile, and I was glad they did so I didn’t have to.
“Yeah. Curses don’t like being broken.” He waved that off as insignificant when it was, in fact, super fucking important. And terrifying. “Are you guys up for protecting me that long?”
Winter, seeming unworried about the curse bomb Chaos just dropped, asked, “How long are we talking?”
Chaos thought about that for a few minutes. “Maybe forty-five minutes—possibly longer. I definitely think it’ll be less than an hour.”
“He’s being modest.” Aeson rolled his eyes. “My brother’s fast and accurate, more so than other necromancers. If he’s saying forty-five minutes, it’ll probably be more like thirty.”
Chaos stabbed his arm again. “Shut it. I’d rather them be prepared for a longer time and be done sooner than the other way around.”
To break up their bickering before they really got into it, I said, “Forty-five minutes to an hour, then. We’ll plan on that.”
Chaos gave me a nod. “Good. I’m going to have to run to the store to pick up a few things before I start.”
“What kind of things?”
“Uh, well, my lighter’s out of fluid apparently, and I need to burn some sage—I need the ashes. I need more oil and definitely more salt, plus a handful of other little things.”
I had no idea why he needed those things or what they were for, but if the guy needed them to break the curse, then I’d get them for him. “Okay. I can get those things for you if you make a list.”
The kid blinked at me. “Yeah?”
“Yeah.”
He nodded. “Thanks. Once I have everything, it’ll probably take me a good hour or so to prep before we can go back in there.”
I pulled my phone out of my pocket to check the time. It was already two in the afternoon. By the time we got the supplies and made it back here, it’d be after three, and only if we were lucky. Starting something like breaking a curse so late in the day seemed like a bad idea.
The homeowner told me I could text her updates and any questions, so I shot off a text to make sure she’d be okay with us coming back tomorrow, waited for her reply, pushed my phone back into my pocket, and cleared my throat.
Once everyone was looking at me, I asked, “What do you all think about calling it a day now and coming back tomorrow morning? If we do that, I can pick up everything you need tonight, and since you’ll be coming for another day, I’ll pay you extra for the trip.” I glanced at Winter, and he sent me a small smile and a nod.
Lyric stretched. “I can do that. I have a cookout in the afternoon, but I can come for a bit in the morning.”
“Thanks.” I gave them a nod, and they grinned back.
Chaos and Aeson exchanged a look before Aeson said, “You want both of us to come back?”
I didn’t hesitate. “Definitely.”
He smiled widely. “Awesome. We can come tomorrow. What time?”
As we finished eating, we made plans, and Chaos typed up a list on his phone before texting it to me.
Winter finished eating and pressed his lips to my temple, making my stomach flutter with butterflies and my heart pound heavily in my chest. I wanted to scoot closer to him. I wanted to climb into his lap. I wanted him to wrap himself around me and never, ever let me go.
I sucked in a breath at that last thought, then wiped at my eyes, hoping the strange emotions coming from me weren’t playing on my face.
I couldn’t even blame it on my empath abilities because Winter was touching me. For once in my life, I didn’t have others’ emotions warring with my own.
