Coal to Diamonds Read Online Free Page A

both men in a silvery mist. “Be strong!” Cole yelled. “Give it everything you’ve got. We can’t let him stop us. Twice more. Hold onto me!”
    They came together and locked elbows. A constant, strong wind joined the barrage. It hit them like a stone wall. The rain fell almost horizontal, piercing their chests, thighs, and tender genitalia like poisoned darts. The ground and sky, everything, had been liquefied. The water seemed to shoot right through their bodies and exit through their backs. Cam, in the center, barely retained the ability to lift his legs. Bobby and Cole practically dragged him. The green crown of light remained bright around his forehead, though, and his hand, though shivering, stayed steady on his wand.
    Finally, they finished their casting and staggered to the porch. The tempest followed them, switching direction to batter their bodies with more cold air, water, and ice. By the time they hurried inside, the storm drenched a rectangle of the floor. They didn’t let go of each other. Closed out, the storm beat against the door and windows with an almost conscious intent.
     
     
    C AM dropped to the floor and sat on his heels. With his head bowed and shoulders stooped, his wand resting on his outstretched palms, he looked like either a monk in prayer or a person awaiting execution. His fair hair draped his face. Rivulets dripped from his locks and splattered the floor between his knees. The wood darkened in a circle around him.
    Cole knelt down and gently closed his fingers around Cam’s chin. His skin felt fish-cold, and his lips matched the shade of the circles under his eyes. Small cuts covering his body made him look like he’d tumbled through briars. More than anything, the beautiful man resembled a corpse freshly pulled from the river.
    “I’m so cold, Cole,” he whispered.
    “Cammy, did we do it?” Cole asked. “Can he see us?”
    Cam trembled so hard water flew from his hair.
    Bobby seized Cole’s wrist and wrenched it from Cam. “Jesus,” the bigger man said. “Give him a second.” He took the blanket from the back of the couch and covered Cam’s shoulders. Then he whispered something to Cam that contained the words “baby,” “take your time,” and some others Cole couldn’t hear.
    The conspiracy between the two of them was starting to piss Cole off. “We need to know if we were successful. If not, we need to try something else. Thorn sent that storm. Do you want to wait around to see what else he throws at us?”
    “Why is he doing this?” Cam whispered. “He said he loved us.”
    Outside, the rain tapped like fingernails on the slate, lighter than before but steady.
    Bobby still knelt behind Cam, resting his hands on Cam’s shoulders. His chest was twice the width of either Cam’s or Cole’s, and his skin remained bronze year-round from hiking, running, basketball, and tennis. On his square face came a look Cole remembered well. Bobby wasn’t angry, but he’d decided what should be done and wouldn’t budge. In Bobby’s mind, the matter had been settled. He’d seen the outcome he wanted and simply wouldn’t accept another. This stubborn will had made him a star quarterback in high school, a celebrity defense attorney later, and one hell of a powerful magician. Cole knew he might as well try to level a mountain with a teaspoon.
    “Okay,” Cole conceded. “The damn storm even put the fire out. I’m going to try to get it lit again.” He went to the hearth and knelt down. The logs and coals were soaked, and an inky wet stain covered the floor of the stove, but fire had always been his element.
    “I’ll make more coffee,” Bobby said. He helped Cam to the couch and went into the kitchen, leaving a trail of wet footprints from one end of the rectangular space to the other. Cole watched the crescents of Bobby’s toned ass, the only pale part of him, as Bobby rinsed the carafe. What a beautiful man Bobby was, with the body of a professional athlete and