Magic Malfunction

  The Nightshade Guild Book 24

  By

  Abigail Kade

  The unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this copyrighted work is illegal. Criminal copyright infringement (including infringement without monetary gain) is investigated by the FBI and is punishable by up to 5 years in federal prison and a fine of $250,000.

  Magic Malfunction (The Nightshade Guild series)

  Copyright ©2022 Abigail kade

  Published by Celtic Hearts Press, LLC

  Cover art designed by Glowing Moon Designs

  All rights reserved as permitted under the U.S. Copyright Act of 1976. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, transmitted in any form or by any means, or stored in a database or retrieval system, without the prior permission of the Author. For information regarding subsidiary rights, please contact the Publisher.

  Manufactured in the United States of America

  The author acknowledges the copyrighted or trademarked status and trademark owners of any wordmarks mentioned in this work of fiction.

  Table of Contents

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 2 - 2022

  Finn’s powers are on the fritz, his mother is being her usual horrible self, and he’s hiding from Henry for fear they’ll jinx everything.

  Their handfasting will be unforgettable.

  Finn’s mother has demanded that he and Henry have a handfasting ceremony at her home in Galila. It’s not because she’s happy her only son is marrying a “human”, oh no. It’s because she wants an excuse to throw a party and be the center of attention. However, her plans are going off the rails. Finn’s powers are malfunctioning with inconvenient and very messy results. On top of that, the dad he hasn’t seen in a century is suddenly back for the ceremony, and he’s not sure how he feels about that.

  Before the day is over, wedding clothes will be trashed, a garden will go crazy, wild catnip will cause a “furry” situation and maybe, if they’re lucky, a handfasting will go forward. But that’s only the beginning, because they’re relationship may be solid, Finn’s magic, or loss of magic, will need to be solved. Finn will have to finally quit hiding his problems from Henry or his magical malfunctions may last forever.

  Chapter 1

  Finn

  Hot, wet licks were sliding up my cock. Mmmm, then there was a gentle lap at the head, and a phantom tongue dug in a little at the tip to get more of the precum welling up. Lips surrounded my cockhead and began to suckle just the way I loved. The pressure was perfect, and if I didn’t stop it, I would have a mess soon. I knew it couldn’t be real. I was alone in my bed for the first time in months and needed this so badly. This morning especially. It was my handfasting day, after all. I could have a wet dream to take the edge off, right?

  I started to participate with the imagined mouth, and then there were ghostly fingers moving over my tightened balls, then sliding back to my desperately needy hole. God, I needed to fill my Henry, but that wasn’t possible. I needed this edge taken off so bad, and those fingers knew just what I needed because they tapped at my hole while the suction on my cock got more intense. I was already so close. As soon as the finger pushed just a little and the mouth tightened just right, I came in a second. One spurt after another filled my dream man’s mouth, and then I sank deep into my pillows and mattress, limp as a dishrag.

  “Best. Dream. Ever,” I mumbled to the empty room.

  “Not a dream, sweetheart, but I’m glad you enjoyed it. I guess I’m the man of your dreams, after all.”

  That voice in my room would have normally made me incredibly happy, but not today. I nearly jumped out of my skin, pulling back to the head of the bed and bringing the blanket to cover myself up.

  “Henry, what the fuck are you doing? You’re not supposed to be here. You’re supposed to be at your place!”

  Henry just laughed at me and crawled up the bed. He gently pried the blanket away from my naked body and enveloped me in his warm and familiar embrace.

  “Finn, you don’t really believe in that old wives tale, do you? There was no way I could wait to see you first thing in the morning today. I just got back from Eden and this is the way you greet me? You were so adorable, all warm and sleepy, wrapped in your blanket. How could I resist? Even now, I even love the little creases you get on your cheek from your pillow.”

  My hand flew to my cheek, where he’d just touched me.

  “Oh, my God, I have wrinkles on my face? I can’t have pillow creases today. Mother will find every flaw. See? The bad luck is already starting. This is so bad, Henry. Maybe we should just postpone this whole trip. I know Mother insisted we come and do the ceremony today because of the numerology and astrological portents, but we can wait for the next one, right?”

  I totally believed in luck, good and bad. I mean, Henry and I had been through so much already, especially when we had to protect sweet Ameria. We’d battled evil and won. We were due for mornings like this. And if we had to go to Galila and have a handfasting to make my mom happy, then that was exactly what we’d do.

  “Finn, calm down, the sleep creases will go away in about thirty minutes. I mean your beard covers most of it anyway.” He gave my beard a gentle tug. “You’re so handsome with your red hair and kilts, the only thing people will see is the tall handsome Scottish Mage I fell in love with.” HE gave me a kiss on my nose. “And as far as the wedding”—I started to speak, so he raised his hand to stop me and corrected himself—“I mean, handfasting doesn’t happen until later this afternoon. There’s no chance your handsome face will have wrinkles, okay? It’ll be fine.”

  I stared at the man I loved, with his impossibly golden curls and beautiful blue eyes, and immediately calmed down. Angels had a way of doing that, I’d come to learn.

  “Okay, you’re right. I overreacted. It’s just that dealing with my family has always given me anxiety. The trees and their influence on my powers aren’t the only reason I live alone on top of a mountain.” I glanced at the clock, and seeing the time, I jumped up. “We should probably get going soon, just to be on the safe side, okay? You going to come with me to get the flowers? I thought it would be nice to bring some wildflowers from the mountain. I know Mother will have all kinds of fancy shit, and I want a piece of us there, too.”

  “Finn, I’ll take care of everything that needs to be taken care of before we have to go. You just relax. Go get a shower and some breakfast. I don’t want you worrying about anything. It’ll be fine.”

  Henry got up from the bed, and I noticed he was dressed in my favorite jeans and a long-sleeve tee that showed off his sleek body. He turned around and in his hand appeared a gift bag.

  “Happy Handfasting Day, sweetheart. I couldn’t let this pass without getting something. I mean, between us both, we’ve waited thousands of years for this day. I figured it had to be commemorated, right?”

  “Henry, dammit. We said no presents.”

  He laughed and handed me the small bag. I looked down at the gift so Henry wouldn’t notice the little tears forming in them. I carefully pulled the green tissue out of the bag and gently lifted what was inside.

  “Henry, where did you find this? It’s beautiful.”

  I held up the elaborate metal skeleton key. The top was decorated with multicolored enamel to enhance the intricate design. Henry told me its importance as I turned it over in my hand.

  “It’s a specially made Elvish key. I heard about an Elf blacksmith named Graham who made magical and wondrous things. I told him what I wanted, and he made it exactly to my specifications. And I think you’ll love even more what it opens.”

  “I absolutely love it, Henry. What does it open?” I stood up from the bed as I asked the question and went over to my dresser drawer. “I guess we’re meant to be together because we do think alike.” I pulled out the gift I had for him and handed it to him.

  “Dammit, we weren’t supposed to do gifts, remember? And I’ll show you what it opens when we can get back to Eden.”

  I laughed at his imitation of me, then gave him the small bundle wrapped in white tissue paper.

  “It’s not much, and it’s nothing as beautiful as what you gave me, but when I saw it, I knew you had to have it. It reminded me of the first time I knew I loved you.”

  He held the bundle in one hand and tore into the tissue with the other. When the flurry of ripped tissue fell to the ground, Henry held up the bright tee, reading the print on the front. Then he doubled over with laughter while he stretched his arm up to pull his shirt off before putting his new shirt on. It fit him perfectly, of course, was a neon yellow crop top, and now I could read it myself. Printed across the front in bold black letters was Daddy’s Good Boy.

  Henry enveloped me in another sweet hug—the ones I loved—and whispered into my ear, “Please tell me you have one for you, too.”

  I nodded into his shoulder. “Of course I do. Mine reads I’m Daddy.”

  Henry just laughed harder and squeezed me tighter.

  “I love you so much, Daddy.”

  Damn, hearing him call me that did funny things to me, but now wasn’t the time to act on it. I gave him a squeeze, then let him go with a quick kiss.

  “I love you, too. More than anything.”

  I couldn’ t take much more emotion on a day where there would be emotions all freaking day, good and maybe borderline, depending on Mother’s mood. Henry had to go before I jumped him and we had to postpone the ceremony to the next century and the planets aligned again because neither of us could get out of bed. I stepped out of another quick hug, even though I didn’t want to, and slapped Henry on the ass.

  “All right, you, go pick me some wildflowers before we make the Fate gods angry and they decided to teach us a lesson for tempting them.”

  Henry raised his eyebrows as he rubbed where I had hit him, then pouted.

  “All right, fine, I’m going. You don’t have to resort to excessive violence. I come over here to wake up my gorgeous fiancé with an amazing blow job, not to mention a gift and all I get is a lecture and a slap on the ass. Is this what I have to look forward to?”

  I couldn’t help but rumble a laugh at his adorable pout. He was such a needy boy when he wanted to be.

  “I’m sorry, Henry. Thank you for the blow job and the present. They were both perfect. As for the slap on the ass, I think you secretly loved it.”

  His devilish grin gave him away before he could hide it. He covered up the grin with an affronted look of indignation and stomped across the floor.

  “Of course not. Why I never. I’m going now before you tempt fate even more with your wild assumptions about my character.”

  He stopped at the now-open bedroom door and looked more serious for a second before continuing.

  “But, honestly, Finn, don’t worry. Today will be perfect, and everything will be fine.” He blew me a kiss and left the room. I heard the cabin’s front door open and close a few seconds later.

  Henry was right. I was just nervous about the big day and seeing my family again. Everything would be fine.

  Chapter 2

  Henry

  Everything was most definitely not fine.

  I was staring daggers at one of the reasons at this very moment. My outfit fit like a potato sack and smelled like it too. Looking at my reflection told the whole story. I looked like one of the guys from the Holy Grail movie. I should be ringing a bell for everyone to bring out their dead. The sleeves covered my hands and practically fell to the floor, and there was no way in hell or heaven I could walk because it was a mile too long. I looked freaking ridiculous.

  “Henry, I am so sorry, dear. I always assumed that Finnegan would wind up with a warrior or at least someone”—Finn’s mother vaguely waved her delicate hand in my general direction, not trying to hide her polite sneer, then waved it up and down to indicate my obvious disappointing height— “bigger, I suppose, is the appropriate word. I never, in all my thousand years, thought he would choose a human of all things. I hope this handfasting will at least stop the Druid council’s tongues from wagging anymore. This scandal has been terrible for my poor nerves.”

  Catrin had hated me on site when Finn had brought me over to Galila this morning. He’d gotten an urgent call from her and his long shower and leisurely breakfast had turned into a quick wash down and stuffing dry toast into his mouth while I ran outside to find some flowers that would agree to let me pick them. Luckily, they all loved Finn on the mountain, so I was able to get some beautiful flowers and even added in a few sprigs of jasmine and gardenias with a small bit of magic.

  In order for the council back home to agree to let me leave again after the whole interdimensional incident with Ameria and the Elves, I’d had to promise never to use my powers again unless it was life or death or if no one would see. I could not, under any circumstances, indicate what I was or there would be consequences. I didn’t exactly know what the consequences would be, but I knew enough to know it would be nothing I would like and everything I would hate.

  So, here I was, an Angel of Eden, pretty much all-powerful compared to any other paranormal creature of any dimension, and I was letting myself be treated like crap by Finn’s snob of a mother for being human and causing a scandal. She was wringing her hands and had those wrinkles between her eyebrows. She hated those wrinkles. She’d said so many, many times in the last hour, so I knew how upset she must be. But was she upset about dressing me in leper’s rags and making me dress like a Plague victim extra at some warped Medieval Times show? Nope. She was upset that her one and only son was marrying me. I didn’t normally curse, but today? Yeah, I’d let it slip today.

  Fuck. Me.

  “I’m sure it’ll turn out fine. You can go handle any last-minute things you have to do, and I’ll see if I packed anything else appropriate for the ceremony since this, uh, robe doesn’t fit. I’ll figure out something. If I didn’t pack anything suitable, maybe we could run out this morning and get a suit from someplace. It doesn’t matter what I wear. I don’t guess.”

  “My dear boy, have you lost what little mind you have in that tiny head of yours? You’re in an alternate dimension, not a suburb. We don’t go to a store and buy cheap things that have no soul, no history.”

  I shook my head, and she shook her head simultaneously. “The outfit you’re wearing that you call inappropriate has been in Finnegan’s family for hundreds of years.”

  I picked at the rough sackcloth. It’s definitely seen better centuries at this point.

  “The only other possibility would be if you had something from your family that had been passed down for historical and ancestral reasons. Do you happen to have something like that in your little satchel, Henry?” She scoffed without even letting me continue. “Stupid question. I forgot who I was talking to. Of course, you don’t. You barely have any history at all. You’ll just have to wear what I gave you.” With a flurry of diaphanous robes, Finn’s mother exited the small guest chamber she’d put me in.

  I was getting married this afternoon, and I had nothing to wear. I took off the burlap robe and threw it on the bed before putting my jeans and tee back on. I guess I could get married in the clothes I always wore every day if I had to.

  I would not let Finn’s mother ruin his day because she was being petty. But what could I do?

  Chapter 3

  Finn

  If I didn’t love Henry so much, I’d strangle him. He had totally jinxed our handfasting day. There was no other explanation. Well, there could have been an explanation, but I was trying to ignore it. I hadn’t even told Henry what had happened at Luna’s wedding a few weeks ago. All the Nightshade Guild had lost their powers at once, but they’d come back. It had been like a light switch had been accidentally turned off, then turned back on. Nothing else had happened since then, so it had to have been a fluke.

  Right?

  I reached out with my power and felt the answering brush of power from the garden outside my window. I was hiding in the guest cottage behind Mother’s house until the ceremony. I didn’t want to chance anything at this point. Feeling the answering power from the rose bushes and trees in the yard settled my nerves. But even still, there was a ball of worry in the pit of my stomach that said it might not have been a one-time thing.

  I had been getting bored sitting in the room by myself, so I’d checked the Magecaster App. Now I had just gotten off the phone and had some not-so-great news. Not only were the other Mages losing powers at an alarming rate, but the possible reason was also even scarier. If the vampiress Sidrith really was back and was targeting us for our powers, there was no if she would be coming for mine, but when or where she or her followers would attack. How was I supposed to focus on my handfasting and Henry when we could be attacked any minute? I heard the back door open while on the phone and wondered who it could be. I secretly wished Henry would come and track me down, but I knew Mother would have hidden him away in the house. She had been more than vocal about how disappointed she was in my choice of mate, not that I cared what she thought. She had mentioned that my father was coming, but I was skeptical.

  “Finn, don’t worry so much. Everything is going to be just fine, you’ll see. Now stop frowning at the phone and give your father a hug.”

  The deep voice from the open door startled me, and I did stop frowning at the phone because I dropped it–nearly into the bowl of oatmeal I’d made to pass the time. I picked up the phone to make sure there was no damage, and seeing the screen still intact, I took a deep breath and thanked heaven at least that it was all right. I didn’t use it often, but I had a feeling I’d be needing it to contact the other Mages at some point.

 

1 2 3 4 5