Part III - The Trouble with Magic
Part III
The Trouble with Magic
Nick watched Billy as he slept. The bedroom was quiet except for the sound of Billy’s soft snores, and if it hadn’t been for his alpha vision Nick wouldn’t have been able to see further than the tip of his nose.
But Nick was an alpha, and he could see perfectly—if in various shades of grey. And right now he was happy for it. The sight of Billy pressing his face into the mattress, breathing in the scent of Nick that clung to the sheets, made him smile with pure joy.
He’d only known Billy a few days, but he was getting more and more certain that he liked him. A lot.
Unlike the tuckered out elf, Nick wasn’t tired in the least. His body brimmed with energy, and if his cock had its way he’d be waking Billy up for a marathon session in the playroom.
But Nick didn’t begrudge Billy his rest. Stroking a hand through the handsome elf’s hair, crouching down next to the bed and resting his chin in the crook of his arm, Nick’s chest warmed when Billy leaned his face into his touch.
The unconscious trust was like a drug. To be leaned on—needed—was everything Nick wanted in a mate.
Something primal and hot stirred in his belly. The sight of Billy in his bed just felt right.
But, Nick thought to himself with a rueful shake of his head, watching people sleep was creepy.
He either needed to join Billy in bed and go to sleep, or leave the room.
Since getting into bed would only lead to frustration—his cock aching to get back inside Billy’s tight ass—he pulled himself together and rose up to his full height.
Billy made a disgruntled noise at the loss of Nick’s touch, and Nick froze. He waited to see if Billy would wake up, holding his breath as he watched Billy frowning in his sleep, but the elf slept on.
Nick tiptoed out of the room and closed the door silently behind him.
Walking down the hall, treading softly so that his boots wouldn’t echo too loudly and wake his sleeping guest, Nick made his way to the living room.
He ran his fingers along the spines of the books occupying the wall-to-wall bookcase opposite the windows, stopping when his gloved fingertip came to rest on the spine of Santa’s Handbook.
He might as well read it and see what other things he’d misunderstood the first time he skimmed the book.
The look on Billy’s face when Nick had casually commented on the weirdness of Santa not helping out delivering the presents was something he’d never forget.
The poor boy had laughed so hard he’d been close to tears.
Book tucked under his arm, Nick poured himself a scotch and made himself comfortable in the armchair nestled away in the corner of the room. The candles on the shelf behind him provided enough light to read by, though he had to strain his eyes a little.
Nick would have to see about getting a reading lamp from Pat.
Opening the book to the first page, Nick took big sip of his scotch as he steeled himself.
He hated studying.
Page one of the book was a table of contents. Nick read through the chapter titles and smiled to himself. Right there, chapter four, was the chapter title: Are the Elves Ready to Deliver Presents? A Guide in Supervising Your Team.
How was he not supposed to think that the elves took care of presents when chapter four had a title like that?
Chapter one was titled Castle Magic Running Low? A Guide to Channeling Wild Magic.
Nick was pretty sure he knew this already, but he still felt nervous as he flipped the page and started reading.
Should he have read this chapter before heading up into the tower with Pat and channeling magic into the castle?
Nick would know soon enough. He took another sip of his scotch and concentrated on the text in front of him, forcing himself to focus.
At first he was reassured. The book described how to recognize the magic in the atmosphere above the castle, how to channel it into the rod, and then spent about twenty pages talking about how to successfully wrestle the magic under control. All things Nick knew how to do.
The next section, much to Nick’s distress, described the process of using the calibration stone in the corner of the room to know when the Castle had just enough magic for the elven instruments—such as the shaping rods they used to make toys—to function properly.
Oops.
Nick hadn’t even noticed the calibration stone. According to the book, he should have stopped channeling magic when the stone glowed pink. If the glow turned red he had channeled too much, and if it turned purple the whole castle would explode.
Since the castle had not, in fact, exploded, Nick figured they were safe. He kept reading, finishing the chapter, and much to his relief there was no new information after the section on the calibration stone.
Moving on to the next chapter, Is the Workshop Behind Schedule?
A Guide to Motivating Your Elves, Nick couldn’t help the niggling feeling that he should go up and check the calibration stone—just to make sure it wasn’t up there glowing ominously purple in the dark like some kind of evil omen of doom.
Putting the book down, feeling more and more worried, Nick downed the rest of his scotch and hurried out of the apartment. The castle corridors were empty, the torches hanging on the walls casting an eerie orange glow, and Nick sped up until he was jogging.
The sounds of his boots on the stone tiles sounded like thunder to his own ears, but no one popped up to see what he was up to.
Nick made it all the way up to the channeling chamber unmolested, breathing hard by the time he reached the top, pushing the door open and making his way inside.
The room was dark. No scary purple light greeted him, and Nick let out a breath of relief. Then he realized that there was no light, period. The stone must only glow when magic was actively being channeled into the castle.
Nick was going to have to channel some magic.
Grabbing the channeling rod leaning against the wall, he climbed back on top of the platform in the middle of the room.
The ceiling overhead was folded down, closed to the night sky, but Nick didn’t need it to be open.
He could just channel what magic hung in the air, remnants from his morning display of brute magical strength.
Just enough to light up the stone.
Turning around, facing the corner where the calibration stone was supposed to be, Nick focused his gaze and pulled a tiny bit of magic into the rod.
The magic was tame and easy to work with, and sending it into the wall required no effort whatsoever.
He let it trickle into the wall as slowly as he could.
Watching the wall with unblinking determination, Nick waited to see if the calibration stone would glow red like he expected, or if he’d have to channel more magic.
The stone glowed red. It was faint, casting no light over the rest of the room. The color was the hue of a perfect ruby.
Nick stopped channeling the second the stone lit up, satisfied that he’d be able to put the nagging worry of blowing up the castle behind him. Putting the channeling rod back where he found it, he left the tower and headed back to his rooms.
Pouring himself another scotch, Nick sat back down in his armchair and picked up the book on the page where he left off.
He read until he was tired, downing three more glasses of scotch in the process, at which point he made a mark of his location and put the book down.
Making his way to the bedroom, Nick slipped out of his uniform and crawled under the covers, curling himself around Billy’s snug little body.
All in all, it was a good way to end the day.
Billy was in a good mood. He slipped out of Nick’s apartment as quietly as he could, the alpha still snoring in the bedroom, and made his way into the hall and down the stairs two steps at a time.
He’d missed breakfast, but he was just in time to join the throng of people making their way from the dining hall and into the workshop.
Being around the workshop elves was fun, Billy thought with a grin. Their collective joy and good cheer filled his chest with a happy feeling of belonging, and on top of the good feelings he already had from spending the night snuggled up to Nick, he was practically giddy.
It was no wonder he was smiling so wide as he fell into step next to Bop and Pop, two of the oldest elves in the castle.
Their conversations were always hilarious, and Billy kept an ear open to hear what they were talking about while he looked around to see if he could spot Tulip or Pat. His friends were nowhere to be seen.
“Why are you smiling like that, Billy?” Bop asked, sounding very suspicious. Her white hair was piled high on her head, her wrinkled face kind but wearing a warily expression.
“You aren’t turning on that machine of yours again, are you?” Pop added, sounding just as suspicious. “My bones weren’t made to rattle like that, young man. Once a year, that’s all you get!”
Billy grinned wider. “Nope, not turning on the machine. Can’t I just be in a good mood?”
“You’re only this happy when you’re up to something,” Bop said. “What is it?”
Billy laughed. “I went on a date last night, if you must know, and it went very well.”
Bop and Pop both smiled. “A real date?” Bop asked, giving him a look. “Not just a…?” she trailed off suggestively.
“A real date,” Billy confirmed. “With talking and eating and everything.”
“Good for you,” Pop said, clapping him on the back.
“It’s about time,” Bop added.
“But don’t settle,” Pop said.
“Look at how happy he is,” Bop exclaimed. “He’s not settling. This is the one. I can tell.”
“He doesn’t know that.” Pop shook his head. “It’s always like that in the beginning.”
“Not with us,” Bop said, snorting.
“What do you mean?” Pop sounded outraged.