Witch Out of Luck Read online

  “He won't fit on the platform, Izzy. He's huge.”

  “I don’t care. Help me help him, for fuck’s sake,” she cried out, as tears once again slid down her face.

  Arietta stayed with Dave as Maeve moved to help her cousin. Taking hold of a tentacle, they pulled, only for the tentacle to slip from their grasp and vanish into the water.

  Brutas’s head vanished as well, sliding beneath the surface.

  “No!” Isabeau cried out. Standing, she moved to slip off her shoes and jumper, wanting to dive in, when a hand on her ankle stopped her.

  “Brutas?” His large human form pulled himself out of the water and onto the platform. Naked, he laid back. Cuts and bruises covered him like badges of honour, but his chest rose and fell with strong, steady breaths.

  “Brutas,” Isabeau shouted again as she bent down and checked him over, before moving her hands to his face.

  “Brutas,” she whispered, and smiled when his bright blue eyes opened and met hers.

  “Isabeau,” he stated, his hands holding on to hers. “You safe. Not hurt?” he asked, and she nodded, even as more tears fell down her face.

  “I'm safe. Not hurt. Are you?” she asked, frowning when she looked down at his bruises and cuts.

  “Nothing that will not heal,” he stated slowly, and smiled. “Better already now here with you.”

  “But you were a kracken again,” she whispered, and helped him sit. She loved the fact that he wouldn't let her go, instead wrapping his arms around her and pulling her onto his lap.

  “I am still kracken.” He smiled and looked to his brother. “We can now change.”

  Maeve blinked. “You can shift at will now?”

  “No, Will is not involved. Only kracken,” Brutas answered, confused.

  Maeve laughed. “No, I meant you can shift from kracken to human whenever you like.”

  “Yes, it is the way it was a long time ago.” He nuzzled Isabeau’s neck, and she couldn't have been happier. She had her man, her kracken.

  “How do you know this?” Arietta asked, still rubbing a confused Dave’s back.

  “The Gate told me. It wanted the box to help it set things right. The guardians were sent here not just for the Gate but for the krackens too,” he admitted, and showing no weakness at all, Brutas climbed to his feet with Isabeau in his arms. “Excuse us, kracken needs his mate.”

  With that, he left the cavern, leaving the rest of the family to deal with Dave and the eggs.

  Isabeau wrapped her arms around his neck and held on. She wanted to hold him forever. Everything else would settle into place. She believed that. But what she knew for certain was her love for this huge kracken.

  “Hey, Brutas,” she murmured in his ear. “Don't krackens have tentacles?”

  “Yes, my mate, they certainly do.”

  21

  Fate peeked inside the pub and looked around. Everyone was busy fixing the buildings that had been damaged during the explosion. Most ignored her, and that’s the way she liked it. She didn't need anyone asking questions. Like, who are you? Where are you from? Can I touch your hair?

  She was in here for one reason, and that was to find Baba Yaga. The silly cow had gone AWOL and it was up to her to find her, get her sober, and presentable. That was easier said than done. That witch was harder to find than rocking horse shit and even more elusive than hens’ teeth.

  The sounds of moans had Fate stepping further into the dinky pub and around a corner that looked into a secluded alcove. And there was a barmaid, necking a pirate. So, where the hell was Baba?

  “Oh, dear mother of the goddess.” Fate spun around at the sound of sniffing, and to also avoid the sight of Blackbeard getting handsy. Fate’s upchuck reflex was ready to rumble. She was also afraid she would need to disinfect her eyeballs. Again. Seeing someone tongue locked was nothing new. Hell, Fate had been there many a time. Watching an infamous pirate do it was a whole other experience, especially since it was a large, burly pirate who was very, very naked.

  “Will you put him down, for the love of all that is sacred? You do not know where he has been. He has been dead for the past few hundred years. He hasn't had his shots,” Fate snapped at the barmaid and walked off, her arms folded across her chest. The sounds of kissing stopped, thankfully, leaving her free to focus on finding her AWOL friend.

  “I will be back, my darling Blackbeard. Don't you go vanishing on me, okay?” Fate heard the barmaid say, and her lunch nearly crept up her throat.

  Fate really wanted to puke.

  Finally, Fate spotted her elusive witch sat at the far end of the bar, nursing a shot glass.

  “Hello, woman. What the hell are you doing hiding back here?”

  “Hi, Fate,” she sighed, making Fate frown. “Just having a quiet drink.”

  “Whoa, what the bloody hell is going on? Are those tears? They had better not be over that crab-infested pirate.” Fate pulled out a stool and perched on it, one arm leaning on the bar and the other on her hip.

  “Maybe.” She sighed again. “Apparently my boobs are not big enough.”

  “Is that it? Your boobs?” Fate rolled her eyes. “And what did you say?”

  “I didn’t. I just walked off as he started to play tonsil tennis with Titty Magee over there.”

  Fate rubbed her eyes with her thumb and forefinger and then looked at her best friend. “Are you telling me that a ghost pirate rejected you, even though, may I add, you are spoken for, so naughty Baba. But you also did nothing?”

  “Err, yeah.”

  “Holy fucking shit, we need to get you out of here. Woman, you do realise how much power you have? You are the bitch one does not mess with. Since when have you let any man make you feel like that? Is it the sea air or the beer?” Fate snapped and pulled the beer that had been in front of Baba away, and then grabbed the shot glass too. “You are a queen— no, you are a goddess who one does not fuck with. I expect better,” Fate finished.

  She watched as many emotions washed over Baba’s face— resolve, thoughtfulness, and finally, the one she had been waiting for: a simple smirk. Shit was about to go down.

  Sliding off the stool, she stood.

  “You are right. I’m the baddest bitch around.” Lifting her hand, she simply snapped her fingers. Almost immediately, cries of pain could be heard before a naked pirate ran past them and out of the door.

  “What did you do?”

  “He wasn’t circumcised.” Baba grinned and shrugged. “He is now.”

  “I am so glad I came to save your arse, woman,” Fate stated, and grabbed Baba’s arm. “I came right on time to save you from yourself, and from a PTC.”

  “What the hell is a PTC?” Baba argued as they walked out of the pub.

  “Pirate transmitted cootie. We are going to have to get you tested.” Fate kept talking even when Baba Yaga didn't move. Realising she was alone, Fate turned and looked at her friend. “What?”

  “You made a joke.”

  “And?”

  “You ain’t such a tight arse then, are you?” Both smiled at each other before they walked towards the small park that overlooked the town.

  “We're done then?” Fate asked.

  “Oh yeah, we are done and dusted. Let's go home.”

  Both of the most powerful beings in the known paranormal universe vanished within the blink of an eye, leaving behind colours and glitter on the wind.

  “Order, order!”

  “Oh, not that again. We don't need that for a sodding game,” Bas argued, as Grundlepus tried to control the small, clandestine meeting that was taking place in a hidden room within the pub. Not many knew of this room— well, it was mainly for those that were below two-feet in height and could climb, jump or fly. Basically, no witches or their males.

  “ARSEHOLE,” Binky snapped from his side of the small table. “What are the stakes?”

  “Loser has to clean up after the krackens for a week, both bay and adult,” Bas suggested, and the others moaned. Even Denze
l the ghost parrot groaned. He knew how bad that could be, having seen it frequently on his flybys.

  “What about the winner?” Binky asked. “BOLLOCKS.”

  Bas thought… “Winner gets the spoils, and the first batch of cookies Maeve produces.”

  “Whoa, how the hell are we going to get to those? She guards them like a demon,” Grundlepus stated, and he was right. Getting a cookie fresh out of the oven from Maeve was something even her male, Will, would struggle with. But Bas had his ways. He wasn't nimble fingered for nothing.

  “Okay, so what's the game? How do we determine the winner?” Binky asked, his glasses making him look less boss-eyed than usual. “Cards, dice, snakes and ladders?”

  “None. I have a new game and I'm sure I am going to win,” Bas stated with confidence.

  “So, what is it?” the others asked. Bas paused for effect.

  This was going to be a winner. He could almost taste those cookies in his mouth.

  “The game is…” he paused again and got a napkin thrown at him. “Guess the Length of Dave's Kracken.”

  Silence filled the small room. Not a peep could be heard. Then, one by one, the familiars got to their feet, Denzel included. With a shake of their head, they left. It was Binky who spoke.

  “You dirty little git. BELLEND.”

  “What? Did you not see it when he shifted?” Bas argued and stood to go after them. “Oh, come on, are you telling me you are not the least bit curious?” he called after them as they went back into the pub.

  “Maureen, don't serve Bas. He's a dirty little bastard,” Grundlepus shouted.

  “That’s my name, dickhead.”

  “Perv.”

  “Ginger twat.”

  “COCKWOMBLE.”

  22

  Epilogue

  Maeve smiled as she stood at the cliff that overlooked the town and now the new cove that had started to become a Kracken nursery. It had been a shock to the system that it had been the Gate that had set the box off and not Grundlepus, and that it had wanted to start a new line of Krackens. Ones that wouldn't be confined to the sea but could also walk on land.

  “You’re deep in thought again,” Arietta called out as she approached with Isabeau. They had mugs in their hands and joined her to watch the sun set over Kracken’s Hole.

  “Always thinking. Everyone okay?”

  Arietta nodded and handed Maeve her mug. “The boys are bonding. The familiars have vanished, but we think poker is involved. The town has been put to rights, but the pirates are all now corporeal, so they are getting used to that.”

  Maeve nodded. The town had been hit by a magical wave, which had made some slight changes. Those that couldn't shift, now could. Those that were ghosts, could take form. But only in Kracken’s Hole.

  Maeve smiled. Everyone had come together and helped rebuild those structures that had collapsed, and many had come forward to offer help with the expected Kracken babies. The town was a credit to the paranormal community, except when it came to the pirate festival. That was still embarrassing. Maeve shuddered. Naked Twister surely should be made illegal.

  “How’s Dave?” she asked, and the other two smirked.

  “That one is going to be trouble. He's already got the hang of talking in full sentences, much to his brother’s annoyance, but he also knows the effect his smile has on women.”

  They all groaned. Dave, like his brother, was gorgeous, with a devastating smile. He was also just as big as Brutas, even though he had yet to hit his final growth spurt.

  “Oh, man,” Maeve groaned, but then they all laughed.

  “Shall we?” Maeve asked, and both Arietta and Isabeau nodded. “Yes, lets.”

  All three stood on the cliff overlooking Kracken’s Hole and held up the letters their mothers had written to them. In voices clear, they cast their spell.

  Alone we were,

  Scared we be.

  We were not prepared,

  To be three.

  We've found our power,

  We've found our place,

  Kracken’s Hole is now our safe space.

  This is our home, as you wanted it to be,

  We accept our fate as guardians three.

  Dear mothers, we love you, now go fly free.

  Always a Moonchild, so blessed be.

  Simultaneously, each letter was picked up by the wind before they slowly broke apart into a swirl of colour and glitter. The wind, as if directed by their spell, collected the remains and carried them in a beautiful show up into the heavens. The three guardians watched long after the sun had set, each now filled with confidence in their own powers and the knowledge that they were no longer alone in the world.

  They had each other, and they had love. They also had their familiars, but that was another story.

  What's the moral of the guardians of Kracken’s Hole?

  Believe in yourself, and love who you are on the inside. For you have the power to determine your fate. No matter what that crazy bitch thinks.

  I can't say if that’s the end or not. There are, after all, the Krackens and the pirates.

  Afterword

  To check out all the side-splitting books in the Magic and Mayhem Universe, go to https://magicandmayhemuniverse.com/

  And if you would like to read the book that started all the madness, Switching Hour is FREE!

  https://robynpeterman.com/switching-hour/

  About the Author

  J. Thompson is a USA Today Bestselling Author of Paranormal and Sci-Fi romance and a major fan of procrastination. Jenn has always loved history, so using her wild imagination and tying in her love of history and fantasy, she began a new adventure into the world of words. Weaving romance into old worlds and giving life to her mythical inspired novels is what Jenn does best, and she has a lot more planned in the future, including some hard assed demons.

  When she isn't bent over her laptop with the crazy writer eyes, you will find Jenn making jewellery, cross stitching and it doing paper crafts. Jenn is also an avid lover old skool skills like archery and sword fighting.

  Maybe a touch nuts Jenn is an author who believes wholeheartedly that people are good and that everyone deserves romance - even Hades.

  * * *

  Connect with Jenn online at:

  www.Soulmatenovels.com

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  Keep Up to date with Jenn’s Newsletter

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  Also by J Thompson

  Check out Jenn’s other Titles.

  * * *

  Paranormal/ Mythological Romance

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  Soulmate Series

  SoulKiss #1

  SoulFate #2

  SoulDeath #3

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  Trinity Series

  Ebony #1

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  Dark Desire Series

  Dark Confusion #1

  Dark Need #2

  Dark Possession #3-coming soon

  * * *

  Paranormal Security Service

  Guarding Katelyn #1

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  Tears of Havoc Series

  Cupid’s Essence #1

  * * *

  Co-Authored

  Dragon fire & Phoenix Ash with Mina Carter

  * * *

  Magic and Mayhem universe

  Kracken’s Hole Book #1 -Witch out of Water

  Kracken’s Hole Book #2- Tail of a witch

  Kraken’s Hole Book #3-Witch out of Luck

  * * *

  Science Fiction Romance

  Betraying Ko’ran #1

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  Stand Alone’s

  Exercise in Love

 

 

 
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