The Nightshade Guild: Mage You Look

by Abigail Kade

  We walked up to the lavish entrance to the Inn, hand in hand, and all of a sudden, there was a luggage cart being pushed behind us loaded down with top-of-the-line luggage. Henry went right up to the desk and took charge.

  “Good afternoon, George. It’s fantastic to see you again. Is our suite ready?”

  The man behind the desk looked perplexed for a moment, but then a serene look smoothed his features, and he jumped to work.

  “Absolutely, Mr. Morningstar. We have the suite already prepared, and dinner ordered just as you requested. The portable crib is already in the second bedroom for you. Just call down when you’re settled and ready for dinner to be served. I understand you’ll be working in the room most of this week and don’t want to be disturbed, so please don’t hesitate to let us know if there’s anything we can do to make your stay easier.”

  Henry took the keys and shook the man’s hand.

  “Thank you so much, George, for all your help. I’ll be sure and let you know if we need anything.”

  We left the front desk and took the elevators to our floor. Upon entering the suite, I was shocked at the opulence. Honestly, I was shocked at everything that had just happened. Where had the luggage come from? Who was paying for all this? What the hell was going on here? But the biggest question in my mind above all else?

  What is Henry, and can I truly trust him?

  None of these thoughts were allowed to exit my mouth…yet. We had company. But I couldn’t just remain silent. That might raise suspicion.

  “Henry, this is too nice.”

  Smiling in the direction of the bellman bringing in the luggage, Henry pulled my head down and gave me a long deep kiss, before patting me on the ass and replying, “Nothing is too good for you and our baby girl, sweetheart.”

  Blushing at the endearment and the reaction my cock gave to having my ass playfully smacked, I walked down the short hallway to look at the bedrooms and calm the hell down. One bedroom had a richly appointed king bed that looked solid with its heavy posts and carved decorations. The thick comforter in deep emerald green looked so heavenly that I wanted to dive in and sleep a month. The next bedroom had two full beds but also had a beautiful wooden crib for our princess. The crib had the same sage and silver brocade blankets as the beds. They thought of everything here.

  The bathrooms were covered in marble and luxury, as was the rest of the suite. Dark cherry wood, overstuffed velvet sofas, and carpet deeper than the lushest moss invited me to sink in and never leave.

  Henry passed the baby to me so he could see the bellman out. I settled on one of the sofas with Ameria, then let her down to explore. In a few minutes, Henry joined us with a bottle in one hand and her puppy in the other. “Come here, sweet girl, time for your bottle.”

  She crawled up to him on the sofa opposite from me, eagerly grabbed her bottle, then picked up her puppy with the other hand. Henry picked her up and settled her in the crook of his arm to drink. It was such an easy action, not practiced or forced. He was so natural with her. How could he mean to be a threat to us?

  We were all quiet as she eagerly finished her bottle. Drowsy eyes fought to stay open, but the long day caught up to her, and she dropped off to sleep. I didn’t know how much she knew or would remember from earlier today, but the fact that she was sleeping was a good sign. At last, Henry broke the silence as he shifted the baby so he could stand up.

  “I called down while I was getting the bottle ready and ordered dinner to be brought up. I’ll get her settled if you can answer the door for me. There’s a few dollars on the hall table for the server.”

  He thought of everything, didn’t he?

  “I could pay the tip myself, you know.” I couldn’t help the grumble in my voice, and he definitely noticed.

  “Don’t be that way, Finn. I know your net worth. You could buy the server a house if you wanted. The money I left on the table is special. Trust me?”

  That was the question of the day, wasn’t it? He had gone down the hall, so I didn’t yell my answer in case I woke the baby. She needed the sleep, and we absolutely needed this time to talk. The knock on the door came quickly, and the next few minutes involved the server getting the huge spread of food placed on the actual dining table behind the sitting area. Once the server placed everything to his satisfaction, I handed him the bills on the side table and saw him out.

  Once Henry returned, I saw he’d changed into some sweatpants and a t-shirt that was entirely too tight to be a mistake. The gray sweatpants showed everything he was packing as he walked down the hall to take his seat at the table. I had never noticed how muscular he was until this moment. The tee stretched over his chest and arms, enhancing his pecks and biceps enough to make my mouth water. I’d never admit it, though. I’d blame it on the food. I was so hungry, but I couldn’t admit I was hungry for him. Not yet. I needed answers first.

  “If you want to change, all your clothes are in the bedroom. I took a quick shower. I’m sure you can use one too after all that walking and, you know, Dark Fae killing this morning. I’ll keep the food warm for us.”

  A shower sounded heavenly. Whereas a minute before, I’d wanted answers above everything else. Knowing I had a shower now, that was my first priority.

  “Yeah, I’ll go get cleaned up and change. I won’t be long.”

  Walking right up to Henry, I tucked my forefinger under his chin and lifted his head until his gaze could meet mine.

  “When I get back, I want answers, Henry. I need to know what’s going on.”

  I dropped a chaste kiss on his forehead and whispered, “I want to trust you.”

  Having said all I could say, I turned to get a shower and change. I wanted to be comfortable and ready for whatever he was about to say.

  Chapter 10

  Henry

  Crap, crap, crap!

  Feeling Finn’s breath on my skin and hearing the plea in his voice when he said he wanted to trust me almost brought me to my knees. I waited until he was out of sight before I dropped heavily into the dining chair, brought both elbows onto the table, and let my head fall into my hands. Combing my fingers through my hair had always been my stress maneuver. I didn’t get headaches or any physical aches, for that matter, but the repeated action was soothing nonetheless.

  What was I going to do? I had to explain this just right so he’d believe me and trust me. Never had it been more important to me for someone other than my family to trust me. I couldn’t understand why it felt so monumental this time, but it very much was. I could feel it in my every pore.

  Finn needed to trust me, or everything in this situation would go sideways. I hoped he was right about this place being safe. I could have protected this entire place with some effort, but I had already done too much today. My powers weren’t allowed in this realm. It didn’t mean some of us didn’t skirt the rules a bit here and there, but overall, we weren’t supposed to interfere without permission. I absolutely did NOT have permission to facilitate the extinction of two Dark Fae today.

  “Fuck, fuck, fuck!”

  I knew so many humans received comfort from certain words, and my outburst actually did make me feel better. That was until Finn returned, startling me out of my pity party. His large body leaned down from behind me, enveloping me in his strong arms.

  “As much as I want that to happen, Henry, I need to know the truth before we go any further and I finally get to fuck you, don’t you think?”

  My breath hitched, and he squeezed me tighter. He had the sleeves of a long sleeve navy tee pushed up, so I could see the freckles and dusting of red hair over his strong forearms crossed over my chest. I was a sucker for wrists, and his were thick and delicious. I’d never seen him with sleeves up before, and I was shocked to find he wore bracelets on both arms. At least ten or more adorned each thick forearm in silver, gold, braided leather, and copper. Some had gemstones, and others had what looked like charms or leaves and flowers. The sleeves pushed up, bracelets covering his strong arms and wris
ts, all of those were my secret aphrodisiac. I wanted to turn in my chair and kiss him right this second, but I knew he was right.

  My elbows were still propped on the table, so his arms had surrounded my upper body, arms and all. I was trapped but didn’t feel unsafe. I relaxed into his hold and leaned my head back onto his chest with a heavy sigh.

  “I’ll tell you everything you want to know, Finn. It’ll be a relief not to have to keep it a secret anymore. But can we do it while we eat?”

  I felt more than I heard Finn’s rumble of amusement before he stepped back and took the seat next to me, where his plate was already waiting.

  “I think dinner is a fantastic idea. Let’s eat, and you can begin wherever you think is a good place to start.”

  I lifted the lid of the cloche covering my plate and savored the delicious smells of the potato soup I had ordered for us to start. Cheese and bacon were the food of the gods, but on potato soup, they were nirvana. I took a huge spoonful and gulped it down for courage as I began my tale.

  “How familiar are you with ancient Mesopotamia?”

  Finn nearly choked on his soup, then had to take a huge swig of his water before clearing his throat and answering, “Jesus, are you serious?”

  “It’s way before Jesus, Finn, and yes, I’m absolutely serious.”

  Seeing the firm determination in my face, he sobered. “Not much, to be honest.”

  I nodded, then asked, “Are you familiar with the story of Gilgamesh?”

  Finn aspirated on another mouthful. “Uh.” He coughed and tried again. “Uh, yeah. That’s the one with the flood in it, right?”

  “Close enough, I guess. I won’t go into the whole thing, but Gilgamesh was a king who wanted to live forever. He lost what history calls his best friend and brother in arms Enkidu. He mourned deeply at his loss. Friend, my ass, between you and me, Enkidu was his lover that he lost tragically. History has a way of glossing over same-sex relationships throughout the millennia. But that’s beside the point. The point is that Gilgamesh didn’t want to die. He wanted the immortality of the gods. He learned that only one human had ever been granted immortality. His name was Utnapishtim, and he had been the man who the gods told to build a large boat and save his family and the animals of the land before the great flood.”

  Finn had quit eating and just stared enthralled by what I was telling him.

  “You mean to tell me that you’re talking about the great flood? Like the Christian Noah flood?”

  “That’s exactly what I’m talking about.” I took a bite of my soup, but it had gone cold as I talked. I set it aside and did the same for Finn, then reached across the table to get the plates with our entrees, but Finn raised a hand to my upper arm to stop me.

  “I can’t eat right now. Maybe after, okay?”

  Placing my own hand over his, I gave him a squeeze and sat back down. I had started at a good place, I thought, but the whole story needed context. So, I started again.

  “Okay, let me go back further.”

  Poor Finn had just taken a sip of his water, and this time did a spit-take onto the table.

  “Further than the freaking flood?”

  I just nodded and continued. “When time began, there was the all-powerful spirit. They held the power of creation and destruction. Those beings who served the spirit faithfully were allowed to stay on high in the presence of this spirit. This spirit was beneficent but also easy to displease. Once the spirit had created the earthly realm, the servants who displeased the spirit were forced out of their presence and onto this new plane of existence. They thrived in this place for millennia, content in their existence, until the spirit decided to create humans. The humans were allowed to live in the same place the unfavored servants had always lived. One of them was not happy about this fact and plotted to have them also fall into disfavor. I’m sure you know that story.”

  Finn had placed an elbow on the table and rested his chin in his palm in undivided attention while I talked. When I addressed him, he blinked for a second before answering, “You mean the story of Adam and Eve in the garden of Eden?”

  “Yep, that’s the one. Anyway, the one who possessed the snake and got them kicked out of the garden was also banished. Many of the servants in the garden were pissed that the spirit had taken the side of these humans and punished him for wanting to preserve his home. When he was banished, they followed, and a war broke out. Those who followed Satan were banished forever. But there were many unfavored who didn’t join that rebellion. They stayed and sometimes visited the weaker and helpless humans as they made their way in this harsh world the spirit had punished them with.”

  “Is that where the Nephilim come from?”

  I grinned and reached out to squeeze Finn’s loose hand in his lap in appreciation of him knowing about the Nephilim.

  “Yes! Exactly. The servants, or as some call them, angels, found their true mates among the humans after they evolved. And the children of their unions were called the Nephilim. They’re the ancestors of all the paranormals that exist here now. They’ve evolved over the many many centuries, been adulterated or tinkered with through time, but the races of the paranormals can all trace their origins back to these children of angels and men.”

  “Okay, so wait a second.” Finn sat back in his chair now and began stroking his beard in thought. “So, you’re saying I’m a descendant of one of these Nephilim?”

  Nodding to agree, I reached into the bread basket on the table and grabbed a roll. Finn was taking this much better than I thought, so I felt more relaxed. Breaking off a piece of the soft bread, I popped it in my mouth and chewed. After swallowing, I continued. “Yeah, absolutely.”

  Finn stroked his beard in silent thought for a moment, and I kept picking off pieces of the bread and quietly chewing, waiting for him to respond. After a minute, he looked up and asked, “But what does this have to do with you, and why did you mention an ancient Mesopotamian story?”

  This was the tricky part.

  “Okay, so the servants…”

  “You mean the angels?”

  “If you prefer, yes, the unfavored angels were living in peace between their home in what you call Eden and the earthly realm. But the spirit wasn’t done with them yet. They didn’t like the half-breeds as they were called. They didn’t like that they were flourishing when they should have been living in complete supplication to the spirit. So, the spirit sent a massive flood to wipe them all out and start again. The flood happened. It’s a fact. There are Greek stories, the story in Gilgamesh’s Epic and the most famous one about Noah. And when that flood happened, the unfavored knew that they had to find a way to make a place for themselves or they might be in danger of being eradicated one day too.”

  I paused for a second to give Finn a chance to catch up, and when he did, he grasped the thread of my narrative and ran with it.

  “Let me put this in language I’m more familiar with, okay?” I waved a hand and picked up another roll to munch while he talked it all out. “What you’re telling me is that in the beginning, before Adam and Eve, Eden was a place for fallen angels to live because they weren’t allowed in heaven anymore. But, wait, it said it was all created in seven days in the Genesis version.”

  I snorted and took a drink of my water to clear my throat. “Uh, yeah. It says all kinds of things that aren’t true. The Bible is the greatest book of fiction ever written in the human world, but even though some of it is based on fact, it’s still mostly fiction. The place you know of as Eden was there for millennia before the humans showed up. But having it fall into a week was a much more concise narrative for the story. I chalk it up to poetic license.”

  “And Satan was protecting his home from these interlopers?”

  “Yep, that’s the way I always saw it. Was he evil at the time? Who knows? Is he evil now? That depends on which side you ask. There’s always a reason beings do the things they do, and very rarely can it be explained by someone just being inherently evil.”


  Finn stopped stroking his beard. Which was a blessing because it was turning me on thinking about that beard when it was caressing my balls yesterday morning. Mmmm.

  Focus, idiot! You’re not done yet.

  “This is the most fascinating thing I’ve ever heard. Why doesn’t anyone know about this?”

  “Hardly anyone knows about us because we’ve been in hiding since the flood, pretty much. After the flood’s destruction, we knew we had to find a safe space for us to exist. The truly fallen who followed Satan were in Hell, the humans had earth, and the angels still serving the spirit were in the spiritual plane. Even the Nephilim children began carving out places for themselves to live and flourish on other planes of existence, just like your Druid ancestors created Galila. We did the same. We took all of our collective strength and moved our home to an alternate plane. You can only get in if you’re one of us—unless brought there by special permission. The only one I know of who was ever given that dispensation was Utnapishtim, who built the boat before the flood. Over the years, the place had many names, Nippur, Eridu, Nibiru, Eden, Arcadia, but I just call it home.”

  Finn stood suddenly from his chair and pulled me up from mine in a move that startled me and stoked the fires of my desire all at the same time. I loved that he wasn’t afraid of me after I told him the truth.

  “Henry, you’re an angel?”

  His gaze roamed my face. Then he moved closer so his face was so close to mine that I could feel his breath on my lips when I answered, “Yes, an angel, a Fallen One, whatever you want to call me.”

  “I’m in love with an angel.”

  The wonder in his voice thrilled me as much as his words warmed my heart. Finn’s eyes glazed, and he slowly grazed his lips over mine in a reverent supplication for me to respond. I kissed him slow and deep. The food on the table was completely forgotten. The danger and the world outside this room weren’t even a thought. Finn loved me! I had told him the truth, and he wasn’t pissed off or angry. He loved me!