“Spooning with an alpha.” Tulip sighed and gave him alook. “What ever happened to my shy little Billy?”
“I’ve never been shy!” Billy defended himself, indignant. “I’ve had sex with eight different people!”
Tulip raised her eyebrow like she was less than impressed by the number. Billy harrumphed. Screw her. He was perfectly happy with the level of his experience, and with the prospect of increasing it.
“I know. I’m just teasing you.” Tulip grinned and bumped his shoulder. “You’re a regular beast in the sack, I’m sure.”
“Ugh, screw you,” Billy said, but with a smile. “Why don’t we take this bike down to the packaging room. Maybe when we get back they’ll have fixed the problem.”
He knew that he was acting out of character with Nick, and that this was Tulip’s very unsubtle way of making sure he was okay and that he wasn’t screwing it up. It was sweet, if you knew her and how her twisted mind worked.
“Might as well,” Tulip said. She took the bike by the handle and rolled it away from the table, leaving Billy to scramble after her.
Watching the frustrated and frazzled elves all around him, quite a few of them sending murderous glances his way likehewas the reason the magic was failing, Billy hoped Nick could fix whatever was wrong,and quickly!
Nick was fucked. He had no idea why the elves were suddenly cut off from the castle magic.Hismagic was working just fine. Shifting from foot to foot, uncomfortable, he tried to think of something to say. Pat and the middle-aged elf accompanying him were staring, waiting with baited breath for Nick to fix the problem.
But Nick had no clue what the problem was, much less how to fix it.
“Maybe you could try calling the old Santa?” Pat said when the silence dragged on and it became painfully clear that Nick didn’t have a clue what to do. “He might know how to fix this.”
The older elf next to Pat nodded, as though this was the obvious next step. “It’s always good to consult with your elders.”
Nick clenched his fists, the older elf’s superior tone making him want to punch something. Hehatedlooking this incompetent and helpless, and he’d never felt more useless. There was nothing wrong with the magic that he could feel.Nothing.
And asking the old Santa—a beta—for help? The humiliation of it had Nick’s stomach twisted in knots.
Was this some sort of new Santa hazing?Nick considered it. If it were anyone but him, telling the new Santa that the magic was broken and watching him scramble to fix it would be hilarious.
It had better not be a prank. If it was, Nick was going to find every elf involved and beat them senseless. They’d be wishing for Krampus and his stick by the time Nick was through with them.
The expression on Nick’s face must have been scary, because it made both Pat and the older elf shrink back.
“How do I get in touch with the old Santa?” Nick asked through a clenched jaw. He knew he sounded murderous, but he didn’t care. He wasn’t going to make himself look like an idiot by outright asking the elves if they were pranking him, though from the looks on their faces he was now pretty sure that they weren’t.
“You could use a talking mirror,” the older elf said, speaking with a nervous tremor in his voice. “If the magic is still working for you, that is.”
“It is,” Nick ground out.
“The mirror works by rubbing the glass with the palm of your hand, just not too hard, while you think about the person you need to talk to.”
“And where can I find one of these mirrors?” Nick asked. Hewondered if his face was red. It felt like his face was red, his anger and humiliation threatening to bubble over.
“I’ll just go… get one for you,” the older elf said, walking backwards three steps, turning around with a stumble and pretty much running away from Nick as fast as he could. Nick was too upset to be even a little amused by the pompous elf’s nerves.
“Do you think the old Santa will be able to help?” he asked, turning to Pat.
“I hope so,” Pat said, offering no assurances. Nick crossed his arms and looked away, jaw clenched tight. He appreciated that Pat didn’t lie to him and offer false assurances, even though that’s kind of what he wanted right now.
It was a tense few minutes before the old elf came back, huffing, panting and wheezing as he thrust the small handheld mirror into Nick’s arms.
“Here you go,” he said, jumping back as though Nick was about to lean down and take a bite out of him. Nick resisted the impulse to snarl, just to see what the obnoxious little scaredy-cat would do.
But Nick needed to keep a lid on that particular brand of impulse. As the new Santa he could be intimidating and scary, but he wasn’t allowed to be mean.
It was in the fucking rules, chapter nine:How to be Nice to Your Elves, A Guide.
Nick stepped out of the hall and back into his apartment. Neither Pat nor the older elf followed him, and Nick used his boot to close the door behind him.
