Tail Of A Witch: Magic and Mayhem Universe (Kracken's Hole) Read online

  Tail of a Witch

  Krackens Hole Book 2

  J Thompson

  USA Today Bestselling Author

  Copyright © 2020 by J Thompson

  All rights reserved.

  No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, businesses, companies, events, or locales is coincidental.

  This book contains content that may not be suitable for young readers 17 and under.

  The Author of this Book has been granted permission by Robyn Peterman to use the copyrighted characters and/or worlds created by Robyn Peterman in this book. All copyright protection to the original characters and/or worlds of the Magic and Mayhem series is retained by Robyn Peterman.

  Created with Vellum

  Foreword

  Blast Off with us into the Magic and Mayhem Universe!

  I’m Robyn Peterman, the creator of the Magic and Mayhem Series and I’d like to invite you to my Magic and Mayhem Universe.

  What is the Magic and Mayhem Universe, you may ask?

  Well, let me explain…

  It’s basically authorized fan fiction written by some amazing authors that I stalked and blackmailed! KIDDING! I was lucky and blessed to have some brilliant authors say yes! They have written brand new stories using my world and some of my characters. And let me tell you…the results are hilarious!

  So here it is! Blast off with us into the hilarious Magic and Mayhem Universe. Side splitting books by fantabulous authors! Check out each and every one. You will laugh your way to a magical HEA!

  For all the stories, go to https://magicandmayhemuniverse.com/ . Grab your copy today!

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

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

  Contents

  About the Book

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Epilogue

  Afterword

  About the Author

  About the Book

  Tail of a Witch- Kracken’s Hole book 2-Magic and Mayhem Universe

  Cursed.

  Arietta was convinced that’s what it was.

  Or at the very least, someone had her voodoo doll and was having the time of their life with it.

  With a family she never knew, and a familiar that needs major therapy, can Arietta learn to trust again? Or will the curse win—and take more than her soul with it?

  1

  Arietta had a tail. A goddamn scaly, wet tail.

  She blew the hair from her face, looked down at her recently acquired appendage, and flexed it. She watched as the black scales glistened in the firelight of the cave. This shit was not fairy-tale-like at all. In fact, it weighed a bloody ton. She could barely move from her perch on the submerged platform in the cave that held Merlin’s Gate. Graceful, she was not. In fact, she was close to resembling a manatee. In mating season. After a boatload of cake.

  She flicked it again and grunted as she struggled once again to lift the mass, not fighting the sigh that erupted from her mouth when she got splashed in the face.

  “Well, this isn’t annoying at all,” she complained out loud, and was answered with a louder splash. Dave, the smallest of the krackens, had come to keep her company. A lone tentacle lifted and patted her head.

  “I know, I know. Thank you, sweetie.” She smiled at him. To some, he would be a monster, yet to her he was a cute, tentacled creature. He had become a close friend in the past few weeks.

  After her father had thrown her away—literally—she had been taken in by the Guardian of Kracken’s Hole, Maeve Moonchild, who, as fate would have it, was also her cousin. Their mothers had vanished at the same time, leaving their children with no clue as to their heritage. Maeve was only recently made aware of hers and had used her powers to defeat Arietta's father, who, with his warlock love, had been trying to take over the Gate. Was Arietta upset about her father’s death… Nope, not at all. In fact, she held no hard feelings. How could she, when her own father had seen fit to use her as an experiment, in the hope he could drain her of her witch blood, but instead had cursed her to an existence that was slowly killing her?

  Her body would shift from siren to human with no warning, leaving her up creek if she was underwater or up creek without a paddle if she was on land. So, she had little choice but to stay in her new home underneath Kracken’s Hollow. Wallowing in her own self-pity.

  “Come on, woman, turn that frown upside down.” The voice of Arietta's personal pain in the arse drew her thoughts away from her huge... appendage, to the ginger tom cat that sauntered into the cavern. His tail ramrod straight in the air and the bell on his neck that gave off a tinkle, he was the epitome of indifference.

  “Alright for you. You get to sleep in a nice soft bed and stay dry,” Arietta stated firmly, before she started her next round of coughing. Most people who had a little cough could go get a throat sweet or a cough mixture. That wouldn’t help Arietta, not when her lungs were battling with her flux in form. It was one of the reasons Arietta knew her time was coming to an end.

  “Don’t be a Debbie downer. Maeve is combing through the books she has and has been using the World Paranormal Web. We will figure it out,” Grundlepus stated quite confidently as he parked his furry bottom on the step that led to her current reclined position.

  “Are you always this upbeat?” she asked, wishing she could feel a slither of his hope.

  “Always. As Aunt Hilda always said, “When you do not know what you are doing and what you are doing is the best.”

  Arietta blinked. “What the hell does that mean?”

  “Not the bloody foggiest. That woman was so crazy her imaginary friend took out a restraining order.” Grundlepus sighed. “Come on, Arietta, you need to keep your chin up.”

  “Easier said than done,” Arietta murmured, and then groaned as the pain of an imminent change swept over her. Her body convulsed as her tail vanished and changed back into human legs. Arietta moaned. “That shit hurts,” she panted, and grabbed the towel that was set on the ledge for her. She had little choice but to stay where she was. The body flux could and would happen at any time, leaving her screwed either way.

  “Maybe don’t fight it,” Grundlepus suggested, earning a glare from Arietta. “Or maybe I will shut up.”

  “Yeah, that might be best,” Arietta fired back, and pulled the towel around her. What she wouldn't give to get dry, snuggle in her comfy fleecy pyjamas, and get into an actual bed. Instead she was stuck on a watery ledge, and she didn't think her fingers would ever come back from being all pruney.

  “Grundlepus. You owe me a tenner—ARSE,” Binky shouted out as he flew through the door and into the cavern. The pigeon swooped low before landing next t
o the ginger cat. Arietta internally winced. Binky was the familiar of her cousin, Maeve. A pigeon of dubious origin, he had the mouth of a rugby player with the tact of a bull in a china shop. She wouldn't have minded the winged pain in the arse, but he was also best buddies with the damn cat that claimed to be her familiar. Not that she could remember ever being given one.

  Thick as thieves, when they were not bugging the shit out of her and telling her to keep her chin up, they were bickering like a married couple. Fighting over who had won the poker game—it was usually Denzel, also known as Kracken’s Hole’s very own ghost parrot. Arietta sighed and ignored them as they argued. Krackens, ghosts, pirates and talking animals, as well as growing a tail, was pushing her over her limit and into the big old hole of despair.

  Dave's tentacle appeared again, this time wrapping around her ankle gently and squeezing. A monster from legend, the kraken was as far from that as you could get. In fact, he was more like a puppy that just wanted lovies—wet, soppy ones but lovies all the same. Where he was cute and almost cuddly, Brutas was handsy. When she had been told that she could stay within the cavern, she had been handed a long stick and was told to poke Brutas with it should he get handsy. Arietta hadn't thought anything of it until later on. When trying to sleep, Brutas had in fact slapped her bottom with a tentacle. Her scream had sent the creature diving for the depths, and Grundlepus had laughed hard and said, “We told you so.”

  Her life had certainly taken a turn for the strange and complicated. But looking back at what her life had been, she could confirm she had never been happy. She had small snippets of memories of her mother—her eyes, her smile and the sound of her voice. Yet that was it. Her father had made sure there was never anything around the house that had belonged or was even touched by her mother. Hell, she was lucky she had been allowed to stay.

  He tolerated her. She knew that now. He kept her around for one reason, and that was so he could use her in his pathetic power grab. Only it had achieved nothing other than getting himself killed and screwing her life up well and truly.

  “Arietta, are you listening? I swear, these witches have the attention span of a pissed-up parrot,” Grundlepus stated with a sigh, and fixed Arietta with a hard stare. “Concentrate, woman.”

  Feeling more than a little childish, Arietta stuck out her tongue at the obviously frustrated ginger cat. What did he expect her to do? She couldn't go anywhere, couldn't do anything. So, before the cat had a chance to chew her ear off, she went to the only place she could. Taking a deep breath, she threw herself into the pool, diving under the water and letting the change take over again, giving her a tail. She still couldn't breathe under the water, but she could swim about and resurface. Hopefully by then, Grundlepus would have taken the hint.

  She knew there was no hope. She had accepted her fate. Now she just needed everyone else to as well.

  2

  Maeve had been following Binky down the passageway towards Merlin’s Gate to speak to her cousin, but she had stopped before the doorway when she heard Arietta's voice. With all of her powers, Maeve felt helpless. What was the point, when she couldn't even help family, and the only family she had at that? Arietta was dying. Maeve knew that, and she also knew that Arietta had accepted the fact.

  And didn’t that just suck krackens’ balls.

  Hearing the splash of water, Maeve knew Arietta had had enough of Grundlepus and his helpful yet annoying as hell speeches. He meant well, but by the goddess could he talk. He was worse than Binky after a pint. And that was saying something, considering her high-maintenance pigeon had Tourette’s.

  Since Arietta had been at Kracken’s Hole, and even though her situation wasn’t ideal, Maeve and Arietta had grown closer. They had talked constantly of what they remembered of their mothers. Which hadn’t been much. But that had only strengthened their family bond. They may be cousins by blood, but they had bonded like sisters. Maeve was determined to do what she could for Arietta, but she couldn’t do it alone. She needed help.

  Maeve’s eyes snapped down to the ginger tom cat, whose wail was now filling the cavern and making her right eye twitch.

  “Why won't she listen to me? Doesn't she care that she's going to leave me?” Grundlepus whined.

  “There, there—TWAT,” Binky answered, although there was no emotion in the bird's voice.

  Stepping into the cavern, Maeve picked her way over the rocks as carefully as she was able with an armful of box. Like before when she had arrived in Kracken’s Hole, a box had appeared, a gift from her godmother. Now one had appeared for Arietta. Maeve had spent many an evening looking at that picture of the four women. It had not taken long to realise it wasn't just Maeve’s fate on the line. Her cousins, whom she had never known about before, were about to get a wake-up call from Baba Yaga, and if they were lucky, she might forgo the glitter, though she highly doubted it. Glitter was that woman's calling card.

  But that also meant there was another cousin out there, somewhere in the big bad world, but Maeve couldn't focus on that. Not yet. Instead, she had a pissed off mermaid and a grumpy ginger tom to deal with. And where had her backup gone? Binky was of no use, and her very own pirate, Will, had decided to bugger off and meet up with the boys at the Ferret’s Mote. The annual reunion of the Battle of the Codpiece was well in swing, with ghost ships rocking up left, right and centre.

  Being the newbie to Kracken’s Hole, she had been completely new to the idea of a “pirate battle reunion”. But her eyes had been opened, and she’d seen things that she would need a combination of eye bleach and therapy to recover from. Preferably with puppets.

  Slowly, Maeve placed the small, hand-carved wooden box on the floor of the cavern, right next to the submerged platform. This box, just like the one Maeve received, had appeared out of nowhere, with a generous amount of glitter to accompany it. There was nothing worse than magically enforced glitter. It got into all the cracks and crannies and crevices that glitter really shouldn't go.

  Both the familiars had gone silent on her approach. Both sets of eyes, one feline, the other slightly boss-eyed, watched her. A part of Maeve's heart twinged at the sight of Binky without his glasses. The adorable little bastard looked so cute with one eye looking at her and the other doing its own thing.

  “Come on, you two. It’s best we give Arietta some time alone.”

  “But—but,” Grundlepus started to argue.

  “No buts. I sodding hate buts,” she answered back firmly.

  “You do like butts. You like Will’s butt—TWAT,” Binky blurted out.

  Maeve glared at her familiar. “Not now, Binky.”

  Grundlepus started to cry, making Maeve roll her eyes.

  “Leave Arietta be and don't push her. She's already gone through enough,” Maeve explained.

  “But…” Grundlepus started again, making Maeve sigh loudly.

  “Grundlepus, all your pushing will do is piss her off. You are supposed to be helping her, not making her want to drown you.”

  More tears as the ginger cat started to hiccup. Ugly crying at its best, including the snot.

  “Oh, fucking hell—ARSE,” Binky cried out. “You’ve gone and done it now, Maevey. You know how emotional he is. Hell, he cries at anything.”

  Maeve took in a deep breath and then released it slowly, only the sigh she tried to keep in, escaped. This one came from deep down inside her, from deep in her soul that spoke loudly of fatigue. Maeve could handle wars against those trying to get to Merlin's Gate, but what really fried her brain was dealing with high-maintenance, overdramatic familiars, especially pussies.

  “Come on, boys, let's go upstairs. I checked earlier and I've got the stuff in to make a trifle.”

  Binky's head shot up, his eye—the straight one—locking on her.

  “With strawberry jelly?”

  Maeve chuckled and nodded. “Yes, with strawberry jelly, fresh cream and rainbow sprinkles.”

  This time, both of Binky's eyes rolled, and he let out a moan tha
t was borderline explicit and something a familiar should not make. It made Maeve pull a face. Only it was Grundlepus who answered. His tears had stopped, yet the snot had not.

  “You would make that for me?” he asked, followed by a hiccup.

  “Not just for you.” Binky coughed. “TWAT. More likely for me—you know, I am her familiar.”

  Grundlepus scowled at Binky, the tears drying up in his green eyes, which were now locked on Binky. He gave the pigeon that look, the one cats gave when about to pounce on prey. Minus the bum wiggle.

  “Boys,” Maeve stated, hoping to stop the epic smackdown that was about to take place. Although… Maeve thought it would be fun to watch. Yes, Grundlepus had claws and was a natural predator, but Binky had street smarts. After all, he grew up with her in the UK’s scariest coven. “It’s for us all, and whist I make it, and as long as you behave, I will tell you of my plan.”

  One moment the ginger tom was sobbing, then angry, and now he looked pleased as punch. Nodding to her, he got to his paws and sauntered past her, tail ramrod straight in the air, giving everyone, krackens included, an unobstructed view of his arsehole.

  Rolling her eyes, she waited for Binky to take his spot on her shoulder before she followed the cat.

  “ARSEHOLE,” Binky shouted.

  “That it is,” Maeve sighed in agreement.

  3

  Arietta watched from what was now her hidey rock—a big piece of stone that had a great seat and was perfect for the art of hiding from people and familiars. Her eyes had narrowed as her cousin placed a hand-carved box upon the floor before she had basically done battle with the two familiars. She adored Maeve, and not just because she was the only family she had or the fact they had bonded in the short time she had been a guest in the cave. Her cousin was sweet, kind and hilarious. It was thanks to Maeve that Arietta hadn’t gone over the edge of madness and despair. But what made Maeve worth her weight in gold was her “no fucks given” attitude towards the familiars. The girl had skills, and it wasn’t just with magic.