Two new apprentices. One charming engineer. A potential battle with both sea serpents and evil sorcerers.

When Sorcerer Adrien Danvers takes on a job that leads him into the slums of England, he never imagined he'd end up with not one, but two apprentices. Despite his doubts in himself, he's the only chance the two pre-teens have to escape their hellish life.

When Sir Hugh Quartermain contracts him to deal with the mysterious circumstances surrounding his home on the Isle of Man, Adrien finds the more time they spend together, the more his walls come down around the beguiling engineer-an unusual occurrence and a terrifying prospect.

But as it turns out, this case is about to take a turn-a battle with both beast and man, the ultimate test of Adrien's willingness to accept help. When he does, Hugh proves to be a fierce protector and friend, more so than Adrien could've ever bargained for, and he finds himself longing for something he shouldn't.

Falling for his new friend is not a complication Adrien needs. (His matchmaking apprentices disagree.)

Tags:
Magical AU, Adrien's way of dealing with bad days is to curse things, repeatedly, fortunately lots of targets keep presenting themselves, Hugh has precisely zero chill where Adrien is concerned, as people will learn the hard way, here we have Extremely Competent MCs because that is my jam, set after WWI, but no worries, I can't write angst to save my life, curses, magic, bit of mystery, apprentices are acquired, something of a slow burn, Hugh's a sweetie, right up until you endanger his boys, then he's your worst nightmare, man's a knight in multiple ways