Page 56 of Resurgence of the Pack

As well as ever,he said, a trace of amusement in his voice.

Wonderful. Are you willing to undergo a spot of time travel?

Of course, Your Majesty. I am here to serve and I am willing to serve, as I have ever been.His words seemed a little odd to me but I waved them off as him being a product of another era.

George arrived to take over Greg’s position at the security desk. ‘Can you arrange for these letters to be posted?’ I asked and handed him the mail. ‘Recorded delivery, please.’

‘Of course, my Queen.’ George all-but bowed to me. Since saving the life of his son, Noah, he’d been another wolf that bordered on worshipping me. It was uncomfortable.

Be careful what you wish for. All I’d wanted when I’d joined the pack was their devotion, but now I had it I wished we could go back to the irreverence they’d shown before. But I couldn’t go back; like everyone on this earth, I could only go forward – unless I used the Third, in which case time was my bitch.

‘Let’s rock androll,’ Greg said.

Him, too? You are all obsessed with geology, Esme groused, making me giggle. I could always rely on her to lighten the mood when I was busy crapping myself with anxiety.

It was time to mess with time; here’s hoping we didn’t fuck anything up beyond recognition.

Maxwell had closed Rosie’s. Last time I’d wandered into the Third realm, I’d been with Grandy Sandy and he had been the one focused on getting us to the right time and place. Now it was all on me.

Maxwell looked sombre. ‘You’re sure you need to do this?’ He studied us. Greg and I were dressed in dark clothes, as close to a Victorian style as we’d been able to find, albeit our clothes had zips.

I grimaced. ‘I can’t think of any other way of identifying a thief when the theft took place hundreds of years ago, can you?’

‘More than likely the orb will have changed hands at least a couple of times since then. Many would want that sort of artefact.’

I shook my head. ‘Nina closed it down. It’s inert, nothing more than a pretty trinket, so it’s notgoing to fetch hundreds of thousands on the black market. The thief probably had difficulty flogging it in its closed state. But even if theydidmanage to sell it, it gives me a starting place. At the moment I’m staring into the abyss of the whole of the Other realm and the orb could be literally anywhere. Finding the original thief at least gives me a lead.’

Maxwell grimaced but nodded reluctantly. ‘Okay.’ He licked dry lips. ‘As you know, the portal isn’t supposed to connect to the Third so what I’m about to do is highly illegal. The longer it is connected, the more likely it is that the Connection will detect the unauthorised portal and come knocking. When I open it, go through quickly.’

He leaned against the unobtrusive door that served as the portal to the Common realm. When he laid his hand flat against it, his fire magic ran along it and it caught light, glowing with an iridescent magic. Flames in shades of purple and blue danced along the door and then faded until there wasn’t a mark to be seen.

‘Hurry,’ Maxwell said tightly.

I grabbed Greg’s hand, thought the date firmly – 31stDecember 1845 – then opened the door and we strode through together.

Chapter 28

Alessandro Alessandro – Ali – looked the same age, but his eyes were older and colder. ‘Hi, Grandad,’ I greeted the portal keeper.

He folded his arms, clearly in a huff. ‘You turned me into a vampyr.’

‘Nope! Not me. That was all you,’ I said emphatically. I needed him on side. ‘I helped save you and I helped you keep your fire magic. You’re welcome.’

His jaw worked as he stared at me. ‘Who’s this?’ he asked finally, gesturing to Greg.

‘Oh, this is Greg Manners. Your future grandson-in-law.’

‘Nice to meet you,’ Greg said loudly. ‘Again,’ he muttered.

I looked around the rustic room. Ali was alone. ‘You’re on portal duty, huh?’

‘It’s New Year’s Eve and everyone else is getting ready forthe celebrations. When the portal connected to the Third, I knew the chances were good that it would be you strolling through.’

‘And you were right. Give the man a cookie,’ I replied irreverently. My expression sobered. ‘Listen, Ali, I need your help.’

‘Of course you do,’ he said gruffly, his hard expression not changing an iota.

‘We’re family,’ I entreated.

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