Page 29 of Boundless Magic

“That’s my vicious darling! Take no prisoners, babe.” He returned her grin with one of his own. “I’ll be back as soon as I deliver Chloe to Knox and your family.”

“See you?—”

The sunlit sky around them darkened to night, lightened, then darkened again.

“What the—” Redneck Keaton’s exclamation was aborted as the world around them continually flickered from day to night.

“What is happening right now?” Autumn muttered.

Static electricity hung heavily in the air and sounded like the popular rice cereal with its snap, crackle, and pop once milk was added to the bowl.

“It’s the Goddess trying to break through,” Gothica Spring told them. “Periodically, she tries, but she’s been cut off for years.”

“You can’t summon the Goddess?” Keaton asked incredulously. “Like,ever?”

She shook her head in response. “I’ve never seen it this intense before. She mustreallywant to come through.”

Lightning struck an outcrop of rocks about nine yards from where they stood, causing Chloe and Rachel to scream. Keaton’s nerves were fried in the process, making him jumpy and eager to avoid another display of supernatural power. He drew his daughter and Rachel closer to him and shot the Thorne women a worried glance.

“I’m not a fan of the fireworks, and neither are the girls.”

“I say we give the Goddess help,” Autumn replied with a thoughtful look at the blackened boulders. “Gothica? Any ideas on how we can manage it?”

“Not really.”

“My wife’ll know,” Redneck Keaton said softly, his eyes still locked on the strike zone. “Her family’s the one who sealed off the deities’ abilities to come here.”

“What?”Unsure if he’d heard correctly or was in a bizzaro dream, Keaton shook his head. “Seriously, man. I think you need to repeat what you said. If it’s what I think it is, we’re going to need an explanation.”

The other guy focused his attention on Spring. “You were the reason, girl. When you called on the dark arts, the gods wanted to strip you of your magic. Autumn was adamant that wasn’t going to happen.”

“You’re blaming this onme?” Gothica’s expression was pure outrage. “I didn’t ask her to do that. I didn’t even know she did.”

“Thornes protect their own.That, you should know, or you would if you’d ever hung around.”

The guy didn’t sound happy about the fact, and Keaton shared a look with his wife. In her golden-amber eyes, he could see she didn’t love this conversation, either.

Pasting on a determined expression, she approached Keaton’s unkempt clone. “RK?—”

“Stop calling me RK, woman! My name’s Keaton.”

“RK is fitting.RedneckKeaton,” Gothica stressed not so helpfully.

Other than a red face and a slight downturn of his mouth, RK didn’t react. Seemed the man had a healthy respect for the Thornes and what they could do.

“I’m sorry, Keaton,” Autumn said softly to RK. “In my mind, it’s the best way to tell you apart. Also, I suggest you get rid of the wife-beater shirts if you want to be taken seriously.”

He surprised them when he laughed. “At least I wasn’t dubbed PK.”

Keaton knew he was a fool for asking. “PK?”

“Puss”—the man glanced at the girls as if registering their presence for the first time—“Uh, Prissy Keaton.”

“This Priss just kicked your ass, so I’d be careful,” Keaton warned in a growly voice.

“You got lucky. I’m sober now.”

“Not hardly.”

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