Page 9 of Boundless Magic

She nodded and met LJ’s sad sapphire eyes.

“I’m sorry for your loss,” she said in a choked voice. Knowing her uncle could take care of himself, she bolted. Her need to find her children pounded through her with every step she ran. If she didn’t get to them soon, she’d go insane.

6

Alastair walked beside his rough-and-ready counterpart from the alternate dimension, and the surreal nature of the moment wasn’t lost on him.

No Rorie.

He shoved aside the urge to question his companion about Angelica and concentrated on the immediate—returning Jolly and Chloe to their rightful place and time. His primary concern was the fact Isis had not responded to his summons. Rarely did that happen unless she was irate over one of his misdeeds, which of late, had been none.

“I can feel ya thinking, Al,” the guy said with a grimace. “It’s like a fucking buzzing in my brain.”

Alastair fisted his hand.

“Ya wanting to punch me?”

“Hardly. If I were to attack, it would be with magic. I’m not likely to resort to barbaric brawls in the middle of the forest.”

“Then what’s with the fist?” LJ—Dear Goddess! Was he really mentally calling the man that?—paused his forward movement and gestured to Alastair’s curled hand.

“In this world, I’m cursed. If I were to swear, it conjures an influx of pests.”

The other man’s guffaws were loud and oddly contagious, nothing like his own rusty laughter. “Are ya having me on, right now?”

“Deadly serious, I’m afraid. Would you care for me to swear and prove it?”

“Nah.” Sobering, LJ began walking again. “I’ll take your word for it.” With a curious side glance, he asked, “What did you do to deserve it?”

“I ventured into the Otherworld without an invitation, then snuck back out.”

“Why the hell would you do that?”

After a brief hesitation to listen for locusts and hearing none, Alastair said, “As you stated earlier, Thornes only love once. Rorie was there, and I intended to bring her home.”

“Not Angelica,” LJ stated flatly. “Did you ever meet her?”

“No,” Alastair said. He had briefly known a woman named Angelica, but he wasn’t positive they were discussing the same person. It was pointless to explain it was during his imprisonment. He’d experienced a fondness for the woman, but she’d died because he’d made the mistake of casting her a reassuring smile in the presence of his greatest enemies, Zhu Lin and Victor Salinger. Instead, Alastair would silently carry the guilt to his grave with the rest of his sins.

“You’re lying.”

Surprised, he jerked to a halt. Meeting his own assessing gaze was disturbing on multiple levels, and a fire burned behind LJ’s stare. The man was angry about his falsehood.

“I didn’t want to cause you unnecessary hurt,” Alastair stated coolly. Going with the assumption that both women were the same, he said, “Angelica never survived the Witches’ War. I’m sorry.”

The man sucked in a breath, and perhaps it would’ve been better had Alastair punched him in the face, because LJ’s shock was great, as was the wave of angst coming from him.

“Please, rein your emotions in,” Alastair gritted out. Finally, he had an idea of the pain others received whenever he lost control of his anger.

“Sorry. I just…” Shaking his head, LJ stalked off in Autumn’s wake.

As Alastair strolled at a more sedate pace, keeping his twin in sight, he played the problem over in his mind. The only reason Isis wouldn’t respond was because she couldn’t. Somehow, the children had caused a cosmic shift. If it wasn’t righted soon, chaos would ensue.

With a dark frown pulling at his brows, LJ stormed back to him. “I think those kids of Tums caused a cosmic shift.”

A bark of laughter escaped Alastair.

“What’s so goddamned funny?”

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