Page 11 of Boundless Magic

LJ’s grin was pure sunshine. “But I’m the better looking of the two.”

“Debatable,” Uncle Alastair said as he shut the glass doors. “However, we don’t have time for this nonsense.” Holding up Jolly’s gift from the Goddess, he scowled. “We have an untethered Jolyon on the loose.”

“Ohmygod!” Autumn felt faint. The anklet had been designed to contain her son’s unimaginable power. There was no telling what havoc he could wreak in the world he currently inhabited.

“We have to get through that portal. Likenow!” Knox, who had been silent until then, stepped forward. “If he was strong enough to cause earthquakes as a baby, he’s strong enough to?—”

“Open a portal,” Alastair added grimly. “Perhaps young Chloe isn’t the culprit, after all.”

Autumn’s knees gave out, but Knox was there to catch her. “I have to tell Keaton.”

“I’ll do it. You sit down and process this for a minute,” he said gently. “We’ll get them back, Autumn. I promise.”

“You can’t promise that, Knox. You know you can’t.”

“I have a few tricks in my back pocket and a few people who owe me favors,” he assured her. She didn’t miss the concerned look he exchanged with her uncle and father.

“I’m not weak, nor am I unaware, fellas.” She glared at the men around her. “I know how to read a damned room.”

Admiration flared in her uncle’s sapphire eyes, and he nodded his approval. “Keep that spirit, child. You’re going to need it.” Addressing Spring, he asked, “What do you remember of the ceremony to resurrect your mother, my dear?”

“All of it.”

“Do we still have the artifacts in safekeeping?”

“I do. I’m assuming my sisters do as well,” Spring said with a questioning glance at Autumn.

“No. The Chintamani Stone was put in the vault at Thorne Industries for safekeeping, so were a few of the other items. But even if we still had all the key elements we needed, we no longer have the numbers to perform the ceremony.”

As she was speaking, Keaton and his parents entered the room. Because he’d heard the tail end of her comment, he voiced his opinion. “Actually, I think we do, if you’re talking about the spell that revived Aurora. From what I recall, there had to be seven blood relatives of your mother. Jolly has that with both our sides combined.”

“Then it could work?” Autumn asked, scared to hope but feeling that small kernel of emotion ready to pop inside.

Her father shared a look with Alastair and LJ before nodding. “I think so. Remember, this isn’t like opening the portal to the Otherworld, honey. We’re opening it to another reality. There’s no telling what the long-term consequences might be.”

“They have to be better than my juiced-up kid running around unsupervised, Daddy.” Firming her resolve, she rose to her feet and clasped Keaton’s hand. His nod of support made her feel marginally better. “So we’re doing this?”

“I don’t believe we have a choice,” Alastair replied as he worked the anklet through his fingers. “We’re unable to contact the Goddess for permission, and the children need to be recalled.”

“Not to mention, I want to go back to my time.”

“That, too,” he said to LJ.

The slider opened, and Aurora stepped into the room. She took one look at LJ and exclaimed, “Bloody hell!”

His expression was nothing short of poleaxed as he saw her lovely face. “Wh?—?”

Amusement curled her uncle’s mouth up at the corners, and his eyes gleamed with an oddly wicked satisfaction. “Thisis Aurora.”

As if compelled, LJ crossed to her and stared down into her wide sky-blue eyes, his mouth still hanging slightly agape. With a shake of his head, he lifted his arm, prepared to touch her porcelain skin, only to have it captured by Uncle Alastair.

“I’ll admit to feeling the same upon first seeing Rorie. However, I’ll happily detach your wrist if you touch her.”

“I would never!” But they all knew he’d been about to, regardless of his denial.

The stranger thing was her mother’s inability to respond. It was as if she were equally enthralled.

“I believe you should grow a beard, brother,” Preston said dryly. “Rorie seems to be fascinated by your rugged counterpart.”

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