Page 30 of Captivating Magic

She shook her head, torn between disbelief and wonder. How did these things go on without notice? Were non-magic mortals ignorant of their surroundings twenty-four-seven?

Collecting her wayward thoughts, she tuned in to Alastair, who had continued discussing mythical creatures. “I believe historically, legend has labeled them Cerberus,” he concluded.

“Wait, what did I miss? The three-headed beast that guards hell?”

“Yes.”

She scoffed. “You’re having me on, Mr. Thorne. Pardon my language, but no fucking way!”

“Actually, it’s true,” Lo said with a short laugh. “Multiple family members saw it when…”

“When?”

“This sounds even more outrageous, but when my cousin Autumn’s children accidentally went through a portal to another dimension.”

“Ohmygawd! That’s possible?” Ebba circled back to the idea she might be tripping on psychedelic mushrooms.

“Yes.” Alastair smiled in the face of her incredulousness. “Perhaps one day, in the far distant future, when it’s your time to cross over, you’ll experience those things.”

Laszlo appreciatedhis cousin trying to ease Ebba’s potential fears about what was to come, but the ugly truth was that Lo was in a worse state than her.

“What do you think Isis meant when she mentioned a familiar, Al?”

“They enhance a witch’s power to the umpteenth degree. It may be what you require to defeat Death and keep Ebba here.”

Could it really be as simple as that? Somehow, Lo doubted it.

“I’ve listened to your stories in the past, cousin. You’ve conversed with Isis many times and always came back with a new problem to solve. The two of you delight in finding workarounds.” Lo sat up straighter. “That’s it, isn’t it? She’s trying to tell me that anything I do will require additional help.”

“That’s what I believe, son. She can’t outright tell you what to do without breaking cosmic rules or stepping on toes, but she’s brilliant when it comes to supplying the tools to do things yourself.” Alastair straightened his tie. “We merely need to discover what those tools are.”

Ebba yawned, attempting to cover it with her hand. “Fifty dollars says it has to do with a familiar.”

“I’d take the bet, but I suspect you’re correct,” Alastair replied. “I like you, Ms. James. You have the necessary spunk to see this challenge to its conclusion.”

“Challenge.” Castor chuckled. “You have a way with words, Al.” Pausing in front of Ebba and Laszlo, his expression turned solemn. “If I’d have known I was going to cause you this much trouble, love, I’d have found another way to save you.”

“I don’t understand how you bound her to Earth. What the hell kind of spell did you use? Is it possible to reverse engineer it?” Lo asked, rubbing a hand along his neck to work out the kinks.

“Castor is descended from Zeus. He doesn’t require anything but a thought to stop time and create chaos.” When the man in question would’ve objected to Alastair’s statement, his cousin shook his head. “It’s not meant as an insult to you, Alex. I’m clarifying why this happened. For whatever reason, in the moment, you were compelled to save the girl at any cost. Yoursupercharged DNA tethered her to the earthly plane in place of her body.”

“She was unable to reenter after I healed her,” Castor concluded slowly. Swearing, he palmed his forehead. “I’m an idiot!”

“No argument here,” Lo muttered.

Ice-blue eyes narrowed on him. “I don’t believe comments were invited from the Peanut Gallery.”

“And yet you got them anyway. So sad for you, dude. But maybethinknext time before you randomly throw magic around.”

“I’mthinkingabout freezing time and using your face like a piñata. Make you nice and pretty for your new girlfriend here. Interested?” His mouth kicked up on the left side in a chilly smile. “And myunthinkingact saved her, allowing the time for you to say goodbye. You can thank Zeus for my little gift.”

Lo turned salty at the suggestion of saying goodbye to Ebba. “Fuck off.”

“Gladly.” Castor nodded once to Alastair. “Call or text when you’re ready for me to reverse what I did. I’ll be waiting.” With a tight smile for Ebba, Castor teleported away.

Heat crept up Lo’s neck as Ebba and Al focused on him. “Sorry, but that man gets on my last fucking nerve. Like it’s his personal mission to piss me off.”

“It is,” Alastair replied with a short laugh. “He lives to irritate. If you want to drive him insane, don’t engage.”

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