Page 77 of Captivating Magic

“I’m good.”

“Okay. Then clean up this place so your girl doesn’t come home to a mess,” he ordered. “Add vases of her favorite flowersto each of the rooms and leave her a note. Tell her you’d like to take her to dinner to celebrate your divorce if she’s willing.”

“You think it’s as simple as that?” Lo asked dryly.

“I do. Ebba loves you, boyo. Try to recall the night of the accident and how she wanted to make sure you were okay with having her as a familiar for life.” Castor nodded his satisfaction as Lo’s face registered the shocking memory. “That’s right. She was willing to give up her life if you weren’t good with it. A woman who would sacrifice everything for you is the one woman you should sacrifice everything for in return.”

“Understood.”

“Good, because if you treat her poorly, I’ll gladly steal her away.” He winked. “It only takes a time hop.”

“That’s disgusting. You’re old enough to be her father.”

Castor grinned. “Yeah, but I look the same age asyou, and I’m a helluva lot better looking.”

27

Every bone in Ebba’s body ached.

“Such is the price I agreed to,” she muttered as she exited the shed after pulling on her sweatclothes.

Inside the building, Alastair and Laszlo had created an exact replica of her apartment for her monthly shift. With careful consideration, they’d provided all the comforts of home, with the addition of a super-sized doggy door for Kyrella to come and go when the mood struck or she wanted to curl up and sleep.

After sliding the panel into place to prevent unwanted critters from using Kyrella’s entrance, she turned the key in the lock.

A twig snapped.

She whirled with a snarl, hackles up, and fighting stance at the ready.

Her instincts were on point. Or rather Kyrella’s were. They shared acute hearing and smell, along with a heightened distrust of strangers.

“It’s just me, Sweet Ebba.”

Laszlo.

His dark hair fell over one brow, giving him a roguish look. Or perhaps it was the appreciation in his amber eyes that held the appeal.

“What are you doing here?”

“I returned last night and couldn’t wait another second to see you,” he said, walking toward her with purposeful steps.

Her heart picked up its pace. “Returned? From where?”

“The past.”

“Oh!” She grinned as her tension eased. “I was wondering when your past and present selves would collide.”

“Yeah, I’m told it’s going to take anywhere from a few days to weeks to acclimate.” He twirled his finger in her hair, tangling it with one of her corkscrew curls. “It’s a bizarre rush to have all my memories shift and mesh.”

“Alex said it would happen once the timelines intersected.”

“How so?” he asked.

His gaze ate up her features, landing on her mouth, and Ebba’s blood began pumping like Kyrella’s on an invigorating run. The desire to lean into his hand and be petted was strong. She suspected it had nothing to do with her wolf.

“The new timeline finally reached the five-month mark when you traveled to the past and your soul returned three hours later,” Ebba said. “Alex warned you about the rebound effect of the flood of old and new memories merging.”

“Did it happen to you, too?”

---