“What exactly are you implying?”
Is he saying there are other worlds out there?
It was an intriguing thought, and she didn’t at once discount it. Scientists had long speculated there were other dimensions parallel to this universe. However, after everything she’d experienced tonight, she couldn’t shake the feeling he might be a tad bit touched in the head.
She darted a glance to the front door. “This has been such an interesting evening, but it sounds like the storm is dying out.” An ear-splitting crack of thunder made the windows rattle, and a bright burst of lightning left an afterglow on her retinas. “So, I think I’ll see my way out.”
Screw it. I’ll take my chances out in the storm. This guy is all kinds of messed up. I’m no better because even knowing this, I’m still attracted to his weird ass. The sooner I leave, the better.
Whatever shot out of his fingers must’ve come from a prop or toy, like those little electric things people used to give a jolt when shaking hands.
Sacha turned toward the door, but a hot grip clamped on her cool wrist.
“If you go outside right now, you’ll catch your death of either pneumonia or a lightning strike.” He exerted gentle pressure and pulled her around to face him. “And what kind of host would I be to allow such a thing to happen? It would be quite rude, and then I’d have to listen to Margaret’s angry tirade the entire night.” A wide smile formed, and he chuckled.
“If I stay, I might catch my death from a crazy pyromaniac.” She tried to pull her hand from his.
Instead of letting go, he lifted it to the light and peered at the palm.
“What are you doing?”
And why am I standing here, letting this nutcase touch me right after he shot something . . . hell, I don’t . . . into the fireplace?
His statement earlier, the joke about being a wizard, rang in her ears. There was no such thing as magic-users, right?
It was easier to believe in parallel universes than mages and sorcerers.
If there are other universes out there, though, it doesn’t mean they’re like this one. Maybe they have their own physics. Perhaps, instead of science, they have magic.Sacha slammed a lid on those thoughts.
She stared at his robe, the crimson eyes, and then swept her gaze around the stony walls and furnishings of the tower. His home was certainly not average,hewas not average—this whole situation was not average. Above the fireplace, several round scorch marks, similar to those he’d just left, decorated the wall. A thread of uneasiness slid the length of her spine.
“So much power in a hand.” He turned it over and caressed the skin. “Whether it be from the dexterity which allows a being to survive and evolve, or the conduit to focus the arcane from a wielder of great power. Good or evil—pleasure or pain—can be brandished with a touch.”
Lowering her wrist, his thumb traced the palm.
It felt nice, and Sacha didn’t pull away when he loosened the grip.
She shook her head. “Let me get this straight.” Her chin tilted, and she ran fingers through her hair. “Are you insinuating”—she trailed off and tried to assemble her thoughts into a cohesive pattern—“you’re not from around here?” She couldn’t bring herself to utterfrom this world, because it sounded ridiculous, yet something about his demeanor and way of speaking gave her pause.
“Yes.”
Unable to hold it in, she let out a loud guffaw. “This is great.” She shook her head. “I’ve traded one loon for another. Just my luck.”
A muscle ticked in his eyelid and his gaze intensified, unblinking and enfolding her in its fiery light. Holding out his palm, a ball of blue fire formed.
She sucked in a breath and stepped back.
He rolled his eyes, then closed the gap. “It won’t hurt you.”
The flames coalesced into a tighter sphere, four inches in diameter. Brown and green shapes began to appear on its surface.
Intrigued, Sacha crept forward. “Is that—”
“My home planet, where I was born. It’s calledErbse.” The ball rotated on an invisible axis. “I’ve been trying to return for the past six years.”
“Can I touch it?”
“Well, I wouldn’t have brought it out if I didn’t want you to touch it.” A glimmer of amusement shone from his eyes, softening the high, prominent cheekbones.
