Free Twin Alphas: Desired (A BBW Paranormal Romance) by Georgette St. Clair Page A

knew it! So, you’re single?” he looked at Karlie hopefully.
                  “Focus, Fabian,” Karlie said sternly. “My friend has a problem.”
                  Barron shot Karlie an exasperated look. “Like this clown can help us. He’s a back alley, unlicensed Mage who operates outside the law and sells black market crap.”
                  “Hey, it’s not crap! My ingredients are of the highest quality!” Fabian looked indignant.  Then he shrugged. “The rest of that’s true, though.”
    Barron scowled at Fabian. “On the off chance that you could somehow be helpful, and because I’m desperate, here is my problem. My fathers were cursed. It is an unfair and illegal curse, and I need proof of it. The curse is affecting me and my brother, which is also illegal; it should only affect the person who committed the offense.  Therefore, we suspect that the entire curse is unfair.  We need a way to prove it.”
    “Ok, ok. A curse. Let’s see.  Too bad you don’t have like a million dollars, then you could use the Lookback Mirror.” He looked at them speculatively. “Do you have a million dollars?”
                  Barron shook his head. “No, but my pack has a lot of land and resources, and I would give all of my portion to save my mate. The Lookback Mirror –I’ve never heard of it. Who has it?”
                  “A Mage named Tristan.  He’s the only one who can use it. And I’m the only one who can put you in touch with him. He charges an enormous fee for it, and he can only do it a few times a year because it’s such an enormous energy drain,” Fabian said.  “So, you know exactly what date you’d be looking for?”
                  Barron and Karlie exchanged dismayed glances.  “Not even close,” Barron said.
                  Fabian shook his head. “That’s no good, then.  He can’t go searching all over time.”
                  Barron let out a growl of frustration and anger. “We’ll find out,” he said. “No matter what it takes.”
                 

     
     
    Chapter Nine
     
    Late that evening, they landed in Reno, which was three hour’s drive from Mountaintop.   It was too late to talk to anybody, so, even though Barron was desperate to go pound on doors and wake people up and demand answers, he restrained himself.  Instead he and Karlie stopped at a motel room that was halfway to Mountaintop.
    They slept in separate beds, or rather, Karlie slept heavily and he dozed fitfully, wakened all night long by terrible dreams of Mackenzie being sucked into quicksand while he frantically tried to reach her.
    As soon as the sun rose, he was up, pacing the floor. He forced himself to wait until seven a.m., then shook Karlie awake.
                  “Ugh.” Karlie sat up, rubbing her eyes. “Early. So early. Why are we up at oh dark thirty?”
                  “We need to get going. The sun’s up.”
                  “Barely,” she muttered, but she headed off to the bathroom to get ready.             
                  About an hour and a half  later they arrived at Mountaintop, a tiny town of a few hundred people.
                  They started out by heading to the house where Barron’s fathers had grown up – the land their pack had once owned.              They headed to the house, which, according to an online search of property records, was now owned by a family called the Thorberts. It had been transferred to them by the Magnussen pack 23 years earlier – so, several years after Ajax and Barron had been born.
                  The house was set far back in the property, at the end of a long dirt road lined with pine and spruce trees. It was a massive old Colonial Revival style with wood shingle roof and brick construction. Vague memories of running through the