Apple of My Eye (Tiger's Eye Mystery #7) - Alyssa Day Page 0,27

believe a princess could be all that scary," I said, amused in spite of myself at his charming silliness. I felt like Alice going down the rabbit hole—a lowly pawnshop owner meeting the Prince of Atlantis.

"Oh, Erin? She's not a princess. She's a witch." He gestured to the magic oval with a flourish, like a hostess on The Price is Right pointing out the new car. "Step into the portal, please. Next stop, Atlantis."

"I'm not sure about this. I'm not a witch or a princess or a shifter or an Atlantean. I'm just a small-town girl who owns a pawnshop. Magic portals are a little bit out of my wheelhouse."

Jack raised one eyebrow. "Really? Tess, it's okay if you're scared—"

"I'm not scared!" I took a deep breath and turned to the prince. "Your High, um, Prince Ven, lead the way."

The prince grinned at me. "He pulls that reverse psychology crap on me too. We all knew you weren't scared." He held out a hand. "Let's go together."

I flashed Jack a Look. "I'm ready."

And then we stepped into the magic portal and reality turned upside down.

8

Traveling through a magic portal was exactly as exciting as you might expect. A tingling sensation swept over my body when we entered, and I impulsively reached back for Jack's hand and held on tight. He stepped closer and put his arms around my waist, and I leaned back against his chest, holding my breath while a kaleidoscope of colors and a faint, musical humming sound surrounded us. It was over in seconds, and I found myself stepping out of the magic and into a garden.

I blew out a long breath, dazed, and turned to face the portal.

"Thank you," I told it, because somehow I felt that such breathtaking magic must be acknowledged.

I caught Jack and Ven exchanging amused glances, but I didn't care. As I started to turn back to them, a male voice sounded from inside the magical oval.

"You're welcome, Tess Callahan."

And then the portal vanished.

"I—did the magical doorway just talk to me?" I whirled around and glanced at Jack and the prince. "Is that normal?"

Jack sighed and shoved his hair back with one hand. "Not again," he muttered.

Ven raised his eyebrows. "We need to talk about what happened to the last portal spirit one day."

"The last portal spirit?" I felt like I'd fallen down an Atlantean rabbit hole.

"Remember the hidden cave on Mt. Fuji?" Jack sighed. "It's part of that story. I'll tell you the whole thing later."

I started to protest, but then I just smiled and shrugged, because I'd started to look around and realized I had no time for old stories right now. The gleaming spires of the palace told me the truth I'd been afraid to believe: I was actually standing in Atlantis.

"This is… this is amazing," I whispered, trying to see everything at once. "I can't believe I'm really here. The lost continent."

Ven winked at me. "We were never lost. Just hiding from you land walkers. Come on, Erin's waiting, and I'm starving."

We'd exited the portal at the outskirts of what must be the palace gardens. As the prince led the way, I caught myself glancing down at the path to check and see if it were made of yellow bricks. This had to be the most astonishing and wonderful thing that had ever happened to me.

I twined my fingers in Jack's again and smiled up at him, but the sudden gleam in his eyes made them glow a fierce, hot green with hints of amber at their centers, and I forgot what I'd been about to say.

"I… you… these are beautiful gardens," I finally managed, breathlessly.

"Nothing is as beautiful as you," he murmured, tightening his hand around mine. He reached out with his other hand and gently pushed a strand of my hair out of my face. "You should always wear your hair down, Tess. It makes me want—"

"Hey! Are you two going to stand there all night, or are we going to eat dinner?"

I shook my head a little, trying to snap out of the spell Jack's words had woven around me, and turned to the prince. "I'm sorry. We were, I mean, I was—"

"I was about to kiss my date, if you hadn't so rudely interrupted," Jack said, a hint of a growl beneath the words.

Ven's face split open in an enormous grin and he shoved his hands in his pockets and started to whistle. "I don't blame you, but you can do that later. Get