Page 18 of Joined By Magic

It didn’t take long. We had only scant toiletries and the scissors I’d used to cut the prince’s hair. The new style, sharp and businesslike, suited him. He looked younger and a lot less royal.

Supplies packed, he held out his hand. I gripped it dubiously. “We’re really going to do this from a moving train?”

He nodded. “No sense in exposing ourselves more than necessary.”

I took a breath. Teleportation scared me more every time we did it. That moment of absolute nothingness when I ceased to be, and then the return as my consciousness rushed back in. So wrong and unnatural.

Steeling myself, I nodded. “Ready.”

The world disappeared.

Chapter Nine

Talia

Thehousestoodinan isolated glade, its front door only feet from a vast lake that stretched away as far as my eyes could see. Cold bit into my cheeks as I surveyed the area. Green hit me first, overwhelming in its intensity, before my brain separated it into component parts. Compared to the washed-out sepia of the desert, the deep, rich shades seemed unreal. An artist’s trick.

Trees crowded us on every side, their branches dipping down to touch the top of the house. Thick, ancient brown trunks stretched out hundreds of fingers in chaotic patterns, their leaves forming a thick canopy far above us. And behind us, heading into the far distance, cone-shaped trees blanketed the slope of a mountain.

The lake, though.

Shit.

For one perfect moment, I forgot everything. The danger, my position, all the worries that assailed me. I ran to the lake with a delighted yell and crouched, dipping my fingers in the freezing water. The air held a sharp, clean scent, and small creatures with iridescent wings skimmed over the flat surface. Birds called. It was stunning, so beautiful I couldn’t believe it existed. I looked back at the prince, unable to keep the grin from my face.

He watched me with a tolerant half smile on his lips. “You’ll be safe near the shore, but don’t go swimming. The razorbacks might see you as a meal.”

“I don’t know how to swim. Hardly anyone in the slums does.”

Surprise crossed his face. “I suppose not.”

Of course he didn’t know. He had only the vaguest idea of how people lived in the real world. Tearing my gaze away from the beautiful lake, I turned to examine the house.

Oh.

My infatuation with our hideaway faltered. The house would have been quaint once, a cheerful wooden structure painted gray with a pointed red slate roof. Pretty. But now, the roof sagged, tiles lay shattered at the base of the walls, and the paint was patchy and curled. The door hung off one hinge.

“How long ago did you buy this place?” I traced my fingers along the bubbled paint.

“Twelve years, give or take.”

“So it’s sat here empty this whole time?”

“Yes, and it wasn’t in good condition when I bought it.”

It’d been unloved for all those years. What a waste. I pulled the door open, careful to keep it upright, and shrieked as a furry black body shot past me. Even the prince let out a shocked grunt.

A rat.

Filthy bastards.

They infested the slums. Once, when I was small, I’d stood in the street watching older kids play ball as Mum chatted with a friend. A rat had latched onto my toe, its teeth sinking deep. I hadn’t slept well for days, waking up screaming at imaginary teeth nibbling at me. And this rat was bigger and glossier than the scrawny desert variety.

Giant rats. Lovely.

“Can you use your magic to make some light?”

The prince startled. He’d been lost in his thoughts again. A bright light bloomed in his outstretched hand, and he sent it into the house. We peered in. A heavy, wet scent greeted us, hanging thick in the air. More things skittered in the dim interior. The prince’s light grew brighter and expanded outwards to bathe the room in a clinical white glow.

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