they slowed and stopped in front of the door. A face peered in through the grill and she stood very still, not even blinking. The face backed away, then she heard the door rattle as they tried it. But it was locked again—how did Milo do that? Would they go?
“Holy crap,” Dylan whispered. “Any ideas?”
“No good ones,” Milo said.
“I figure even a bad one will do right now.”
Milo reached out and touched the lock lightly, whispered a word. “That will hold them, but not for long.” He glanced around the room as if searching for some way out, but there was nothing. Nowhere to go. She could have told them that.
The guard was rattling at the door again. He was talking to someone, but she couldn’t make out the words.
Milo blew out his breath. “This is a really bad idea.” As he spoke, he pulled a stick from where it had been tucked into his belt. About two feet long, slender, the wood was dark brown and polished. It looked like an extension of his arm.
“Oh no,” Dylan said. “That is a really, really bad idea.”
“You want to stay?” Milo asked.
Dylan looked as though he was debating the idea. He glanced to the door, then at Milo, and back to her. “I guess this is goodbye. Nice meeting you, Destiny.” He reached out and rested his hand on Milo’s arm.
They were leaving.
Don’t go.
The words echoed in her head and some invisible force pushed her forward. She stretched out her hand, and her fingertips touched Milo’s chest just as he raised the stick into the air and muttered a word.
Then a loud roar filled her ears and crimson light flashed in front of her eyes and the world was spinning.
Then everything went black.
Chapter Eleven
When Milo opened his eyes, his first thought was—the new wand hadn’t worked. Damn. Why? Everything had seemed to happen just as it should.
But it couldn’t have worked, because Destiny still stood right in front of him and bringing her along hadn’t been part of the spell.
He lowered his wand. Different world and different wand, he reminded himself. No wonder the results were also different.
Destiny was standing right in front of him, her arm outstretched, her fingers touching his chest. Her blue eyes were wide and staring, her mouth open. That was the first inkling that while the spell might not have had completely the right results, something had certainly happened.
“Where the hell are we?” Dylan asked from beside him.
Milo at last forced his gaze from Destiny and looked around.
They were no longer in the cell. And if he listened carefully, he couldn’t hear the sound of approaching feet. All good so far. Except for the bit about not knowing where they were. And the bit about how Destiny seemed to have come along for the ride.
“I have no clue,” he murmured.
“Well, that sucks.”
“Do you want me to try and take us back?” He’d meant the question sarcastically, but Dylan actually considered it for a moment.
Then he shook his head. “God only knows where we’d end up.”
“What happened?” Destiny asked. “We were in the cell…” She peered around her. “And now we’re not.” She blinked a couple of times. “How?”
“Teleportation,” Dylan said, his expression completely serious.
Milo snorted. They weren’t supposed to bring attention to themselves. The use of magic in front of “normals” was completely prohibited. They’d had strict instructions from Rico not to do anything that might make people look in their direction. This was definitely one of those things. But if Rico hadn’t pinched his wand, then he might have had more control, and Destiny would still be back in her cell, everything left in place as they’d found it.
Of course they also would have just vanished in front of her eyes, but she had no witnesses and likely no one would believe her.
He briefly considered trying another spell to send her back to where she had come from. But right now, he had no clue where he actually was, so, as Dylan had aptly pointed out, who knew where she would turn up? He tucked the wand back into his belt, counting himself lucky he’d managed to get them somewhere undetected, and all in one piece.
“Teleportation?” Destiny asked. She scrunched up her nose. “Is that possible? I’ve not heard of it before.”
“It’s a prototype the scientific officer on the Trakis Two developed,” Dylan replied. “Not in general use and not entirely reliable.”
Hey, Dylan was good at this making-stuff-up thing. He’d sounded totally plausible.