Page 41 of The Wishing Game

"Here's how this is going to work. You may be non-human or whatever you are, but we're officially a team, which means that what you do reflects on me, and what I do reflects on you."

"I know that," Thea starts to protest, but I put a hand up, stopping her.

"I'm betting everything on this game, and I'm not going to lose. That means you two need to cut it out and behave. Don't draw unnecessary attention to ourselves. Don't steal from people and don't destroy public property. Is that clear?"

They both stare at me as if I've grown two heads.

"You're rather confident for someone who didn't even know what the game was about a few hours ago," Thea huffs aloud.

"Maybe." I shrug. "But I know what I want. It doesn't matter what I have to do to get it."

"So now you believe the underworld is real." She smiles.

"Is it, is it not? I don't really care. As long as there's a chance for me to get my husband back, I'm going to take it—be it real or imaginative."

Thea nods slowly as she regards me.

"Fine. But I'm not the only one who has to behave," she says as she narrows her eyes at her brother.

Cer grunts, but he doesn't give any verbal assurance.

"Good. And since you're not familiar with how things work around here, please ask before you do something."

The train arrives, and we step inside. At this hour, it's mostly empty, so Thea and I grab a seat while Cer positions himself in front of us, his feet spread apart, his arms crossed over his chest.

"Uh, Luce?" Thea leans in to whisper.

"Yes?"

"I think I sat on something wet." She wrinkles her nose. "It smells."

"Just ignore it. It's only one stop."

She blinks.

"But it's really wet and smelly, Luce," she whines.

I sigh.

"We can change seats," I offer.

She nods fervently, getting up for the exchange. As she turns, however, I notewhyshe was so wet. There's a yellowy-brownish wet stain on her pants, and as soon as she turns to me, the putrid smell wafts to my nose, intoxicating me. I'm sure I can see some bits of food, too.

"Uhm." I clear my throat. "I think we should just stand."

Cer, however, takes one look at Thea and bursts into laughter. She frowns in confusion until she makes the mistake of brushing her hand against her ass, the foul substance sticking to her fingers.

It takes a whole of two seconds before it dawns on her what she sat on. Her mouth opens and a shrill scream resounds in the entire train. Luckily, just at that moment, the doors open, and she dashes out of the train, still screaming into the night.

Cer is still furtively chuckling, and I look at him suspiciously.

"You knew," I note quietly.

He pins me with his gaze, his lips quirking up just as he angles his shoulders in a lazy shrug.

"I don't know what it is with the two of you, but you need to stop taunting each other," I say in exasperation.

He doesn't answer, simply stepping out of the train. I trail behind, wondering where Thea could have gone.

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