“Like a Tardis,” Douglas put in, and they all laughed. Except Talya, who looked from one face to another.
“What’s a Tardis?”
“Oh, my!” Jacinth tilted her head to grin at Douglas. “We’ll have to have a Dr. Who night soon.”
He dropped a kiss on her nose. “We will.” To Talya, he said. “We’ll explain later, but for now, just accept that the inside can be anything from a single room to an entire castle.”
“Okay, got it,” Talya said. “More Djinn magic. So, go on!”
“I went inside the shop, and the first thing I saw was this old teapot. At least,” he modified, “I mean, I saw there was the counter at the front, and a clerk behind it, and aisles crowded with furnishings and knick-knacks, but I really didn’t see anything but that teapot. It’s not like it had some kind of special spotlight on it or anything. But I was drawn to it, although, the whole time I was wondering what the hell I was doing, you know?”
Naomi leaned forward, entranced. “What kind of teapot? I mean, you said antique. How did you know?”
Jacinth smiled, and pointed toward the fireplace. “Look there.”
Sure enough, a silver teapot was sitting centered on the mantel. It gleamed, the light from the fire dancing off its silver surface. Naomi half rose from her chair, glancing to Jacinth.
“May I?”
A moment later the teapot disappeared. As she blinked at the empty mantle, Liam touched her arm, directing her gaze to the coffee table. The teapot sat there. Naomi sank bonelessly into her chair, staring at it. The teapot was tall and slender, the handle and spout curving gracefully. The sides and lid were delicately etched with some kind of oriental floral design.
Douglas was looking at it, too, a faint smile curving his lips. “It cost me fifty bucks. I just paid it, not even thinking until after I was in my car driving home with it, that fifty dollars was a ridiculously low price for what’s clearly a valuable antique.”
“For that matter, it’s a ridiculously low price if it were brand new,” Liam agreed.
Naomi glanced at Jacinth hesitantly. “May I touch it?”
Jacinth waved a slender hand. “Sure, go ahead!”
Trailing her finger along the satiny surface, tracing the etched designs, Naomi tried to sense anything about it, the magic that was clearly in it. But all she felt was the cool silver. Not that she’d know magic if she felt it, but… she’d thought maybe she’d feel something. She sat back in her chair, a little disappointed.
“What’s it like inside?” Talya piped up, looking at her adoptive mother with eager interest.
Jacinth’s eyes twinkled in response as she looked about at all of them. “Would you like to see?”
Liam sat up, looking alert. “Hell, yes!”
Naomi reached out to grip his hand, her excited gaze on the pretty Djinn. “Please!”
Jacinth brought her hands before her in a single clap, and the living room around them disappeared. The sofa, loveseat, and arm chairs were still there, and the coffee table with its carafes and cups, but they were surrounded by curving walls of shimmering silver.
“Wow,” Talya breathed. The teenager turned in her chair to touch the wall behind her. “We’re inside!”
Naomi tilted her head, regarding Jacinth across the coffee table. “When you conjure up tea and drinks and things, you don’t clap your hands or do anything.”
“That’s such minimal magic for a Djinn, it’s almost nothing,” Jacinth explained. “Magicking beverages and foods are among the first things Djinn children learn to master. Taking myself alone into my vessel also requires no effort. But to bring the group of us, along with the furniture and our drinks, that requires me to gather the Djinn magic to me, focus on my intention, then release it in a burst. The clap is the activating action, if you will, that releases the magic.”
“Like Samantha wiggling her nose?” Liam asked.
Jacinth laughed, nodding. “Yes, exactly.”
“You said you could watch the outside?” Naomi asked, glancing at the walls, rising around them in a graceful curve. There was no etching on these inner walls, just the shining silver.
“Yes, watch.”
The silver seemed to shimmer and fade, and the living room came into view, the fireplace crackling away merrily on the other side of the room. A faint shimmer was still visible, but not enough to obscure their view of their surroundings.
“This is too cool,” Talya enthused, her hands pressing against the walls, seeing if they would go through. “It’s still solid.”
