XIII
They drove two hours to the bog, past the outskirts of Magic Hope City—a huge bowl of skyscrapers and billboards. The highways took them around the city, and Earl drove in the magic lane that gave them speed but forced them to stop at several tolls. The terminals swam with pink magic, and a transponder on the windshield clicked, triggering the gates to open and let them into the magic lane again, flowing faster than before.
On their way out of town they passed the Hall of Governance, the severe building where the governor lived and where politics were conducted; it imposed itself on the skyline with its gray countenance lined with thousands of immaculate windows and its spires like needles in the air.
The city sprouted up around them and then fell away as they cleared the city limi
