“Yes, well, the plan has already changed.It’s too dangerous for you out there.”
Cha absorbed that for a long moment.“You said it already.You won’t have me to divert the law, at this ley-block or later, if they come sniffing.”
“I’m carrying legal cargo.”
“For Obsidian.Not once you cross into Moonstone.And we’ve learned how the snow fae play.”
“It wasn’t snow; it was white pixie dust.”
Cha shuddered at the memory, how the pervasive drifts and spikes of the dust reminded her of lethal ice storms that had destroyed animal and human lives during her benighted childhood.“I don’t want to ask you to do that.”
“You’re not asking.I offered.I’m here to help you on this wild prince chase.Let me help you.”
“And hide all the way through Moonstone?”Cha replied doubtfully.
Dy raised golden brows, her angelic appearance making her snide expression that much more pointed.“Pride, Bandit?”
“Goeth before a fall, I know.Why do they even say that?Isn’t it the fall that bruises your pride?”
“It means that people spend so much effort protecting their pride that they don’t see the big fucking pit they’re about to pitch into face-first.”Though Dy said it blandly, the words were pointed enough to draw blood.
“This isn’t about pride though,” Cha retorted, stung.“I’m your partner.I’m supposed tohaveyour back not cower in the back.”
“Arantxa Evermore,” Dy burst out, slamming her palms on the dash in sheer frustration.
Warg warbled snottily and tried to climb over Cha to get to his sorceress.Cha spent a few, frustrating moments trying to fight him, then gave up and let him crawl over her to flop across Dy’s lap, crooning and drooling in his concern.
She stroked him absently, fiery gaze fixed on Cha.“Do you know what it would do to me to know you were taken off to Moonstone jail,again, knowing what they did to you last time?You nearlydied.Would have died if Prince Charming hadn’t rescued and healed you.Isn’t that right?”
“Well, it depends on—”
“Isn’t that right?”Dy demanded on a hiss, blue eyes blazing.
Cha squirmed, a high wine in her ears.Oh—that was the approaching law hounds.“Yeah, maybe…” she conceded.
“Exactly.Now get in the back and get hidden.We’re coming up on that ley-block.”
Tempted to grumble, but definitely out of time—the low volume of traffic worked against them again—with a distressingly short queue ahead of them, even with vehicles stacked single file.Impulsively, she leaned over and kissed Dy’s cheek.“Love ya, babe.”
Dy snorted.“You can demonstrate that by not showing your face again until I give you the all clear.The hidey hole has snacks for Katu and supplies for you—food, water, and some blankets.Better eat now while we’re still in Obsidian because we shouldn’t in Moonstone and definitely not in Citrine.”
The higher the fae realm, the more likely it was that even human food they brought with them could have mutating properties.Cha narrowed her eyes.“You expected this.”
“Suspected,” Dy corrected.“And it never hurts to be prepared.”
Feeling better about things in general, even if she’d much rather be riding the leys at high speed than hiding in the cubby, Cha slithered back through the window and closed it carefully.Katu ran to her when she dropped into the cargo bay, ready to play some more.“Not now, baby cat,” she told him.“Covert mode.”
Katu was smart.All carriage animals were smarter than their natural versions, likely as a result of the fae breeding and enchantment.Beyond that, though, Katu was simply more intelligent.Cha had seen that in him when he was a kitten.He’d learned more than a few basic commands, and she’d trained him for a variety of circumstances.
The jaguar immediately bolted for the hidey hole behind the crates of black dust.Cha took a moment longer, not nearly so nimble at leaping over the crates.She worked the mechanism—hidden, but not glamoured or magical as the fae could detect that kind of thing and it wasn’t the human law they worried about—opened the disguised panel and slid inside.Another advantage Dy brought to the table as a powerful sorceress: she’d made some clandestine modifications to both Big Betty and Katu.The secret compartment hadn’t been factory installed, so the fae wouldn’t know to look for it.The space wasn’t large enough for smuggling purposes—unless they were moving something small—but it did serve to hide one human and her big cat.
Katu circled the small compartment several times, then curled up into a glossy, black pillow.Cha secured the panel, then laid down also, resting her head on his satiny flank.Katu’s purr reverberated under her cheek.It would be soothing, if she wasn’t so wired, worrying.
She’d much rather be the one at the helm, talking down the suspicious fae.Tracking the feel of Big Betty’s momentum as she slowed, stopped, then crept forward, Cha allowed herself to fret.Another lurch and stop.Faint voices carrying from outside, sternly issuing orders.She couldn’t hear Dy’s higher voice, but she did feel the vibration of the cargo door opening.
She and Katu lay very still.The hidey hole was soundproofed, but clearly not with zero leakage, and many of the fae had preternatural hearing that did work this close.She tapped Katu and he stopped purring, lying still as death.They both barely breathed as the crates of dust slid around, scraping against the floor, fae shouting at one another, wood screeching as they pried open lids.Big Betty rumbled a protest, quickly shushed.Booted feet stomped over Cha’s head and she didn’t dare move.Someone even kicked the panel.
And then, blessedly, it went quiet again.The cargo door rumbled closed again, and Big Betty crawled into motion, then hit the ley line at speed, the magic singing to Cha through the flooring.The ley line flowed right beneath them, fast and smooth, beckoning her.Katu made a sound of query, wanting to dig in his claws, and fly with the powerful magic.She did, too.So much.She petted him.