Chapter 9 Come to Mama
Come to Mama
Using her link to Katu that was part telepathic and part a product of their deep bond—and entirely a magic she didn’t understand—Cha triggered the cat to transform to his animal form even as she leapt from the driver’s seat, taking only the Moonruby wand with her.
She jumped onto the barrier between the lanes, unable to set foot on the slow black without frying her fragile human nervous system, and clung there like the overdeveloped monkey she was, calling for Katu to follow.
The platinum-haired booth fae, face only inches from Cha’s, stared in bulging eyed shock, while Ram’s Horns—not exactly the sharpest tool in the fae shed, possibly due to the pressure of those massive horns squishing what little brains he had—had yet to move.
Now in black jaguar form, Katu leapt over the barrier and landed on the slow black, the hanging portcullis lowering with ponderous grace.
He snarled at the fanciful iron grate as if he could intimidate it, the sound becoming the revving growl of an engine as he returned to carriage form at Cha’s signal.
Hoping against hope, Cha shook the Moonruby wand at the lowering portcullis, willing it to stop.
As always, the cursed thing did nothing. “Keep the gate open!” she sang at it, as Azul had. Well, not exactly as he had, since he possessed a beautiful singing voice and she… did not.
As usual, the wand did nothing except shed a bit of frivolous pink glitter.
Ram’s Horns, finally grokking the situation, lunged for Cha, getting a handful of her—very pricey and exquisitely tailored, thank you—black leather jacket.
She was already in motion, tossing the worthless wand in ahead of her and tumbling toward the passenger seat of the carriage, flubbing the landing due to Mr. Interference.
She belly-flopped onto the side of the carriage, head down and ass up, legs flailing as she strove to keep from touching the slow black. Even a toe touch of her boots could fry her brains to stupider than ram’s horns there, still staring in befuddlement at the ripped piece of her jacket.
“Go!” she yelled at Katu, the back of her neck prickling with the sure and lethal descent of the portcullis’s sharp points.
Katu hesitated, concern rumbling through him at her precarious position. “I’ll be okay,” she reassured him. “Just go go go.”
Ram’s Horns, leaning over the barrier, grabbed one of her flailing feet. “You’re under arrest,” he roared, sounding more astonished than anything else. “You can’t do this.”
“Watch me,” she growled, donkey-kicking him in the nose with her bootheel, enjoying the satisfying crunch and squeal of pain. Fae were immortal but not immune to injury. Still, they got injured rarely enough that pain came as a surprise to them. Sorry, not sorry.
Katu finally dug claws into the ley line, leaping forward as he grabbed hold of the faster black streaming away from the gate.
Cha held on for dear life and sanity, searching with her magic senses for the fastest black possible, sending Katu into it blind.
She didn’t necessarily need to see, but it still disoriented her to be so fully head down, having to trust Katu to steer them around any obstacles, including other vehicles.
She didn’t dare raise her head however, with so much of her weight unbalanced on the outside of the carriage.
Instead, she used all her strength to haul herself, finger by finger, hand over hand, into the passenger seat, where she finally landed with a thump in a puddle of vibrating adrenaline and prickly Moonruby wand. That was too close and the game wasn’t over yet. Fuck her life.
No time to have a breakdown though. Sternly talking herself into getting her shit together, she levered herself upright and slid into the driver’s seat.
Taking stock of the situation, she encouraged Katu to go even faster up the Obsidian Thorofare.
A glance behind her showed all the gates had closed, and fae boiling out of the cubicles, guards racing in excitement.
No pursuit yet, but there would be soon.
They had to get off the main ley line and fast.
Taking the risk she’d be overheard, Cha said to the still open opalite channel. “Goldilocks, Bandit here and—”
“What the fuck happened?” Dy screeched, the path box almost shaking from the volume of her voice, Cha wincing at the tone. “This was the easy crossing. What did you do?”
“Old chickens coming home to roost and shit on me,” Cha answered. “Can we chat later? I need to duck and cover. Throw me a line?” She hoped Dy wasn’t too far ahead to create a side ley line for Cha to take, to get off the main drag until she shook pursuit. Hopefully, she could shake it.
“No.”
Cha did a double take. Was Dy that pissed? This time wasn’t Cha’s fault! Or it was past-Cha’s fault, kind of, but not really. “No?”
“No. Come to Mama.”
Cha paused another moment in sheer surprise. It seemed early in the game for that move. But Big Betty did have the room with their smaller than usual cargo. “Seriously?”
“I said so, didn’t I?” Dy snapped and toggled off.
“Okay, baby cat,” Cha said. “We’re going for the medal on this one.”
Katu snarled with glee, digging his metaphorical claws into the ley line, gleefully accelerating into the rich vein of pure, high-test black dust of the Thorofare.
Just in time, too, because a glance in the rear-view mirror showed increasingly frenzied activity back at the border.
No other traffic yet, beyond the few family cars toodling along in the slow lanes well behind her.
They must have closed the border then and she sent a silent apology to all of her community who’d get stuck—especially aggravating after they spent the day stuck at Lordgay or crawling up the loop-de-do.
She’d broadcast the apology—and warning—but didn’t dare with the fae law hot on their tail.
In fact, curse it and right on schedule, there came the fae law hounds. Sleek carriages enchanted from greyhound hybrids exclusive for fae use, the carriages could overtake about any carriage except for maybe a cheetah—and those were only good for sprints.
“Getting warm out here,” she advised Dy. “You sure about this?”
“Good a time as any. I got you in my sights.”
Indeed, there was Big Betty up ahead, hoving into view like a welcome oasis on the horizon.
“Likewise. You want to move over?” Big Betty was also in the fastest section of the black.
Usually, they pulled this maneuver in the slowest ley possible.
Using the word “usually” very loosely as they’d only pulled this off twice before—and attempted it more times than that.
“No time for it,” Dy answered crisply. “Unless you’re chicken.”
Katu, understanding the taunt perfectly well, growled. Big Betty made a sound halfway between a trumpet and a snort, while Warg warbled snottily in the background. Cha set her teeth. “You’re the one taking the ass bruise if we time it wrong.”
“You can kiss it better.”
“And risk Mama Bear’s wrath? I don’t think so.”
Dy chuckled. “Going offline for the bump. Don’t fuck this up, Bandit.”
Words to live by—and unfortunately ones she seldom heeded.
But they did have a rare, clear road to maneuver.
As Katu neared, the back of Big Betty opened, the rear door lowering to make a ramp.
Cha focused all of her attention on matching Big Betty’s speed.
That was the key. Instinct always made you want to brake, certain you were about to crash into the big object ahead of you.
But if you slowed too much, you wouldn’t have the speed to make the sync.
Goosing acceleration at that point could lead to smashing Katu’s nose into the crates of black dust laced agnicurna stacked at the back.
Katu sped just enough to catch up, then matched speed for a long minute, getting the feel for it.
They’d have to goose just enough to overtake Big Betty, and overcome the immediate friction induced by the dustless ramp and interior.
Bonus: that would help slow them and prevent the aforementioned snout-smashing.
Downside: they could get kicked out and dropped off the bottom, which is what happened nine times out of ten.
“No mistakes. Not this time, baby cat,” Cha muttered. “We’re going to nail this one.”
Katu snarled agreement and coasted up to the back of Big Betty, pacing her perfectly.
They passed a hippo busload of schoolchildren, all of them gaping at the sight and yelling incomprehensible things at them.
Cha decided they were compliments and waved cheerfully.
Something sailed through the air and splatted wetly against her nice upholstery. Fucking brats.
Slowing Katu just a little, so they had room to accelerate, Cha patted his dash. “Let’s show ’em how it’s done, baby cat. On the count of three.”
He revved and lashed the tail he didn’t have in carriage form, but that Cha sensed anyway.
“One.”
She cleared her mind, the obnoxious kids thankfully, falling behind.
“Two.”
Sirens of the law hounds sounded in the distance. Big Betty crested the hill. They’d only be out of line of sight for a few seconds.
They dipped below the crest.
“Three!” she shouted and lent all of her magic to Katu. He leapt forward. She slammed back. Eep, maybe a little too much of a goose there—and hit the dead zone of the ramp—sending Cha reeling forward, clipping her forehead on the dash. Ow.
Katu clawed and scrabbled, still with enough momentum to make it.
Cha was no help now, except as moral support, which was not really her forte.
“You can do it, baby cat!” she encouraged, pushing on the dash as if it would help.
Big Betty’s momentum changed, hitting the bottom of the hill and slowing a little as she began the climb up the next.
They be in sight again in another moment and they’d all be screwed if the fae law spotted them.