Chapter 23
A Jaunt Through the Countryside
Azul’s head whipped around so fast that Cha thought for a second that something bad had happened.
“Why would you ask that?” he demanded, eyes blazing.
With the wind of their passage tossing his dark blue curls, he looked wilder, that sharp edge of danger peeking out from under the broodiness that she suspected more and more was a mask for his true self.
His true fae self, hidden by glamour, perhaps.
That crown had gone somewhere. What else might he have hidden away from human eyes?
She widened her eyes in innocence. “Just making conversation…but now I’m curious.
You have, haven’t you? And lived to tell the tale.
What was he or she like—claws? A tail! Don’t tell me they had leathery wings because I’ll—”
“You’ll suffer not knowing, is what you’ll do,” he interrupted firmly. “I’m not discussing this.”
Allowing a few beats of silence, Cha surveyed the traffic.
A few carriages had caught up with them, though most stayed behind, drafting her or Big Betty, who loomed solidly in the rear-view mirror.
A cheetah carriage had blazed past them early on, followed by a few thoroughbred horses, showing off, windows blacked, and not bothering to offer thanks.
Probably with noble or even fae riders. The rest of them were playing it safe and abiding by the speed set by the sweet Obsidian-black ley line, which was plenty fast for most purposes.
This side of the border, the embedded pixie dust shone with such purity the black seemed to glow.
The fae naturally kept the best stuff for themselves, exporting diluted or even contaminated dust to the human lands.
Thus, inside Obsidian, the ley line zipped along like black lightning, fast, smooth, and without glitches.
It was exciting enough to go to the unwary human’s head, which was why the fae law-hounds patrolled this section of the Black Thirteen—the name for the Obsidian side of the main road—with exceptional fervor.
She and Dy had figured this timing into their plan, knowing they couldn’t afford to be pulled over, ticketed, and outrageously fined.
(The incentives for the Obsidian fae law-hounds to levy sky-high fines were so egregious that bribes didn’t work most of the time.) And it was critical to circumvent the Obsidian depot at night, under cover of full dark.
Besides which, Moonstone—according to rumor—was obnoxiously bright to human eyes in daylight.
Better to get in and out during the dark phase. This was all part of the plan.
Still, both Cha and Katu simmered with impatience, even at the increased speed.
Neither of them did well with being law-abiding.
It was so dull. Especially since Azul hadn’t caved to the pressure of silence and was apparently not only not discussing whether he’d dipped his wick in fae juice—he totally had or his answer would’ve been an easy and emphatic ‘no’—but had subsided into not talking, full stop.
Cha could almost wish for something to happen, but that was always a bad—
The marcasite channel blared so suddenly they both jumped. “Bandit, I’ve got a tail.”
“And a fine one, too,” Cha replied. “Can you describe?”
“Could be a hound in hiding. Not clear, but I’ve got a tingle and it’s stuck like a burr. I’m concerned.”
“But we’re being angels. What did you do to draw attention?”
“I didn’t, thank you for being a bitch. I’m wondering about that unusual border closure.”
“Hmm. Yeah. Okay, keep on keeping on. I’ll investigate and circle back for the depot.”
Cha signed off and switched to the gold channel. “Hola Black Thirteen riders. Bandit here. Anyone spot a bit of a burr on Betty’s tail?”
No response. Well, a few “nopes,” but those counted the same.
Most of their fellow transports, strictly legal or otherwise, could spot a law-hound drunk and with their eyes closed.
Dy, being a sorceress, had an edge on knowing what most people didn’t.
Still, it was downright odd that no one else had copped to scrutiny.
“Huh,” she said aloud after the box went silent.
Dy was right about the coincidence—picking up a clandestine tail when they’d done nothing to attract attention and the border being closed for no discernible reason added up to nothing good.
The possibility that the fae had been tipped off about their jaunt concerned her deeply.
Surely this couldn’t be a set-up. Who would benefit?
“Problem?” Azul asked, a line between his brows.
“Won’t know till we know,” she replied with forced cheer. “This is when it gets interesting.”
“It hasn’t been interesting so far?”
“More interesting,” she qualified, sliding him a sly smile as she slowed Katu. “This is when I do my real job.”
“I was wondering if you had a purpose besides looking hot in a race-carriage and flirting with everything on two legs.”
“Aww, you think I’m hot!”
He rolled his eyes. “I can’t believe that was your takeaway.”
“I excel at takeaways that flatter my vanity,” she replied absently, moving Katu to the slower outside lanes and trying to make it look natural.
Several more carriages passed them, some hooting and honking.
Big Betty sped past, Dy making an obscene gesture with the hand dangling out the window, and Cha chuckled. “Back at ’cha, babe.”
“You two have a decidedly odd friendship.”
“The stuff dreams are made of,” she agreed. “What about you—any Azul besties out there?”
“No,” he replied shortly. “My life is not one that lends itself to the acquisition of ‘besties.’”
“How sad,” she said, meaning it. She slid Katu into a gap, looking for the tail.
Dy hadn’t described the carriage, just in case they were listening in, but it could only be one of several.
They knew the rhino transport lumbering steadily along, as she was a regular on the cargo runs between the Obsidian depot and Rockton.
Kinda nice to see her still on the job after all this time.
The carriage train of bison carrying loaded crates couldn’t be the culprit—not nearly fast enough.
That left the stork single-rider carriage, the zebra sedan, or the lemur.
“What happened to your staff anyway?” she asked, settling Katu back so she could observe the behavior of her three most-likelies from behind.
“What?” Azul sounded evasive, rather than surprised by the question.
She tsked at him. “Don’t take me for a fool. Your people, the ones you called to come fetch you at Giant Jo’s. The ones who didn’t show and left your ass hanging in the wind for hellboy and his pet wolves to grab.”
“Ah, those people.”
She waited. He said nothing more.
“They fucked you, didn’t they? And don’t say ‘excuse me’ in that poncy tone. You know the what-what here.”
Azul sighed, eyeing the carriages drafting Big Betty. “It’s the zebra.”
Oh now, that was interesting, even if he was avoiding the question. “How do you know?”
He flicked her a glittering blue glance. “I can see it. Or rather through it. There’s a glamour on it.”
“See? I knew you’d be useful.” She clicked to marcasite. “Keep a finger on my pulse, Goldi, I’m going for a spin.”
“I’ve got you,” Dy replied, and Warg burbled as she drew on him to ground her ley magic. Dy was ready to give Cha whatever she needed to draw off the zebra. “A word to the wise—all this pure black might be a bit much in the wild. If you lose me, that’s why.”
“Understood. I’m a big girl.” Back on the gold, Cha said, “Steer clear, jockeys. The Bandit is stretching her legs.”
“Is that wise to announce your intentions?” Azul asked, obviously a quick learner, bracing himself for the move to come.
“Being wise isn’t part of my job description,” she answered, revving Katu, and finding the slim line of white Dy had begun to subtly weave into the black. She ignored Azul’s snort of derision and grinned at him. “Being bait is.”
Sensing they’d fully centered on the white, Cha pulled up parallel to the zebra. Goosing Katu, she let out a defiant whoop, pumping her fist in the air. They leapt forward, Azul’s screech sounding enough like a joy rider’s to be convincing.
For a moment she thought the hound-in-hiding wasn’t going to take the juicy bait she offered.
It stayed stubbornly stuck to Big Betty.
So, Cha darted across several lanes, causing a ruckus, though most of the other drivers had paid attention to her warning, and were alert for her antics.
Still, the dullards not monitoring their channels helped with the show.
They howled and skidded, Katu fishtailing as he crossed several ley speeds in succession, which made for a nice show.
Dy had also slowed Big Betty to a sedate, sub-par pace.
Finally, the zebra bobbled, then shot out from behind Betty in a direct intercept for Cha.
That was more like it. With the predator now on their tail, Cha synced with Katu, concentrating on that delicious white streak. They shot ahead, Katu growling in triumph at finally getting to stretch his legs.
“They’re gaining,” Azul said. “Shall I dissuade them?”
“No,” Cha barked. “We want them close enough to smell our farts. Don’t worry, sunshine—I won’t let them catch us.”
She poured on the speed, zooming up the Black Thirteen, the zebra right behind. No lights from them, but a magically enhanced voice boomed out for them to pull over immediately.
“They want you to pull over,” Azul said, as if she might not have heard.
“Too bad I’m deaf in this ear,” Cha commented, flicking an eye at the rear view. They were awfully close, the occupants of the closed sedan obscured by the window shading and probably whatever glamour kept them concealed. “You’re royalty—do you do everything you’re told?”
“I wouldn’t know. You’re the first person to give me orders.”
“Except your family.”
“Well, they—” He broke off. Sighed. “That’s different.”
“I can just imagine. I don’t suppose your powers extend to moving or creating ley lines?”
“Not at all. Is that a problem? You should have asked that sooner, if—”
“Not a problem, boy-o. Just would’ve been convenient.
Goldilocks is on the job. Any moment now,” she added.
The zebra carriage, still barking out increasingly loud instructions to obey, was close enough that if she slowed in the slightest, they’d plow into the back of Katu.
“Come on, Dy,” she muttered under her breath. “Anytime now.”
“You could call her.”
“Too distracting. She’s working her sorcery to—Aha!”
The new ley line appeared off to the side, so abruptly that it required a tighter than sixty degree turn to make it.
Fortunately, Katu was light and responsive—and accustomed to sensing Dy’s magic.
They wrenched hard onto the ley, a bright, dazzling white.
Bless Dy and all that bottled-up sorcery.
Shooting off the Black Thirteen, they plunged across what looked to be a field of volcanic rock.
Matte black, frozen in swirling flows, with occasional twisted bits of plant life struggling toward the sky, the bleak landscape looked like what most people imagined when they thought of the land of the Obsidian fae.
When they weren’t imagining a magical party land where they could play fae and pretend nothing was going to mutate them.
“Shit.” Cha took several quick glances at the rear view, splitting her concentration between that and guiding Katu over the unfamiliar, twisting landscape via a brand-new, high-velocity white ley line that wasn’t supposed to be there. “I think we lost them.”
Azul, giving every impression of a man afraid for his life and clinging to his last thread of hope, gritted out, “Isn’t that a desirable outcome?”
“No! We want them to follow us, to draw them off Big Betty.”
“Then perhaps you shouldn’t make it so bloody difficult for them.”
“We don’t want them to catch us either.”
“A conundrum, to be sure.”
“Yeah, a fine line to ride,” she replied, ignoring the sarcasm.
“So is this ley line. Fine, I mean. Not ideal, but Dy has been out of practice and she made this one with little warning. I just hope that she didn’t—oof.
” The wind whoomped out of her lungs as they juddered to a slow down so abrupt it felt like hitting a wall, even though they were still moving.
Azul had already braced a hand on Katu’s dash, so he wasn’t thrown as hard as Cha, but he looked severely pained anyway. Or maybe that was just his normal, pampered-prince-forced-to-suffer-ignominious-peasant-life pained expression. “What now?”
“Dy did,” Cha answered, maneuvering Katu around on the ley line they’d just been spat onto.
It was high-quality slick black, like one would expect of a line on this side of the border, and fast enough by most measures, but after being temporarily spoiled by that lovely white, well…
this felt like molasses. She also wasn’t sure exactly where they were headed now.
Squinting at the map, she flicked it with a finger, seeing if it showed their new trajectory.
The globe spun wildly for a moment then, with an internal blizzard of magical black snow, then returned to exactly the same as it had been before, not showing their current location. Uh oh.
“Did what?” Azul asked with exaggerated patience.
Cha spared him a glance. “What? Oh—Dy. When she made us the escape line, she bridged it to an existing line—not unusual, and definitely easier for her, but a problem right now because I don’t know this area and this fae back ley could be going anywhere and not fast. The map also seems to be on the fizzle—probably all the black pixie dust interfering—which means I don’t know how to get back to the Black Thirteen. ”
“Can’t we just turn around?”
“Might have to because I don’t know where we’re heading and wherever that is could be really bad for us and—Shit!”
“Now what?” He sounded almost despairing.
“We didn’t lose the tail. There they are and closing fast.”
“I thought that was a good thing…”
“Yes and no. We drew them off Big Betty: Good. Can’t turn around on an unknown rural ley in Obsidian: not so great.”
“Then why are you smiling?”
She realized it was true—she was grinning ear to ear. “Cuz this will be fun!”
He groaned and thumped his head back against the seat. “I’m starting to hate it when you say that.”