Chapter 27 Prince Charming Has Left the Building
Prince Charming Has Left the Building
Reaching the slow black, Cha gave Katu a last round of chin skritches and kissed him on the head, murmuring to him what a good kitty he was, then sent him back into carriage form.
“Speaking of being a sorcerer,” she said to Azul, as they both slid into their seats and he carefully re-holstered the magic wand, in neat tandem with her stowing her sword, “back at Giant Jo’s, you didn’t need the wand.
You hurled those sparkly blueberry fireballs on your own, without any assistance. Or singing.”
“And look how well that turned out,” he replied grimly. “If not for your rescue, I’d even now be married to Lenorae and—” He waved a hand in place of words when his voice abruptly choked off.
“Why don’t you have a lodestone?” it occurred to her to ask.
“I don’t need one.”
Very clipped answer from the broody prince. She could only hope he wrestled the same sexual frustration plaguing her. They glided with maddening slowness back to the Black Thirteen.
“Dy has one,” she said conversationally.
No big deal. Just chatting. No way was she going to sit in silence and think about that kiss while he ignored her.
“A lodestone, that is. His name is Warg. Nothing attractive about the creature, but she’s attached to him.
And, obviously, as a human sorceress, she needs him to work magic without frying her brains. ” She let that dangle meaningfully.
He gave her a long, cool look. “What are you implying?”
“I’m just saying.”
“Seven hells,” he bit out.
“You can trust me,” she insisted, watching the oncoming traffic, thinking his curse was for the proof she’d thrown in his lap that he was far more fae than he’d made himself out to be.
That was the only explanation for his being able to work native magic without a lodestone.
She eyed a substantial caravan of big rhino rigs, waiting for them to lumber past before she released Katu to climb the ramp, and told herself she wasn’t being a hypocrite by using those words with him when she’d given that little speech on trust being earned.
“Not that,” he spat. “That!”
She followed his pointing finger in the other direction and goggled. The landscape just beyond the ambrosia station seemed to be crawling toward them. “What is—”
“Demons,” he answered before she even finished. “Ginger imps. And, call me paranoid, I believe they’re headed for me. Go.”
They would have to be on slow black when the ginger imps attacked.
Famous last words coming back to bite her in the ass.
Despite the rhino blockade, she pushed Katu forward as fast as the side ley would take them, which was still slower than they could walk.
Once she hit the fast black, she could dodge and weave around the caravan, though there’d be some hurt feelings. Better than dead-them though.
“Faster,” Azul demanded, a hint of real fear in his voice.
“I can’t go faster on the slow black,” she said through her teeth. “Got to get to the on ramp.”
“I could run faster than this,” he said with even greater urgency.
“Yeah, but could you run faster than them?” She jerked her head at the onrushing imps, gaining with unnatural speed.
“You have a point.”
“So do you,” she conceded, eyeing the chittering mass of toothy demons in the rear view and using her expert eye to gauge the time to the faster black and their getaway. “We’re not going to make it. Use the wand.”
“Won’t work,” he gritted out, hands on the dash as if he could push Katu faster. “Ginger imps are Cinnabar magic.”
She didn’t ask how he knew—though in the rear view she supposed she could make out a distinctive burnt-orange glow to the creatures. Katu snarled, unhappy, clawing up the slow black, the fast black glowing so tantalizingly close, much too far to help them. “I thought Ruby trumps Cinnabar.”
“Not when it’s mitigated by Moonstone,” he replied tersely, straining in his seat.
Cha had a brief moment of wrestling herself, though it didn’t take much, even if her lustful self had somehow escaped her prison and had edged up beside her responsible self again, whispering naughty suggestions in her ear.
They agreed on at least this one decision, uncharacteristically self-sacrificing though it may be.
“I won’t blame you if you want to run,” she said, restraining a sigh, hoping he’d nobly refuse to leave her.
No such luck. He levered out of the seat, vibrating in cobalt agitation to run. Then paused.
“Come with me.” He held out a hand to her. “I can get us both away.”
She didn’t ask the how on that, either. She believed him. She longed to take that hand.
She shook her head. “I can’t leave Katu.”
He nodded, unsurprised. “I’ll draw them off, you should be fine.”
“Wait—how will you get to your own BX?”
“I can find a way from here. Do I have to tell you to keep this safe?” He handed her the wand.
“I handled myself before you came along. I can handle things from here.”
“Just, be careful, over there,” he said, jerking his head in the direction of Moonstone.
“My middle name. Good luck resolving your marital woes.”
Hesitating a long extra second, his blue gaze bored into hers. “Goodbye Arantxa.”
And he was gone.
*
It wasn’t the lingering, romantic—or at least frustrated-lust-filled—farewell that Cha might’ve envisioned in her more idealistic moments. But it was probably for the best. Sharp and quick, like pulling the dagger out of your back.
Besides, they’d had no time for anything more.
Prince Charming had left her as if the demon spawn of the seven hells were on his heels—which, in this case, was almost literally true.
True to his promise, the horde of ginger imps diverted, running in a smoldering red-orange river after him.
Unfortunately, a few of the less bright imps leapt onto Katu anyway.
They were mostly big mouths on spindly, claw-tipped limbs, and they chomped down with rows of serrated teeth on the first soft surface they could find.
Katu yowled in pain and protest, the carriage shimmering unsteadily as he instinctively tried to shift into his native form to fight back.
“Hold steady, baby cat,” Cha urged, trying to sound soothing.
The enchantment should hold Katu in carriage form, but sometimes the animal instinct overrode even fae magic.
The last thing she needed was for them to take a spill on the verge of fast black.
“I’m here for you,” she added, as she pushed to her feet in the driver’s seat.
She didn’t need a magic wand; she had her trusty sword.
As it should be: Katu and her, a forever loyal pair.
She wouldn’t forget her priorities again.
She impaled a growling, munching, now squealing imp.
The sword went right through it and the imp reached for her with weirdly long limbs, burnt-orange claws flexing as it shrieked and flailed on the sword.
With distaste, Cha used a booted foot to slide it to the end, then whipped the sword like a slingshot to hurl the creature onto the fast black, where a ponderous rhino promptly ran it over, mashing it into the sifting pixie dust. Too bad that wouldn’t be enough to fry the nasty imp, but it should work to slow it down.
Hopefully long enough for Katu to be far away before it extracted itself.
She dealt the same treatment to the other three imps, counting her blessings that they hadn’t been smart enough to turn on her en masse.
She’d had enough of being chewed on for the next little while.
By the time she’d dispatched her lot, Katu—calm again and focused on the task—had crawled up to the Black Thirteen, idling in wait for her go ahead.
She slid back into her seat, and jabbed the gold channel into life.
“Bandit here. Who’s riding the rhino train by the ambrosia station on the Black Thirteen?
” She hoped that would be enough detail.
How many rhino trains in receiving distance could there be?
“Ho there, Bandit, this is Wailing Jenny. That you hurling toothy comets at us?”
“Apologies for that. I’ll make it up to you. Can you give me a gap to get on and get going?”
“I’m holding you to that make-up gift. I like Amethyst wine.” Cha rolled her eyes at that hint. A pricey apology. “Here’s your window of opportunity,” Wailing Jenny added, and the nose-to-tail rhino rigs parted, just wide enough for a sleek jag like Katu to slip through.
Cha barely had to prompt Katu to go—he leapt for the opening with fury and enthusiasm, more than happy to escape the place where those awful imps had dared to nip at him.
He darted through the space Jenny had made for him and passed the laden beasts easily, pouring on as much speed as the Black Thirteen would allow.
Checking the time, Cha verified that it would be tight, but she’d make it to the rendezvous with Dy and Big Betty at the depot, with a bit to spare.
Then she’d have Dy’s assist again, to power past the depot, over the border to meet their Moonstone contact, and out again to blaze back home with the prize.
All still according to plan, more or less. Minus a sexy fae prince or two.
It was only after a few minutes of cruising clear, the night wind ruffling her hair, Katu settling from his scare as he burned off the adrenaline in speed, that it hit Cha: Azul had taken off without giving her the platinum coin.
“Lost the boy and the coin,” she muttered. “Doesn’t it just figure.”
*
The light traffic had lightened even more, the Black Thirteen narrowing to a single lane, as they neared the depot.
It was a big, sprawling complex, mostly horizontal, with none of the stereotypical fae spires and towers.
That was because humans had helped to design the thing, optimizing the structure for the relay of Obsidian exports.
It was a rare example of fae-human collaboration, practically a historical monument, and had an actual guided tour and gift shop.