Yes, he was.Cha met Phinny’s gaze over Dy’s head, and the redhead rolled her eyes, giving a little headshake of resigned disgust.The homely creature had to be even more ancient and full of slobber than ever.
“With the gold from Otto, you could take some coin to purchase a new lodestone,” Cha suggested, a bit desperately.“Hell, I’ll buy you one from my coin.Consider it an expense to do the gig.”
“Anewlodestone?”Dy was as aghast as if Cha had suggested gutting one of her children.“Warg has been with me for years.You know that, Cha.We’re a package deal.I can’t ground my ley-line magic without a lodestone and Warg is the best one I’ve ever worked with.If I don’t have Warg, I risk having that ley magic crawl right back up my connection and fry my brains—and then where would you be?No ley worker is safe without a lodestone.”
“I’m not saying go without,” Cha protested.She’d never suggest such a thing.Not after that smuggling job when Warg chased after a gremlin, leaving Dy high and dry during an adjustment on a high-test white ley line—not incidentally their escape route.No longer grounded by the magically null lodestone, the white dust had surged in an uncontrolled backflow, knocking Dy unconscious.Stranded with Big Betty carrying a full load of contraband, no ley line, and the howls of the law-hounds closing in, Cha had been sure they were bound for a nasty mutation.Fortunately, Dy regained consciousness just as Warg returned and they all jumped onto the white ley line just before the hounds caught up to them.Without Dy’s ability to close off the line behind them, their career would’ve been over then.
Dy absolutely needed a lodestone, especially with the high potency dust they’d be dealing with.Cha just wished she’d get rid of the stinking and tragically unreliable Warg.
“Then whatareyou saying?”Dy demanded with narrowed eyes.
“I’m saying…” Desperately, she tried to think of something to dig herself out of this rapidly deepening hole.“You deserve to level up,” she declared, feeling inspired.“Warg is ancient, incontinent, and prone to chase gremlins.”
“Oh, he’s not that bad.”Dy folded her arms and glared.“You can’t possibly be suggesting I take on a mission of this magnitude with an untested, completely new-to-me lodestone!”
“No.”Cha sighed for the inevitability.“Get Warg and let’s transform Big Betty.The sooner we get the next installment of Otto’s gold, the happier I’ll be.”
~8~
Firing up Big Betty
Big Betty dozedin the barn at the back of the property, an incongruous sight.The enormous elephant lazily plucked piles of fruit from a manger in her plus-sized stall while the much smaller horses and donkeys stamped nearby.
By the look of her, Big Betty hadn’t been on the juice for some time.Animals that hadn’t transformed to ride the ley lines in a while lost that glossy shimmer of magic, as the ambrosia that fueled them in carriage form gradually faded from their systems, and they reverted to resembling their more natural counterparts.Sometimes, the enchantment that gave them the ability to transform degraded entirely, rendering the creatures standard household pets forever more.
Cha squinted dubiously at Big Betty.“Haven’t you been driving her?”
“When would I?”Dy demanded grumpily, though her scowl softened when Betty lifted her trunk in a welcome.She went to the great beast and patted the gray-whiskered cheek with affection.“The company has me drivingtheirrigs—optimized for their proprietary ley lines.”
“Then what’s the point of having you at the controls?”Cha demanded.“Any baby ley rider can snooze in the cab of a transport and hit the switches at the junctions.You’re wasted in that job.”
“I know that,” Dy ground out.“Not that I’m wasted—because of course any ley rider can follow the stabilized lines.But that’s why I’m on the night runs now.There’s been a lot of damage to the commercial ley lines.Vandalism on the proprietary paths the locals aren’t supposed to use.They need me on the job because I can effect the repair on the fly and keep the delivery schedule and don’t look at me like that!I’m good at my job.”
“That’s like saying the sun is good at drying piss on the pavement,” Cha scoffed.“You’re the most powerful, skilled, and inventive ley sorceress I’ve been privileged to know.Probably that exists anywhere outside the fae realms.”
“That was someone I used to be maybe, a long time ago.”
“Don’t be ridiculous.You’re still you—and you should be running that company, not working as some overqualified repair-mage.”
“Well, now I’m doing neither, since I’m officially quitting.”
“About time, too.You’re way too special for the likes of them.”
Dy paused, blinked at Cha.“Why are you the only person who ever believed in me?”
Cha snorted.“Phinny believes in you.”
Shaking her head slowly, Dy caressed Betty’s trunk, which curled lovingly around her tiny waist.“That’s different.Besides, my mother never did.”
“Your horrible mother doesn’t believe in anything but herself.Bad example.”
“And even Phinny was dazzled by the fame.You believed in me from the beginning and with unwavering intensity, even when I was no one.”
“You wereneverno one.”Cha tried to sound brusque, but the words came out a little rough.“You’re my partner.I know what you can do, and you saved my ass more times than I can count.”
“Likewise,” Dy said on a sigh, then gave Cha a searching look, a vulnerability in it she hadn’t shown in front of Phinny.“Do you really think we can do this?”
“If we can’t, no one can.”
