Page 13 of Heart of a Dire Wolf
Mauk answered immediately. “The radio is playing music.”
“Good,” she said, just like Mauk was one of her newbie magic students. “What can you tell us about the occupants?”
“The driver is human. The passenger is a non-shifter dog. The vehicle would be an unsuitable home.”
“Why?” asked Nic.
“No processor. No charge capacity. No magic. Two pistons are misfiring. The engine leaks oil and gets poor gas mileage.” Mauk’s disdain made Skyla smile. Clearly Ivy’s influence.
Nic chuckled. “If I ever need to buy a car, I’m taking you with me as an advisor.”
They discovered Mauk could hear inside vehicles as far as five miles ahead if the occupants spoke or the radio blared. He had access to satellites the world over but could only display a ten-mile radius at a time.
Once they passed through Barstow, she moved into the right lane, then set the cruise control for just under the speed limit. She took her foot off the accelerator and wiggled her toes. Rubber flip-flops were better than no shoes at all, but not by much. Mauk’s display map said only two more hours to Vegas.
Nic angled in his seat, trying to find someplace for his long legs.
“Mauk, can you adjust the seat for Nic so he can stretch out?”
“Yes. However, interior transfiguration will reduce my store of magic by twenty-five percent. My detection range becomes smaller.” The map in the center display squished to accommodate a sidebar with three graphics showing the three energy sources. The gauge for magic showed half a… tank, for want of a better word. Magic repositories didn’t really have a shape, as far as she knew.
“How do we recharge the magic?” asked Nic.
“Three ways. Immediate direct transfer from a sorcerer, wizard, ancient, or similar magic user. Osmotic transfer from a powered charm, such as the solar collector device on the roof. The life force of any living creature that attempts to damage the owner or the trees in her care.”
Nic muttered something about his mother being right about dryads.
Skyla sighed. Ancients—elves, fairies, vampires, and the like—usually didn’t share their magic, and certainly not with semi-sentient vehicles. Five weeks as an underground captive and running for her life had taken its toll on her own magic, and she’d spent a lot of her own store on the healing spell for Lerro and shorting out cell doors. “How long does it take to get a full charge from the solar charm?”
“Ten hours in full sunlight.” A two-day weather forecast replaced the gauges in the sidebar. “At the current consumption rate and factoring the coming storm, the magic store will be at capacity approximately thirty-five hours from now.”
Nic rested a hand on her shoulder. “Thanks for thinking of me, but I’d rather be safe.” He stroked her soft neck with the backs of his fingers. “I’ll let the seat back down and nap now, so I can take the wheel after Las Vegas.”
Amazingly, he did just that, somehow managing to fold his long limbs into a comfortable position. She deeply envied feline shifters the ability to sleep anywhere, anytime. Her non-stop brain categorically refused to take naps. Maybe if the mate bond allowed them to share gifts, as sometimes happened with shifters with different animal souls, she’d get that from him.
Unfortunately, it left her alone with her thoughts and her worries. Wizards with abundant magic and money made dangerous enemies. Any one of the escaping shifters could blow the whole lucrative operation, so the auction house had strong incentives to send all available hunters after them. The hunters would be sorry if they crossed Ivy, who was part vengeful dryad and part mountain fairy, with all the famously volcanic temper of that species, but they could do some damage.
She hoped all the escaping shifters had continued to help each other and scattered to the four winds. She worried about the bobcat shifter twins that Nic had befriended, because she suspected he’d blame himself if they got caught or hurt. She sent prayers to the moon goddess to watch over poor, tortured Lerro, still in the underground hell. She’d probably be crazy as a loon if she’d been blessed with the curse of prophecy.
She mourned for her beautiful, taller, supremely competent sister. She’d probably have taken down the entire complex on her way out and freed everyone. All Skyla had been able to do was spread the word and take advantage of the earthquake to open the cell doors. Luck had done the rest.
She stole glances at Nic from time to time, wondering what his face looked like under all that dark curly hair and beard. At the moment, he mostly looked exhausted. Tigers weren’t built for marathon runs across hot, arid mountains. He hadn’t complained once, which put him several rungs above the few other boyfriends she’d had in the past. She liked that he seemed at peace with himself, and genuinely interested in getting to know her. She couldn’t imagine anything lonelier than only having the physical act of sex in common with her mate.
She felt guilty for not telling Nic about the true nature of her beast. Sins of omission were still lies, and that was no way to build a lifelong relationship with anyone. She decided she’d tell him once they made it past Las Vegas. That way, if the news upset him enough to partially shift, she’d rather it not be in a city full of humans, each with a smartphone camera in their pocket.
If the secrets of the hidden world ever got out, what humans would do to magical species would make the auction house cells seem like a luxury resort.
