Page 75 of Gray Dawn

The motion was enough to lift his feet off the ground. The slight breeze probably helped. I reached out, let a single finger touch his hip, and watched him drift higher and sideways on an unseen air current.

“Wow.” Colby slid down to perch on my neck. “That’s a neat trick.”

“It’s dangerous.” I called my wings, and the gust as they settled was enough to send Blay fluttering. “See what I mean?” Had I not been holding on to him, he would have blown away. “Let’s get this done so I can return him to normal.”

As gently as I could, I took off, dragging him with me. The faint path I carved through the air whipped him like a banner behind me as I returned to the point with the strongest concentration of magic for him to sample.

“You doing okay?” I watched as he sailed like a pennant. “I’m not hurting you?”

“Blay have fun.” He grinned wide. “Light as feather.” He tucked in his arms. “Stiff as board.”

“Mmm-hmm.” I let him enjoy himself while I pinpointed a likely spot. “Okay, time to get serious.”

Chest expanding, he breathed in until he couldn’t anymore, then exhaled slowly, his nose scrunching.

Crossing my fingers, I braced myself to ask, “Can you tell if Dad was here?”

“Spell too large. Just one big stink.” He kept sampling the air. “Blay not smell Rue’s dad.”

“Okay.” I deflated on the spot. “Thanks for trying.”

That was when I noticed Colby, meaning her cloak had failed. The spell had reached its limits, or it had been sloughed off when we flew through the magic residue. Either way, I couldn’t get it to stick again.

Maybe I could convince her to surrender the Hunk to Blay for a while.

“Blay find black magic,” he promised, grinning when he noticed Colby. “Find Rue’s dad too.”

“I know you’ll do your best, big guy.”

“Blay promise Rue, and Blay always keeps promise.”

“Hold on.” I tugged him closer. “We’re going down.”

“Aww.” He pouted up at me. “Blay not want to go down.”

“Do you want to take over an important job for Colby?”

“Blay help Rue?”

“It would be ahugehelp to me.”

“What Rue need from Blay?”

“Colby, pass him the Hunk.” I held us steady while she offered it to him. “Let him carry it for a while.”

“Keep it safe.” I watched him tuck it into his pants. “Don’t drop it.”

“Blay keep safe.” He patted his pocket. “Hunk not escape Blay.”

Sucker that I was, I did a couple of wide loops, really dragging out the landing.

The smile stretching his cheeks when I set him down, and only then broke the spell, was worth a detour.

“Upsies.” Marita stretched out her arms over her head, wiggling her fingers at me. “Upsies.”

“No.” Derry made grabby hands at me. “I want upsies.”

“No upsies.” I scrubbed a hand down my face. “We need to find Dad, then we’ll goof off.”