Wet and Wired by Zenina Masters

Chapter One
     
     
    Leda checked the live connections and smiled as her scanners popped with bright lights. It was all good. She had managed to mash wiring with magic and brought Wi-Fi to the Isthmus. It wasn’t neat, but it was working.
    She checked her phone and grinned. It was a nice, strong signal. She sent herself a congratulatory email, and it bounced back to her in a minute, popping into her inbox.
    The happy dance that she wanted to engage in wasn’t appropriate on the twenty-foot ladder, but she mentally did a jig as she stepped down one rung at a time.
    On the ground, she collapsed the ladder, put her tools back in her belt and tucked the climbing assist into its storage unit.
    The Isthmus was running fine on its own, but Leda was going to have to take on the position of electronics maintenance at the Crossroads for an indefinite period.
    The Crossroads was moving with the times and that meant better communication with the human world. If folks could keep track of their businesses and families while seeking a mate, some might be more inclined to make the jump.
    Leda hiked out of the small village between the waters and headed up the hill. The sun was bright, and the walk wasn’t too bad, but another specialist was being called in to create a new portal between the original Crossroads and the Isthmus.
    Aquatic portals were tricky, and the one planned at the Isthmus was going to be in the wet room beneath the main city.
    She sauntered into the general store to talk to her cousin. “Hiya, Andy.”
    Andy was unpacking a pallet of merchandise, straightening the dresses with practiced ease.
    “Leda. How are you doing?”
    “Pretty good. The Crossroads and Isthmus are wired for communications.” She wrinkled her nose.
    “What did Tony and Teal say?”
    “Nothing. I popped in here first. Do you have what I asked for?” She waggled her brows at him.
    He looked left and right. When he was sure that she was the only one in the store, he went to the wall, slid aside a picture and pulled out a bundle of sticks and bark.
    Leda Amhartson nearly groaned with perverse glee. “Gimmee, gimmee, gimmee.”
    Andy extended it to her, and then, he jerked it back. “Who is your favourite supplier?”
    She hissed and snapped her fingers. “My cousin Andy who is about to suffer the tragic loss of a limb.”
    He grinned and dropped the bundle into her hands. She leaned forward and inhaled the scents—lemongrass, cinnamon, pepper, licorice; all of her favourite chewing sticks were in that bundle. It was a beaver shifter’s dream stash.
    She held it in her hands and nodded. “Thank you and you have my word that your Internet will continue to be accessible.”
    “I know you are a woman of your word.” He winked. “Now, go and tell the guardians that the Isthmus is online.”
    “You are not the boss of me.” She stuck out her tongue and turned, narrowly avoiding the wall of male that had crept in behind her.
    She could smell sunshine and the ocean. She peeped upward, saw golden hair and bright blue eyes. Everything else was a blur. “Excuse me, please.”
    She moved around him and made a run for it. Finding a mate wasn’t in her plans.
     
    Teal and Tony were sitting with Dira and Mak. The hugely pregnant dragon was sipping tea and looking a little scaly around the extremities.
    Dira smiled and asked, “Is it done?”
    “It is. The Crossroads and the Isthmus are both wired for online communication via the Shifter’s Guild servers.”
    Teal grinned. “Excellent. When I first came here, the Internet was a vague idea. It was a thought, and now, it is a reality.”
    Tony chuckled. “You are making yourself sound ancient.”
    Teal shrugged. “Our lack of aging has weird effects on my sense of self. Some days I feel as young as the day we arrived, and others, I feel I have been here forever and then some.”
    Dira snorted. Fire shot out of her nose, and Mak calmly patted the embers on her belly.
    The surface of her dress