by Martha Carr
“Uh-huh.”
“Has nothing to do with you being Goth, though. I just didn’t peg you as a computer nerd.”
The halfling smirked and jerked her head toward the mini-loft. “The giant rig up there with all the high-tech gear didn’t give me away?”
Matthew raised his eyebrows and glanced at the loft over the bathroom. “Ember told me not to go up there.”
“Oh.” Cheyenne chuckled. “Well, Ember was right. And now you know what I do.”
“I just…” He let out a sheepish laugh and shrugged again. “I had this image in my head of you getting a Masters in Women’s Studies or something.”
Cheyenne and Ember let out sharp snorts of surprise.
Their neighbor glanced slowly between them, his smile widening. “And now I have to start all over and replace it with computers and software and...honestly, I don’t know what else is included in all that.”
The halfling’s nose wrinkled when she tried to smile at him. “I’m not sure how I feel about an image of me being in your head.”
“You know what I mean.” He rolled his eyes and shook his head. “Cheyenne handling...all the stuff that goes with your various expertise.”
“We don’t have to get into it right now. Or ever, really. It goes right over most people’s heads.”
“Yeah, I don’t think I’m an exception.” Matthew chuckled. “I mean, I do some stuff with cybersecurity—”
“You what?” Cheyenne lifted her chin and stared at him sidelong. Don’t laugh and point. Might be crossing a line.
“Not like that. I’m on the sales side of things. Networking, handling accounts. That kinda thing.”
Ember let out an exasperated snort and shot her friend a pointed look. “Or he could just go with the actual title and say he owns two cybersecurity firms.”
“Hey, nothing I said was technically wrong.” Matthew grinned down at the fae and shook his head.
The halfling set her hands behind her on the back of the couch. “Just dabbling, huh?”
“I don’t go around telling people unless I’m handing them my business card.”
“I don’t need one of those.” Cheyenne snorted. “If I’m trying to find you, all I gotta do is walk in my front door.”
“Woah!” Ember looked down.
The halfling glanced at her friend and their overly friendly neighbor, then rolled her eyes. “Sorry. I think I’m in ‘stun undergrad students into silence with barbed sarcasm’ mode.”
Which is kinda my go-to mode anyway.
The fae looked at Cheyenne with a resigned expression that said the same thing.
“I can only imagine. And I know I wouldn’t be able to stand up in front of a room of students and try to get anything through their heads, so no offense taken.” Matthew smiled at the halfling and looked genuinely okay about the whole thing.
“All right.” Cheyenne nodded and pulled her cell phone from her back pocket. “Hey, what time was your PT?”
“Oh. Two o’clock.”
“It’s a little after one. Should we get outta here?”
Ember nodded. “Yeah. Yeah, I’m ready to rock the hell out of PT.”
“Anything I can do to help?” Matthew was only asking Ember. He seemed to have forgotten about the bitingly sarcastic Goth chick standing across from him.
“I don’t think so.”
“We got it, Matthew. Thanks for the offer.”
“I’m more than happy to tag along. Help with the chair. Go grab food or whatever while you guys are there. We were just talking about lunch.”
“That’s really awesome of you.” Cheyenne pushed herself away from the back of the couch. Then she clapped her hand on their neighbor’s upper back—hitting his shoulder would’ve been ridiculous with at least a foot between them in height—and guided him toward the front door. “Right now, this is a housemates kinda deal, you know? And we gotta get ready, so thanks for coming over. We’ll see ya later, huh?”
“Yeah. If you need anything, really, guys, I’m right across the hall.”
“Oh, we know. Much appreciated, neighbor.” Cheyenne opened the door and finally removed her hand from his back. “Have an awesome Monday.”
Matthew chuckled and stepped into the hall. “Yeah, you too. Oh, hey. How’d you like the coffee?”
The halfling blinked. “It’s to die for.”
“Ha. Good one. I thought you’d like it.”
“Good taste in coffee, man.” She started to close the door, but Matthew spun and pushed it open again. “Seriously?”
“Sorry.” He stuck his head through the partially open door and grinned at the fae girl watching the whole thing. “Bye, Ember.”
“Yeah, see ya.”
“Yeah. Okay.” Matthew pulled back, nodded quickly at Cheyenne, then stepped all of five feet across the hall and into his apartment.
Cheyenne shut the door all the way and twisted the deadbolt with a jerk. “Are you kidding me with that guy?”
Ember threw her head back and laughed. “He’s a lot.”
“So a lot.” The halfling scrunched her face and closed her eyes. “I can’t believe you spent all day with him yesterday and still let him come back this morning.”
“Come on, Cheyenne. Do you know how hard it is to tell someone, ‘Hey, sorry, I know we live right across the hallway from each other, but I need you to not come over for a full twenty-four hours?’”
“Didn’t sound like that was very hard.”
Ember rolled her eyes. “Yeah, well, I don’t have a problem with you.”
“You have a problem with Matthew? ‘Cause I can take care of that.”
The fae stared at her friend. “Please don’t.”
They burst out laughing. “Then what? You’re just gonna let him drive you crazy? And that’s exactly what’ll happen, by the way. He’s the kind of guy who won’t back down until someone gives him a flat-out no. Even then, it probably takes three or four times to get through his head.”
Ember folded her arms and blinked. “You haven’t spent more than ten minutes in the same room with him.”
“I don’t have to, Em. He’s a carbon copy of half the people who used to show up at my mom’s house asking her for advice, endorsements, or a good word put in with whoever. They’re still knocking down her door, and I spent most of my life watching them do it. If Matthew Thomas dabbles in politics, I bet you he at least knows someone who’s been out to see my mom.”
“That’s crazy.”
“Yeah. But hey, if you need someone to be upfront with the guy, let me know. I also spent most of my life watching Bianca Summerlin gracefully put her foot down with no room for argument, so I’m sure I’ll be able to handle it for you.”
“You did a pretty good job two minutes ago.”
“That was nothing.” Cheyenne wiggled her eyebrows, and her fae friend rolled her eyes.
“I feel really sorry for anyone who gets on your bad side, halfling.”
“My bad side is like ninety-nine-percent of the whole thing.”
They laughed, and Ember ran a hand through her hair. “I’m in the Cheyenne Summerlin one percent. Go, me. And on that note, we really should get going.”
“No problem. What do you need?”
“I got it.” Ember wheeled quickly through the kitchen and into her bedroom.
Cheyenne went to the fridge and pulled out the two leftover pieces of pizza wrapped in tinfoil. She’d eaten one of them by the time Ember came back out with her purse in her lap.
“Wow. My whole worldview of how fast a person can cram pizza into their face has officially been shattered.”
“I have a lot of talents,” the halfling muttered around a mouthful.
“Clearly.” The fae eyed her friend and the cold pizza dangling from Cheyenne’s hand. Then she nodded at the front door. “Let’s go.”
“Right behind you.” Tossing the crumpled foil into the trashcan, the halfling skirted around the kitchen island and raced to the door first.
She leaned against it to peer through the peephole, then unlocked the deadbolt. “Okay, the coast is clear.”
“Come on. Give him a break, huh?”
“What, like he’s giving you a break.” Cheyenne laughed. “We’ll be late if he opens his door and sees us for even a second.”
Ember shook her head. “Then we better be fast.”
“I got you, Em.” As she pulled open the door, the half-drow turned the lock on the handle and held the door open for her housemate to wheel into the hall. Then she pulled the door closed and grabbed the handles on the back of her friend’s wheelchair. “Hold on.”
“What are you—”
It wasn’t drow speed, but it was as close as Cheyenne could get without yanking off the pendant again and maybe giving Ember a heart attack. Ember shrieked and laughed as they raced down the hall, then the halfling punched at the elevator call button over and over, staring at Matthew Thomas’ apartment door at the other end of the hall. “Come on, come on!”
“Oh, my God. He’s not the boogeyman.”
“Really? ‘Cause he keeps showing up at the worst times.”
Finally, the doors opened, and Cheyenne spun the chair around and pulled her friend backward into the elevator. Ember punched the button for the first floor. Just before the doors closed in front of them, the halfling heard their dabbling neighbor’s front door swing open and cracked up all over again.
Chapter Ninety
As Cheyenne wheeled Ember toward the front doors of the physical therapy clinic in Midlothian, the fae pulled out her phone and checked the time. “Hey, look at that. I didn’t think we’d have enough time, but we’re ten minutes early.”
“I told you I was fast.”
“You’re definitely getting better at helping me transfer in and out of this chair.”
The automatic doors slid open, and the halfling pushed her inside. “Speaking of transferring…”
“Uh-huh.”
“I couldn’t help but notice you were already up and out of bed when I fell out of my room. You’re not asking Matthew to—”
“Okay, stop right there. First of all, no. No. Absolutely not. Just—” Ember laughed and shook her head.
Patients sitting in the lobby looked at her before slowly returning to their magazines and cell phones. And they’re not even staring at the Goth chick. Huh.
“Check-in’s over there.” Ember pointed toward one of the many windows sectioned off along the counter in the back, and they headed that way.
“And second of all?” The halfling prompted.
“What? Oh. Second of all, I got something that helps me do that on my own. You’re off the hook.”
“Oh.” Cheyenne slowed them down to fall in line behind a woman leaning on crutches with her foot in a cast. “I didn’t see it as being on the hook in the first place.”
“Sorry to disappoint.”
“Please. I’m not disappointed. I just didn’t know how that was working out. And honestly, Em, I feel bad for leaving you hanging. You know, if you needed me—”
“Hey, I told you I’d call you if I needed help, okay? There’s a lotta stuff I can still do, including figuring out how to do things with fewer people around.”
The halfling nodded. “Fair enough. Consider me guilt-free.” She grinned when Ember snorted and brushed the hair out of her eyes. “So, what did you get?”
“I’ll show you later. We’re up.” Ember nodded toward the next check-in window, and Cheyenne pushed her forward to get the ball rolling.
“Ember Gaderow. I have a physical therapy appointment with Dr. Boseley at two o’clock.”
“Ember. Yes.” The middle-aged woman behind the counter with a massive bun of thick brown hair on the top of her head grinned. “We’re so glad to have you here.” She typed on her keyboard and nodded. “It looks like Dr. Andrews sent over all your records and...every single piece of information we need for your files here. Huh. He must’ve wanted to get you in as soon as possible.”
Ember turned over her shoulder to shoot Cheyenne a questioning look. The halfling raised her eyebrows and shrugged. Busted.
The fae turned back toward the woman behind the counter. “Is that not normal?”
“Oh, uh, the process usually takes a little longer for new patients at this clinic. But unless your personal info has changed in the last few days, we’re good to go.”
“I moved on Friday, actually.”
“Really?” The woman glanced at Cheyenne and immediately back at the new patient. “You’re taking on a lot, aren’t you?”
“Not by myself. Trust me.”
“Hmm.” With a tense smile, the woman pulled up Ember’s file and nodded. “I’ll put that in right now. Go ahead.”
As Ember relayed the new apartment address and verified everything else, Cheyenne turned to take a sweeping glance around the clinic. Clean. Quiet. Low key. So why is the back of my neck tingling?
“Cheyenne?”
“What?”
Ember smiled in confusion and waved behind her at the chairs set up on the other side of the lobby. “We can go now.”
“Right. Sorry.” She wheeled her friend away from the counter and headed toward the waiting room area.
“Okay, let go.” The fae reached up to brush her friend’s hands off the handles, and Cheyenne released them with a chuckle. Ember wheeled herself toward the mostly empty waiting room and stopped beside the closest chair. “Are you okay?”
Cheyenne glanced around the lobby again and narrowed her eyes. “I’m great.”
“Right. ‘Cause you zoned out back there, and now you’re looking for something in a PT clinic. Wanna fill me in?”
Spinning to face her friend, the halfling offered a closed-lipped smile with innocent eyes. “Can’t a friend just check out another friend’s medical facility?”
Ember snorted. “Not when it looks like you think you’re being watched.”
She’s reading that too? “It’s all good, Em. I just wanna make sure you’re in the right place, you know?” Cheyenne stepped toward the chair on the other side of her friend and sat.
The fae frowned and studied the half-drow with a scrutinizing intensity. “Okay, the only reason I’m not telling you to leave that decision up to me is that you—” Ember leaned toward Cheyenne and lowered her voice. “That you’re paying for all this. And don’t even try to deny it to my face. We both know what’s going on.”
Smirking, the halfling crossed one black Van over her knee and slung her arm across the backs of the chairs lined up against the wall.
“If you’re trying to scout this place because you don’t think it’s the best place for me to be, that’s cool, and I seriously appreciate it. I’m not gonna bite the hand that pays my PT bills.”
Cheyenne laughed and didn’t say anything.
“But seriously.” Ember sat back in her chair and tilted her head. “If there’s something else going on, something that’s not related to me getting out of this chair at some point in my life, you better tell me.”
“Nothing’s going on, Em. I promise.” The tingling prickle rose again on the half-drow’s neck, moving slowly across her shoulders. Not my drow magic. No one is standing behind me. What the hell?
“You promise?” Ember raised an eyebrow, and Cheyenne met her friend’s gaze and held it.
Don’t look away. “I promise. And I’ll get it out of the way now and also promise that I’ll tell you about anything else that comes up, whether you’re with me when it happens or not. Like I’ve been doing.”
“Yeah, okay.” A skeptical smile bloomed on the fae’s lips. “Then stop looking like an amateur PI undercover for the first time, huh?”
“You know what? I’ve been sneaking around places without anybody seeing me for, like, as long as I can remember. No amateur sleuthing here, okay?” The halfling laughed and tried to ignore the constant tingling on her neck and shoulders. “Honestly, Ms. Gaderow, I’m a little insulted by your assumptions.”
“Uh-huh. Save the Bianca Summerlin act for your students, Professor.”
“You’re getting way ahead of yourself.”
“Maybe.”
They sat like that for a moment, and the halfling found her gaze drifting back toward the lobby and the patients milling around among nurses and assistants passing in and out of doors.
“Ember?”
Both magicals turned toward the open door on their left, and Ember raised her hand. “Yep.” Then she wheeled toward the nurse standing with a clipboard in hand and looked over her shoulder at Cheyenne. “Come on.”
“What?” The halfling sat upright in the chair. “No, it’s okay, Em. I don’t need to go with you.”
“I know that. Get your ass out of that chair and come with me.”
Cheyenne gripped the edge of the chair and looked at the woman. “Is that okay?”
The woman shrugged and glanced at Ember. “If that’s what she wants, no problem.”
“So get over here.” The fae jerked her head toward the door.
Leaping to her feet, the halfling rubbed her hands down her pantlegs and made her way through the door while the woman held it for her. “Thanks.”
“Of course. Right this way, Ember. My name’s Sarah. I’m Dr. Boseley’s assistant.”
“Hi. This is my friend Cheyenne.”
The halfling nodded with a thin smile. “Moral support.”
Sarah chuckled. “That’s great. Everybody needs someone in their corner now and then, right? That’s what we’re here for too. Dr. Boseley already has an excellent treatment plan written up for you. She’ll go over all that with you first. Talk about how you’re doing now, what you’d like to see happen in the next six, twelve, eighteen months. Then she’ll explain the different phases of your personalized physical therapy plan, and you guys can start today if you’re ready.”
“I was ready before I left the hospital.”
Sarah opened a glass door into what looked like a weight room at a gym, only with machines Cheyenne didn’t recognize and a bunch of other unknown equipment. “This is the ‘gym’ where you’ll be doing all the hard work with Dr. Boseley. You’ll also have a list of exercises you can do at home between sessions. Feel free to take a look around. She should be in here in just a couple of minutes.”