by Martha Carr
“Oh, yeah?” The halfling gave him a tight-lipped smile of disapproval. “What’s that?”
“Everything comes with a price.”
A cold wave of disbelief washed over her body. No fucking way have L’zar and Bianca been comparing notes. “What did you say?”
“You heard me. It’s time for you to learn how that applies to the way we do things from here on out. The way we handle this war and hopefully stop it in its tracks before the real cost must be paid.”
“And what about the cost of you disappearing when we got attacked? You went off and hid in the woods while the rest of us put our necks out there to protect the others you invited here.” When her father didn’t reply or even acknowledge her, Cheyenne leaned toward him and muttered, “How many of your loyal rebels know they’re following a coward?”
“Like I said, no one can know I’m with you.” L’zar raised a thin bone-white eyebrow, then nodded toward Ember. “Right now, I’m much more interested in what happened with your Nós Aní. That portal she closed was a direct line to Ambar’ogúl.”
Cheyenne glared after him as he walked across the clearing. Tuning out the low moans of the prisoners behind her, she headed stiffly toward Ember and the rest of their group, who had gathered around her. When Ember saw her coming, a burst of violet light lifted her from the grass and deposited her in the wheelchair Persh’al pushed quickly toward her.
The clearing was thick with a tense silence. Then Ember gazed at the faces of those staring at her and shrugged. “Anyone wanna tell me what the hell just happened?”
“You had your first taste of what’s possible as Cheyenne’s Nós Aní,” Corian said with a small nod. “And that awakened what looks like a large portion of your magic, if not most of it.”
“Yeah, I figured that part out on my own. I’m talking about the portal, or rather the big one. Who was that?”
L’zar glanced at Cheyenne and cocked his head. “That portal opened straight from the other side, Ember.”
“What?” The fae looked at Cheyenne for answers, but the halfling could only shrug and shake her head. “How is that even possible?”
“With a lot of magic the Crown shouldn’t be able to use.” L’zar lifted his chin and looked first at Corian, then at Persh’al. “Looks like we were on the right track. The Crown’s now siphoning magic from the land and her subjects, which means we have even less time than I thought.”
Cheyenne swallowed. “Because now she knows about Ember.”
“Now she knows.” Corian nodded. “A child of L’zar’s who’s passed the trials and been bound to a Nós Aní is more of a threat than she imagined possible. The Crown will redouble her efforts to stop you, and she’ll be expecting you to take the next step.”
Cheyenne snorted. “That stupid coin.”
“What she won’t expect is to find me at your side, Cheyenne.” L’zar dipped his head in concession. “If we can contain things long enough for Corian and me to finish what we started.”
The halfling waited for either of them to offer more information on that little nugget. When they didn’t, she spread her arms. “Care to share what that is?”
“We need to get L’zar across the Border without alerting the Crown,” Corian muttered. “She’s had hundreds of years to perfect her methods for keeping him out of Ambar’ogúl.”
“That’s one hell of a security system.”
L’zar snickered and turned toward his daughter. “When you know the right locks to pick, none of it matters. We’re just waiting for the tumblers to turn.”
“Right. Because you’re the best O’gúleesh thief either world has ever known.”
“Something like that.”
“We should go,” Corian added. “Ember bought us plenty of time before the Crown will make another attempt like this, but I’d rather not push it. The sooner we leave, the harder it’ll be for her people to trace us again.”
“By all means.” L’zar dipped his head and waited for Corian to cast another portal in the clearing. The whole time, he stared at Ember, studying her like someone else would study a piece of chocolate cake.
The fae met his gaze and leaned away. “Whatever you’re thinking, cut it out.”
He chuckled and closed his eyes.
Corian’s portal glistened with dark light as it opened, and he gestured for the others to head through into Persh’al’s warehouse. Before anyone else moved, Ember wheeled herself over the grass toward the opening. “I don’t know about the rest of you, but I’m ready to get out of here.”
“Right behind you, Em.” Cheyenne nodded when her friend gave her a thin smile before she rolled across the warehouse’s concrete floors.
Byrd and Lumil went next. The goblin woman shot another look at the lined-up prisoners and snorted. Then L’zar stepped through, his chin lifted and his golden eyes focused on something only he could see. Persh’al scooped up one of the round flying machines Cheyenne had shot from the sky, tossed it once in his hand, and nodded as he followed the others.
Corian caught Cheyenne’s gaze, and she turned away from the portal toward the prisoners immobilized in the center of the clearing. “I have to deal with this first.”
“I understand.” With the flick of his wrist, the portal closed. “I’ll wait.”
“Thanks.” She dug into the pocket of her fancy new trench coat and pulled out her phone. This is gonna be one of my weirder phone calls, for sure. “Hey, where are we right now?”
Corian raised an eyebrow.
“I mean, geographically.”
The nightstalker pressed his lips together and turned away to hide a smile. “Savage River State Forest.”
“Shit. That’s hours from them.” Cheyenne rolled her eyes and pulled up Rhynehart’s number. “This is not gonna be pretty.”
“It doesn’t have to be pretty, kid, as long as it gets done.”
“Yeah, I’ve noticed that’s how you guys operate with most things, but there are different levels to that. Getting something done doesn’t always have to be a shitstorm.”
A slow grin broke out on Corian’s feline face. “I’ve always agreed with that sentiment, Cheyenne. That’s something L’zar still hasn’t managed to wrap his head around.”
She snorted. “Well, I’m not here to clean up L’zar’s messes. Just my own.”
The phone rang twice before Rhynehart picked up her call. “I didn’t expect to hear from you again for a while.”
“It’s not like I ever plan to call you.” With a quick glance at Corian, Cheyenne stepped away from him and pretended like that made a difference.
“So, what made you pick up the phone?”
“First, I should probably tell you that I can’t say anything about the how or the why. Like, at all.”
“Uh-huh.”
“That’s part of working next to each other, right? This has to be something you tell me you can handle without any questions since I can’t answer them.”
Rhynehart paused on the other end of the line and cleared his throat. “Well, what can you tell me?”
“I’ve got two dozen magicals tied up in front of me.”
“You what?”
“Are you gonna hear me out, or should I call someone else?”
Rhynehart sighed. “Sorry. Keep talkin’.”
“I’m ninety-nine-percent positive none of them are in your system. At all. And even if they are, you won’t be able to get their names out of them.”
“What did you do?”
“Jesus, I didn’t do anything! I’m trying to clean this up the best way I know how, and right now, that’s calling the one guy who said he trusts that I know what I’m doing. Don’t tell me I made the wrong choice.”
“Sounds like there’s more to this situation.”
Cheyenne let out a slow breath and forced her anger back down where it belonged. There’s a time and a place. This isn’t it. “Yeah, there’s a lot more, but I’m hoping you’ve got some special FRoE tricks up your sleeve for t
his one. These magicals aren’t registered, and they’ve been causing a lot of problems over here.”
“Which falls right into my jurisdiction.”
“I know. It’s just a little more delicate. They’re pretty much useless for anything but taking up space right now, and the only way to change that is to take them back across the Border. I mean, by the hand.”
“Uh, you know my guys don’t make that crossing.”
“Yeah, but you send some of the bad eggs back through the rez portals. Give someone a free pass in exchange for ferrying these ones across. Worst-case scenario, no one steps up to the plate, and you push these ones through anyway.”
“Best case, we’re getting rid of two dozen jerkoffs who somehow slipped in right under our noses, plus whoever takes our offer as a guide.”
Cheyenne nodded. “Exactly.”
“Sounds like a win-win for the FRoE. What’s in it for you?”
Closing her eyes, the halfling bowed her head. I can use it as a bargaining chip. That’s it. “I won’t have to kill them.”
Rhynehart cleared his throat again. “All right, that’s a reason I can accept. If I send a team out to take these guys off your hands, are they gonna find themselves stepping into something they didn’t sign up for?”
“Not if they’re quick about it.”
“Hmm. Looks like we have a deal. Where are you?”
“Savage River State Park.”
“No shit. I’ve got a transport team making a rez delivery about an hour away from there. I’ll send ‘em over. You hang tight until they get there.”
“Sorry. I have somewhere else to be, but these guys aren’t goin’ anywhere.”
“What, you got ‘em chained up in a basement or something?”
“No. Just make sure your team knows they’re coming to pick up magicals who can’t see, hear, or talk, all right?”
“Useless. You weren’t kidding.”
Cheyenne glanced at the line of prisoners and cocked her head. “I know. I’ll send you the location.”
“Yeah, that’ll help.”
“And thanks. For, you know, not trying to dig too deep.”
Rhynehart chuckled over the phone. “You’re not goin’ soft on me already, are you?”
“Not even close.” She hung up to solidify her point and imagined the guy laughing when he realized the line had gone dead. After that, she texted the agent a pin on a GPS map and slipped the phone back into her jacket pocket. When she turned again, she found Corian standing there with his arms folded. “What?”
“You know, I’ve spent a long time watching you get yourself into varying degrees of trouble and blasting your way out of it again.”
“You realize how creepy that sounds, right?”
Corian snorted. “I’ll own it. But I gotta say, kid, that was the first time I’ve seen you deal with a mess without spreading it around any farther. That was clean.”
“Not completely.” She glanced at the prisoners again as she approached him. “These guys are crossing the Border no matter what. They’ll either make it and get all their senses back, or they’ll end up as monster food, and I won’t ever know which one it was.”
“True. I won’t lie to you and say you’ll forget about it in no time, but they have a chance. That’s more than they would have if you hadn’t taken this on.”
“Yeah. Doesn’t feel like it.” Cheyenne watched him cast his spell to summon another portal into the warehouse, then blinked and looked into the trees. “Where’s Gúrdu?”
Corian grinned as the portal bloomed in front of them. “Hard to keep track of a raug. Even harder to keep track of an Oracle.”
“He can’t open a portal, right?”
“Nope. I wouldn’t worry about him, though.”
“No, I’m just worried about whoever runs into him before he shuts himself back up in his creepy throne room.”
Chuckling, the nightstalker gestured for her to step into the warehouse. “I stopped trying to figure him out centuries ago.”
Chapter Sixty-Four
Persh’al’s warehouse was as quiet as the clearing when the portal closed behind Cheyenne and Corian. Ember spun her wheelchair around to face them and broke out in a grin. “You know, when someone says they’re right behind you…”
“Sorry, Em. I had to take care of a few dozen prisoners first.” Cheyenne felt L’zar’s eyes on her and glanced briefly across the room to see them narrow. She shook her head and turned back to her friend.
Ember frowned. “I’m guessing you’ll tell me about that later.”
“Good guess.”
“Ember.” Corian pulled a thin metal band from his pocket and handed it to her. “Use this until you figure out how to cast an illusion spell for yourself. I’m sure Cheyenne has a whole book for you to dive right into.”
The fae studied the bracelet and slipped it over her glowing pink wrist, and her newly awakened fae form melted into the human form she’d inhabited her entire life. Ember chuckled. “Thanks. I still don’t even know if I’ll be able to cast spells.”
“After what you did with that portal, I have a feeling it’ll come quite easily to you.”
“A hell of a lot easier than it is for me,” Cheyenne added.
“Well, that’s not hard.”
She shot Corian a sidelong glance and pursed her lips. Then her activator flashed in the corner of her vision, and she turned that way to see Persh’al staring at the small metal orb in his hands. “What are you planning to do with that thing?”
The troll didn’t look up at her. “Take it apart and poke around a little.”
“Can I see it?”
Persh’al blinked, then rolled his eyes and handed it over. “Knock yourself out, kid. It’s dead.”
Cheyenne studied the round attack machine, with its scrolling lines of data and flashing lights. Soft blue light pulsed weakly in the center of the orb like a fading heartbeat. “Not entirely.”
The blue troll looked at her and scoffed. “Because you’re wearing that fancy headpiece that tells you everything you wanna know about everything, huh? No, I get it. Use what you got, right? And you’ve got halfling superpowers that let you do the impossible with tech that doesn’t do shit for the rest of us over here.”
Meeting Persh’al’s gaze, Cheyenne offered him a small smile. “You’re a little cranky.”
“Am I?” He folded his arms and glared at her, but his resolve broke and he gave a wry chuckle. “Shit, kid. Do your thing. I won’t stop you.”
“Like you could.” She returned her attention to the orb. Those are some kind of tracking codes underneath a little puzzle. “Can I take this with me?”
“What? No. Get your own leftovers.”
Cheyenne wiggled the metal orb at him. “Give me a day with this thing, and I’ll find out where all the machines that attacked us in that clearing were supposed to report afterward. Then we can go take out whoever’s been sending them at us.”
“A day.” Persh’al snorted and rubbed his head. “Kid, I’ve been working on tracing signatures back to the source for weeks. Yeah, that’s right. Before we found that damn shipment at the new portal.”
“I’m sure you’d get there eventually.” Cheyenne pointed at the activator behind her ear. “But I can do it faster.”
“Please. You’ve had one of those things for two days.”
“And you didn’t know half of what a transport shuttle could do before I showed you. How many times did you ride in one of those things?”
Persh’al’s mouth dropped open. Leaning against the wall of the warehouse, Byrd snickered.
“The sooner we find the rest of the tech Lex’s goons are hiding, the sooner we can cross one more thing off our list.” Corian nodded at the blue troll, who rolled his eyes again and stalked toward his computer.
“I’ll give it back when I’m done,” Cheyenne called after him.
“Whatever. Have fun.”
She watched him until he sat behind his huge cen
ter monitor and all but disappeared. He’ll get over it.
She slipped the metal orb into her jacket pocket, and Corian stepped toward her. “If a day’s all you need, take it. We’ll wipe out the machines on this side, and that frees us up for the rest.”
“What about the new portals? If we’re going back to the other side, the Crown’s gonna send more shipments across, and we won’t be here to stop them.”
Corian nodded. “That’s something General Hi’et and I have been working on—a temporary freeze of as many of the portal ridges as we can get our hands on. Once L’zar finishes the spell he’s been working on to keep the Crown from seeing him on the other side, we’ll have a short window, and we should use it.”
“I thought you were helping him with that.”
The nightstalker’s eyebrows flicked together, and they glanced at the office in the back of the warehouse when L’zar pulled the door closed behind him and disappeared. “What he’s trying to do has to be done all on his own. I’m just facilitating, more or less.”
“Huh.” Cheyenne studied the office door. “What kinda spell takes days for someone like L’zar to cast?”
Corian gave her a warning glance. “The kind that only someone like L’zar is mad enough to attempt.”
That means, don’t ask any more questions because he won’t answer.
“Okay. I’ll leave him to his madness, then.”
“Smart move.” Corian smiled at Ember. “Despite our little party being crashed, you both did well today. Things are gonna get a lot more interesting after the Nós Aní binding.”
“Really?” Ember raised her eyebrows and flashed him a fierce grin. “I hadn’t noticed.”
Shaking his head, Corian cast another portal from the warehouse into the girls’ apartment and stepped back. “Try to lay low, huh? Call me if anything happens, but I’m expecting you to pull through and have that machine figured out by tomorrow.”
Cheyenne patted her jacket pocket as Ember wheeled through the portal. “Come on. Hacking into things someone doesn’t want me to see is one of my skills.”
“Among many.” The nightstalker smiled and nodded at the portal. “So get to work.”