by Martha Carr
Rhynehart forced a chuckle and headed for the metal detectors at the other end of the lobby. “Probably.”
“Hey, I’m serious. What’s goin’ on?”
“Me doing my job,” Rhynehart muttered. “What does it look like?”
“It looks like you walking in with a bigger team than usual. Mostly it’s just you. And her.” Crowley nodded at Cheyenne without any friendliness. “And I’m just doing my job.”
“Big batch of new recruits, Crowley.” Rhynehart turned around and spread his arms as he walked backward to the metal detectors. “I’d rather toss ‘em in and indoctrinate them all at once instead of one at time. ‘Cause, you know, my job has a bit more wiggle room than whatever you’ve got behind that counter.”
Cheyenne shoved her hands into her coat pockets and raised an eyebrow at Crowley before following Rhynehart to the security checkpoint beyond the lobby. Careful, Rhynehart. Not like anyone would suspect something if you’re too much of an asshole. Don’t snare us in stuff we didn’t plan.
Their party stopped in front of the metal detectors, and Rhynehart nodded at the guards behind the tables and scanning belt. “Hell of a day, huh?”
“It’s hell every day.” The guard shrugged at Rhynehart and gestured for the agent to step through the metal detector. Then the radio strapped to his shoulder buzzed with static.
“Hold on a minute, Mack. Don’t let ‘em through just yet.”
Rhynehart stared at the radio.
Mack shrugged. “Guess you don’t need me to relay that message.”
“Jesus, what now?” Rolling his eyes, Rhynehart spun and headed to the door in the wall beside the glass-protected window just as Crowley stepped out into the lobby for a private chat.
The rest of the disguised magicals stayed where they were in front of the metal detectors. L’zar clasped his hands behind his back and rocked back and forth from his heels to his toes. Mack frowned at him. “You look right at home for a rookie on his first day.”
The human-passing drow thief raised his blond eyebrows at the guard and smiled. “I’m happy to be here. “
Cheyenne forced herself not to roll her eyes and focused instead on Rhynehart’s conversation with the guard no longer behind the window.
“We don’t have anything in the system for new recruits today, man,” Crowley said. “What’s going on?”
“Exactly what I said.” Rhynehart spread his arms. “New recruits. And L’zar’s halfling kid. You remember her, right?”
When Crowley glanced over Rhynehart’s shoulder at the halfling, Cheyenne wiggled her eyebrows at him. “Tell me you’re not bringing her on to station her somewhere, man.”
“No way. Are you kidding? She’s here to help us look into where L’zar might be. You know, unique perspective and all that.”
“I don’t think hating L’zar’s guts is a unique perspective, man,” Cheyenne called from the other side of the lobby for everyone to hear her. “Trust me, I wanna see that asshole behind bars again as much as you do.”
Rhynehart blinked at her, turned back to Crowley, and gestured at the halfling. “There you have it.”
Corian lifted a fist to his mouth and forced out a cough.
Crowley shrugged. “Yeah, I know she comes in here without warning, but I don’t get why you have five new recruits rollin’ in here with you, and not a single thing pulls up in the system.”
“Jesus Christ, man.” Rhynehart pinched the bridge of his nose. “Look, I don’t know what the hell’s wrong with the system. Not my problem, and it sure as shit isn’t my job to have to explain it to you.”
“But it’s not—”
“You know what? Fine. If you think this is seriously such a big deal, go ahead and call Sir. You can tell him all about how worried you are. That’ll be a fun talk.”
Crowley swallowed, cleared his throat, and glanced at Cheyenne and the disguised magicals again. “No, I don’t need to call him.”
“Good. Wanna get back to your post, or should I stick one of the new guys in there instead?”
Crowley shook his head and turned to the door leading back to his desk. “Guess it’d be too much to ask you to sign ‘em in.”
Rhynehart snorted and folded his arms. “Yeah, genius.” He stalked to his waiting party and the guards at the metal detector. “Damn know-it-all, wasting my time. You know, I’m used to being in a shitty mood when I leave this place, not when I get here.”
“Tell me about it.” Mack slid a container across the table to Rhynehart, who emptied his keys, wallet, and phone from his pocket.
Rhynehart walked through the metal detector toward the guard on the other side and shrugged. “Fucking Wednesdays.”
The guard standing there with his arms folded raised his eyebrows. “Nothing happy about Hump Day, I’ll tell you that much.”
The agent snorted and turned to stand beside the guard as his fake rookies dumped their pockets into the security bins and stepped through the metal detector. L’zar and Corian passed through no problem. Bhandi had to go back once and fish deep in her pocket for a dime she’d missed the first time. Yurik practically skipped through, grinning and nodding at the guards as he retrieved his things.
Tate pointed at the stack of plastic bins on the far side of the table. “I’m probably gonna need two or three of those.”
Mack looked him up and down. “Just empty your pockets, and we’ll go from there.”
“I mean, not just my pockets, but that’s cool.” Just like Rhynehart, Yurik, and Bhandi, Tate removed his fell pistol from its holster and stuck that in the container. Then he lifted his black BDU shirt, untucking it from the waistband of his pants, and grinned at the guard. “This one’s on here fairly good. Gotta keep the toys close, right?”
Mack’s eyes widened when Tate removed an entire ammo belt from around his waist over his black undershirt. The thing was studded with small, round black disks that clinked together in the tray on top of his firearm.
Cheyenne folded her arms and stifled a laugh. He brought a whole belt of fell grenades into the goddamn prison. I might have a new favorite troll.
Tate started to walk through the metal detector, then chuckled and backed up. “Oh, yeah. Almost forgot.”
He leaned down to remove a small knife from the inside of each of his black boots. Only one of them fit in the plastic container, and Mack had to pull another out of the stack for the second knife. Another fell grenade came from Tate’s left boot, then he shoved his hands in his pockets and deposited a fistful of loose change, an extra magazine, a keyring, and a Bluetooth headset. Snickering, he removed the silver watch from his wrist, dropped it into the second bin, and raised both hands before stepping through the metal detector. Fortunately, it didn’t go off.
Rhynehart raised his eyebrow. “You carry that on you all the time?”
“Hey. Couple years out in the field, and now I’m movin’ on up to prison guard. Old habits, I guess.”
“Yeah, well, leave that shit at home next time you come in, huh?” Rhynehart shook his head, looked Tate up and down, then shrugged at Cheyenne. “You comin’ or what, halfling?”
She smiled at Tate, who was retrieving all his items on the other side of the metal detector. “Yeah.”
When she stepped through, like she knew it would, the metal detector set off a harsh, beeping alarm and flashed a red light. Cheyenne turned to look at Mack. “Okay, I swear I’m not carrying a belt full of bombs like this guy.”
“Yeah, I know.” Mack stacked the bins and slid them aside. “We don’t have to go through all that again. I know who you are. Good luck tracking down that shithole of a drow.”
“Thanks.” She pointed at him. “I like that description.”
“Yeah, well, feel free to use it.” Rolling his eyes, Mack gestured at the other side of the lobby, and Rhynehart turned around with a grunt and led the way.
“All right, rookies, listen up. And no, there won’t be a Q&A afterward, so pay attention. I’m assuming most o
f you have seen magicals before and have probably popped a few scumbags in their otherworld faces, so if anybody shits their pants after what you’re about to see, that’s on you.”
Bhandi snorted. “Literally.”
Rhynehart glared at her, shook his head, and pulled his access badge out of his pocket to press it to the lock panel by the door. The mechanism buzzed, he slammed the handle down, and then he disappeared down the first corridor into the west wing of Chateau D’rahl.
L’zar slowed down as they moved through the hallway and fell in line beside his daughter. “You hate L’zar Verdys’ guts, huh?”
She shrugged. “Hey, just trying to keep it realistic.”
“I’m well aware of the intention behind it, Cheyenne. And impressed by your ability to lie so convincingly.”
Cheyenne looked up at her father’s borrowed blue eyes and gave him the sweetest, most innocent smile she could muster. “Who said I was lying?”
“No one.”
Chapter Seventy-Three
L’zar chuckled when they passed the doors into an inmate block. He paused beside a window with reinforced bulletproof glass on either side of fell-powered dampening mesh. “Cell Block Alpha. Hard to believe I was just here.”
“And now you’re here again,” Rhynehart called from up ahead. “Move on. This isn’t Memory Lane.”
Still peering through the window, L’zar looked up at the guard station in Alpha tower above the glowing red light that stayed on twenty-four-hours in this particular cell block. The guard jerked his chin at L’zar’s human-looking form and lifted a plastic mug in greeting. The drow thief raised his hand in a curt wave, then headed after the rest of their group. “This is fantastic.”
“Enjoying yourself?” Corian muttered as L’zar turned away from the window to follow the others.
“I’m allowed a bit of fun every once in a while, vae shra’ni.”
The nightstalker snorted. “You find fun everywhere, Weaver.”
“That doesn’t make it any less entertaining.”
Cheyenne watched them walking side by side, just two more FRoE agents in black fatigues and dampening gear. No one in Chateau D’rahl had any clue. At least L’zar’s dialed back on the crazy. Maybe Corian was right and the crazy comes straight from Ambar’ogúl. Not like we’ll get the chance to test that again.
Rhynehart’s access card slapped against the next panel beside the door at the end of the hall. Another buzz, another flash of green light and turn of the handle, and they moved on.
“Maybe I’ll come back for a visit next time,” L’zar mused, casting Cell Block Alpha one final glance over his shoulder.
Corian snorted. “Just don’t expect me to come busting in here to save your ass.”
“I would never, vae shra’ni.”
Bhandi held the door open for the magical behind her. “So, what’s the deal with you two?”
“Deal?” Corian raised his eyebrows and shot her a coy smile. “I’m not quite sure what you’re implying.”
“This guy’s obviously been here before.” She stuck her thumb out at L’zar. “What about you?”
Corian chuckled softly. “No. This is a first for me.”
Tate laughed. “Guess you can rule out that cellmate theory, then.”
“Can it, asshole.”
“What theory is that?” L’zar asked.
“Nothing. Never mind.” Bhandi sneered at Tate and punched him in the shoulder as they waited for Rhynehart to unlock the next door.
Corian turned and cocked his head at Cheyenne. “Do you know what she’s talking about?”
“I stopped trying to figure out what’s in her head after knowing her for an hour.” The halfling shrugged. “Waste of time.”
Yurik laughed and folded his arms. “Always knew you were a smart one, Cheyenne.”
“Uh-huh.”
Rhynehart shoved violently down on the door handle and jerked the door open. “You guys need to cut out all the side talk and pay attention, huh? If a single thing goes wrong in here—”
“Then we’ll move from Plan A to no plan at all, and we’ll be fine.” Corian grabbed the door and held it open. “Please continue.”
Gritting his teeth, Rhynehart stormed down the next hall.
* * *
Fifteen minutes later, the hallway ended in corridors branching to the left and right, but the magicals disguised as human FRoE agents headed for the door at the very end. The back wall was made entirely of double-paned glass with the same fell-powered dampening mesh between them. Through the large squares between the mesh, Cheyenne saw two FRoE agents standing behind the security booth in the room beyond.
“That’s them, right?” Bhandi asked.
“Definitely Payton.” Yurik stuck his hands in his pockets and nodded. “I’ve seen that mask before.”
“I hope you’re right. Seriously hope that’s Jamal, too. He looks a lot bigger without all the hair.”
“I think everyone looks bigger without hair.”
L’zar rapped on the glass with his knuckles. The woman, who didn’t wear an eyepatch in her human illusion, looked up from the monitor she’d been staring at, and scowled at him. He wiggled his fingers in greeting, then Rhynehart stepped up beside him with a grunt and pointed at the handle.
“This is why you guys are in there,” he muttered. “Let’s get this circus show on the road.”
The female agent muttered something they couldn’t hear and nodded at the door. The man with a thick brown ponytail stepped around the security booth, eyeing the line of seven presumably unexpected visitors to the security checkpoint right outside what Persh’al had dubbed the Hatch. He stopped on the other side of the glass door, punched in a number on the keypad, and pulled open the door to let them in.
“It’s about fucking time you idiots showed up,” the female agent muttered.
“Oh, yeah.” Yurik snorted. “Definitely Payton.”
“Good to see you too.” Bhandi thumped her fists on the edge of the security booth’s circular counter.
Jamal stood silently while everyone filtered into the final checkpoint and shut the door firmly again before punching in another code. The lock slid back into place with a metallic clink.
“How’s it lookin’ out there?” Rhynehart asked, stopping on Payton’s left to peer over her shoulder at the security monitor.
The masked goblin agent turned her head and her shoulders to face him and scowled.
“Right. Sorry. I’ll stand where you can see me.” He stepped to her other side and shot her a sidelong glance. “Pretty damn hard to remember when you don’t have that thing over your eye.”
“Not hard at all to remember you’re an asshole.”
Rhynehart blinked quickly and shook his head. “Remind me again why we recruited you?”
Yurik stepped toward them, counting on his fingers. “Let’s see. Earthside-born. Can see like a hawk with only one eye. Gets blown up and doesn’t die. Oh, yeah. You had us on clean-up duty for way longer than we should’ve been, and she never complained.”
“Yeah, but you did.”
“Hey, I didn’t sign up for this to play magical maid outside DC. Though that was how I met Cheyenne.” The disguised goblin wiggled his eyebrows and extended a fist toward the halfling.
She eyed his fist. “You make it sound like we both showed up for maid duty.”
“Come on. Don’t leave me hanging.”
Cheyenne rolled her eyes and bumped her fist against his.
“Ow. Shit.” Yurik chuckled and shook out his hand. “You can dial that back any time.”
“Sorry.” She shrugged. “Guess I’m waiting for the minute something goes wrong and I have to use my fist for more than props from you.”
“Aw, come on, Goth drow.” Bhandi turned away from the two monitors mounted on the far wall and angled toward the security booth. “Have faith in us, huh?”
“It has nothing to do with you guys.” Cheyenne shot L’zar a quick glance, but he was stan
ding in front of the clear door they’d just entered, staring out into the hall. “Hey, if we start out with low expectations, we don’t get nearly as disappointed.”
“Yeah. And we end up punching our buddy’s hands off. Christ.” Yurik shook his hand out again and turned to the door on the opposite side of the checkpoint room. “This is the last one, right?”
“Yep.” Rhynehart frowned and leaned closer to the monitors in front of him and Payton. “Just making sure that blue troll did what he said he could.”
“He did.” Cheyenne watched them studying the monitors. “Might’ve taken him a whole day, but if he said he hacked into the security system, he did.”
“We’re waiting for proof, Cheyenne.” Rhynehart’s eyes narrowed at the monitor showing the security footage for the hallway outside and the checkpoint where they all waited. The image of all nine of them standing inside the glass-encased booth shuddered, blinked off, and came back on with a recorded replay straight from Persh’al. Now it only showed Jamal and Payton.
“Damn.” Rhynehart’s said, “He got the timestamp to match up perfectly.”
Payton studied Rhynehart, then looked back at the screen. “No, he didn’t.”
“I’m lookin’ at it right here—”
The goblin raised both hands in the air like she was stretching and didn’t look at the team leader again.
“No shit.” Rhynehart looked between her and the monitor. “He erased the rest of us?”
Cheyenne couldn’t help a wide smile. “Very nice.”
“How the hell did he even do that?”
“O’gúl tech, man.” Cheyenne shrugged. “Or at least a troll who knows enough about O’gúl tech to make the most of what we have to work with on this side of the Border.”
“Yeah, sure.” Rhynehart shook his head and leaned away from the monitor. “You make it sound like Earth’s advanced technology is a joke.” He looked sharply at Cheyenne. “Whatever. We’re in, and he took us off the security feed. Time to go through that door.”
Rhynehart pulled his access badge out of his pocket again and waited by the first door they’d come to so far that didn’t have a window. It was all metal, thick, heavy, and dented toward them from the other side. “Hope that troll hacker friend of yours is as good with rewriting clearance as he is with erasing entire bodies from recorded footage.”