With a sigh, Cheyenne focused harder on what a shield was supposed to be—protection and a last-minute defense. She sucked in a breath and spun, raising both hands toward the closet just inside the front door. The doorknob might have rattled a little, but that was it.
Then a muted golden glow sputtered inside her backpack on the floor, and the halfling pointed at it. “Uh-uh. I’m not dealing with that tonight.”
There was a knock on her front door, and she started. The knock was repeated. “Yeah, I’m coming. Hold on.”
When she passed her backpack, she wanted to send a swift kick into the thing to get the copper puzzle box to quit flashing light. Nobody else needs to see that. But her laptop was in there too, so she just gave the thing a less-than-gentle nudge with the side of her foot and smirked when the golden light winked out.
Then she slipped out of her drow form and slowly opened the door. It didn’t surprise her all that much to find one of her troll neighbors on the other side of it.
“Cheyenne.” R’mahr grinned at her, his deep-scarlet eyes lighting up because she’d answered. “I hope this is a good time. Yadje’s almost finished with the cooking, and we would love to invite you into our home now to join us.”
“Right now?”
The troll cocked his head, his grin fading into a confused smile. “Yes. It’s Sunday. I mentioned this the other day. And you…well, I thought…”
I never said no.
Cheyenne nodded and shot him as much of a reassuring smile as she could manage. “Uh, yeah. Okay. You guys already started cooking and everything?”
R’mahr nodded vigorously. “As close to the food back home as we could get. I don’t know how Yadje does it with what little we can find at the bazaar, but she makes it work. You’ll be very happy with it.”
“Yeah, I bet.”
They stood there awkwardly on either side of her door, then R’mahr’s gaze drifted to her right toward the basket of all that brightly colored underwear they’d made her. “You still have our gift…”
“Yep.” Cheyenne followed his gaze and had to keep herself from laughing. “I can’t get rid of a present like that, can I?”
The troll’s grin returned with full force, and he let out a satisfied little chuckle. “Yadje will be so glad to hear you’ve found a use for them—”
“Okay, let’s head on over to your place, huh?” Not wanting to be rude, the halfling opened the door all the way before slipping into her black Vans that were tossed against the closet, then she hurried quickly out of her apartment and shut the door. “After you.”
“Yes. Well, it’s not very far.” The troll shot her an amused glance and chuckled again, shaking his head at the worn, stained carpet lining the hallway of the second floor. “I told Yadje you would be very pleased to walk inside and have this meal already prepared. She wasn’t convinced you were coming, you know.”
“Good thing I cleared my schedule, then.” Yadje had a better grip on how to make plans. Still plenty of time before dark.
The troll’s head bobbed up and down, his long scarlet hair bouncing against his back. They passed the two other apartments between them, and he stopped at his front door to shoot the drow halfling another wide grin full of clean but crooked teeth. “We’re honored to have you here with us.”
“No problem. I’m, uh, honored to be invited.” Can’t break the guy’s heart over this.
R’mahr sucked in a sharp breath, his eyes growing even wider as he whispered, “Thank you.”
Then he opened the door and gestured for her to step inside first.
A thick wave of pungent spices almost knocked her over when Cheyenne stepped into the troll family’s home. The air was filled with the sizzle of something frying on the stove beside a thick something else boiling in a huge pot.
R’mahr ushered her in even farther and closed the door. He clapped his hands and almost scampered toward the kitchen. “Our guest is here, Yadje. She’s here. How much longer for the meal?”
“You can’t hurry perfection,” Yadje snapped from the kitchen, completely hidden by the wall jutting out from the entryway. “I’ll finish it when I finish it, and you’ll just have to keep your greedy little hands out—” A sharp smack was followed by R’mahr’s exclamation of surprise and his wife laughing. Then Yadje poked her head around the corner and settled her scarlet gaze on the halfling standing just inside the door. “Make yourself at home, phér móre. We won’t be much longer.”
“Sure.” The halfling nodded, but the woman’s head had already disappeared back into the kitchen. Raising her eyebrows, Cheyenne took in the family’s living room, which looked more or less like it had the first time she’d stepped inside under much more urgent circumstances.
R’mahr and his family had made quick work of patching up the place. The planter hanging from the ceiling had been put back together with an insane amount of duct tape coating the bottom, the plant returned to its place after having been blasted by drow magic. The leaves drooped sadly over the mended plastic sides of the planter. More duct tape had been applied liberally to the broken leg of the armchair, as well as added for extra hold around two different pieces of thin plywood already nailed to the walls. Cheyenne still felt a little draft from the covered hole in the wall beside the door. If they’re happy with it, guess it works.
“Hi.”
The halfling glanced quickly across the room and found Bryl sitting on the floor in front of the sunken couch, an open book laid across her lap. “Hey. Your parents really went all out with the duct tape, huh?”
The young troll glanced around the room and sighed. “It’s one of their favorite new things on this side.”
“Yeah,
