“Ha. Whatever that’s supposed to mean, I’ll take it.” Ember wheeled around the boxes. “Go ahead and think out loud about the apartment, though.”
“Well, for starters, I’m totally into these chairs.” Cheyenne stepped around the couch and lowered herself into one of the black leather armchairs on the other side of the coffee table. “Holy crap, this is as comfy as it looks. Are these—”
“Yep. I saw you ogling those chairs in the Guest Center. You practically drooled.”
Cheyenne snorted. “I don’t drool.”
“No, you practically drool. Didn’t take me long to find them. Apparently Pellerville Gables Apartments source most of their furniture from this warehouse that’s, like, ten minutes away.” Ember grinned. “Still a few more things on the way, though. Custom stuff takes a little longer.”
“Custom stuff?” The halfling slapped her hands on the armrests and stared at her friend. “Who are you, and what have you done with Ember?”
The fae laughed and wheeled herself between the couch and the armchairs, pulling up beside the coffee table. “Your worst decorator nightmare, Cheyenne. I’ll release your friend when I’m finished.”
“Oh, jeeze.” Rolling her eyes, the halfling ran her hands over the soft leather on the armrests, nestling back into the perfectly supportive cushions. “You know, I know too many people who are either currently locked up or have been at some point in the recent past. That joke would’ve been funnier about three weeks ago.”
“Shit. I didn’t mean to bring up anything.” Ember studied the halfling’s face until Cheyenne’s tiny smile morphed into a grin. “You’re screwin’ with me.”
“Only a little. Don’t worry, you’re still funny.”
Ember pulled an awful, sarcastic grimace, then wheeled back a little to look at the armchairs. “At least you like the chairs.”
“This rug’s not too bad, either.” Cheyenne leaned down to brush the soft thread of the stark black area rug with thick silver horizontal stripes in front of her. “This is a gem.”
“I know.”
“What did you do with the other stuff that was here?”
Ember shot her friend a coy, secretive smile. “I’ll tell you when the rest of this place looks like we live here.”
“You…” Cheyenne pointed at her and shook her finger. “I think turning a wannabe-stylish show unit into the coolest not-Goth-box might just be your magic, Em.”
The magicless fae tossed her hair out of her eyes and looked around. “Yeah, I’m pretty damn good, aren’t I?”
“Resounding yes. Oh!” The halfling pulled her phone out of her pocket and wrinkled her nose. “Crap. I gotta get going.”
She stood from the armchair, gave it a loving pat, then darted toward the wrought-iron staircase up to the mini loft.
“For your date with a family of trolls and all that, huh?”
“That’s it.” Cheyenne’s shoes clanged up the metal stairs until she reached the top and the less impressive show-unit office where she’d set up Glen. She pointed at the computer tower beside the metal-and-glass desk. “It’s just temporary, Glen.”
Ember laughed. “I’m working on that too.”
“What? For real?”
“Cheyenne, I’m sitting in this huge apartment by myself with nothing to do but decorate and charge everything to your card.” Ember spread her arms with a sarcastic shake of her head. “You can’t expect me not to think of everything.”
“I don’t even know what to expect from you anymore. Keep it up.”
“Oh, I’m on a roll. Can’t, don’t, won’t stop.”
Chuckling, the halfling sifted through the boxes of extra cords and cables she hadn’t gotten around to putting away yet and found the stack of loose papers that was Mattie Bergmann’s hand-written spellbook. Then she took out her phone and snapped pictures of the ingredients lists for the things she wanted to try first. Personal illusion charm and wards are priority one. Everything else is a bonus.
“Okay.” The halfling leaped to her feet and came back down the staircase. “You good in here?”
“Yep. Already ate lunch and scheduled a whole bunch of stuff. You’ll miss the party while you’re gone, but I’ll make sure everyone cleans up before they leave.”
“Bummer.” Cheyenne swung a fist in mock disappointment, then glanced back up at the mini-loft. “About the new desk…”
“Got it. Extra tips for anyone who doesn’t touch Glen while they get it up there.”
“You’re suddenly thinking like a girl with a bunch of inheritance money to throw around.”
“It’s a fun game.” Ember winked. “I won’t go too crazy.”
“Yeah, I’m not worried about that. Or you, honestly.” Cheyenne shook her head in disbelief again and headed toward the front door. “I’ll be back before dinner, probably.”
“Girl, I don’t care when you’ll be back. I’m not your mom.”
When the halfling shot Ember a look of surprise, both magical grad students burst into laughter again. “You are on a roll.”
“I’m feelin’ good today.” Ember gave two thumbs-up, then turned the chair around and wheeled herself into the kitchen. “Have fun with the trolls.”
“Have fun hiring labor and tipping people.”
“Uh-huh.”
Chuckling, Cheyenne stepped out of the apartment and paused with the key in her hand. Nah. She’s good.
The halfling parked the Panamera in the lot in Union Hill and glanced at the time on the dashboard. One-thirty-two. Cutting it close, Cheyenne.
She stepped out of the car and locked it. Other people in the parking lot turned to look at the source of that perfect chirp. Two middle-aged women in matching sweaters saw the Goth chick heading toward the parking kiosk and quickly turned around again to fumble with inserting a card to pay for their dashboard tickets.
Yes, I’m still scary and evil. I just have a fancy car. Cheyenne smirked and rolled her eyes as she stepped in line behind them.
“That your Panamera?”
She turned around and peered at a man in his late sixties, maybe early seventies. The man’s light-blue eyes glistened with excitement, the tips of his white handlebar mustache fluttering in the autumn breeze. “Yeah. Great car.”
The man whistled. “I’ll say. I’ve had my eye on
