“That’s impossible.”
“Not anymore, I guess.”
Mattie/Maleshi licked her lips and took a deep breath through her nose. “I still don’t see why you’re coming to me with this.”
Corian cleared his throat. “We need to know how the portal opened, General. Why it’s there.”
“Hmm. Convenience or coincidence, is that it?” When he nodded again, Mattie turned back to the halfling. “Go on.”
“Uh…” The chains on Cheyenne’s wrists clinked when she scratched the side of her head, then she tugged down the sleeves of her baggy hoodie in an attempt to muffle the sound. “I mean, that’s pretty much it. Weird creature-things came out of the portal, we fought them, and then Corian said we needed to come and see you.”
“A correction, General?” Corian adjusted himself in his chair, knowing he was on thin ice with Maleshi Hi’et even by daring to ask. Those oddly inhuman green eyes flashed at him, and the human-appearing Nightstalker gave him a tiny nod. “I don’t think we would have managed to ‘fight them back’ without Cheyenne, and I have to give her due credit for putting the worst of the in-between back where it belongs before she sealed the portal again. For the time being.”
Mattie turned to the halfling one more time and blinked. A slow smile crept across her lips, but she quickly forced it away. “Is that what happened?”
“I mean, pretty much.” Why is this suddenly a halfling interrogation? “I just did what I had to do. And it worked.”
“How’d you hear about the portal?”
Cheyenne adjusted herself on the couch, leaning away from Mattie a little before she sat back against the armrest. Here we go. This is where I tell her everything she didn’t wanna hear in her office. “I got a...message.”
“Cheyenne. Please.” The woman dipped her chin and bored holes into the halfling’s face with her intense green gaze. “If there was ever a time to put it all out there, now would be it.”
“I didn’t think we came here so I could talk about myself.” Cheyenne cleared her throat. “You’re not gonna believe this.”
That slow, feral grin she’d seen on Corian’s face so many times appeared on Mattie Bergmann’s human lips. “You’d be surprised.”
“Okay.” Time to spill the drow beans, Cheyenne. “L’zar Verdys did some kind of astral-projection thing and showed up in my room last night.”
Byrd snorted at her description, which turned into a choke when Corian hissed at the goblin man.
Cheyenne couldn’t look away from the center of the coffee table. “He told me to tell Corian about the breach, so I did.”
Mattie nodded and turned to shoot Corian a mocking stare. One eyebrow lifted, and the smile on her lips was tight and humorless. “Sounds like you finally got to do what you came here to do, Corian. If I’d known one of my students was L’zar Verdys’ daughter, I wouldn’t have been so disappointed when I realized she didn’t need me anymore.”
Chapter Seventy-Six
Cheyenne straightened on the couch and stared at her professor. “I didn’t say anything about being his daughter.”
“You didn’t have to, Cheyenne. No drow would be as invested in you as L’zar obviously is. And he wouldn’t have used the Don’adurr Thread if you hadn’t started your drow trials with Corian.”
The halfling choked on a surprised laugh. “You got all that from what I just told you?”
“Most of it, yes.” Mattie looked away from Corian and fixed her gaze firmly on her former student. “How’s that going, by the way?”
“The trials?” Cheyenne shrugged. “I’ve unlocked two layers of the box. The...Cuil Aní.” That’s getting easier to say.
Corian chuckled. “I’d check it again after what you did at the portal this morning. Might be three now.”
She smirked at Corian. “And I punched him in the face last night.”
The Nightstalker’s smug smile disappeared, and he closed his eyes. Persh’al turned to stare at him while the goblins tried to hold back their sniggers.
“Cheyenne, I can’t even begin to tell you how much I envy that little victory.” Mattie leaned sideways and propped her arm on the couch’s other armrest. “If I’m not mistaken, then, everything’s already been set in motion.”
“You’re not mistaken.” Corian fought back another smile and shook his head. “Now that Cheyenne’s started her trials, L’zar’s getting ready to make his move.”
“Because he succeeded in blasting a hole right through those fell-damn prophecies.” Mattie tapped two fingers against her lips and laughed. “The drow actually did it.”
“Well, I’m still alive and kickin’, so…” Cheyenne cocked her head.
“You’ve told her already?” Mattie asked Corian.
“That was all on these clowns.” The Nightstalker gestured at Persh’al, Byrd, and Lumil, who responded with sheepish glances.
“Might be the only time a loose tongue comes in handy, huh?” Mattie nodded slowly. “You deserve to know.”
“What, you mean that L’zar had a bunch of other kids before me, and they all died when they started their trials because some prophecy said they would? Yeah, that’s a pretty important nugget of information. There’s a lot more I’d like to know on top of it.” Cheyenne raised her eyebrows and almost held her breath. She’s known about all this for a long time. No way she’s keeping the same promises Corian made. “Care to tell me the rest of it?”
“Not now, Cheyenne.” Corian leaned forward in the loveseat, shook his head, and shot Mattie a quick, warning glance. “Right now, we’re here to tell Maleshi what’s happening and to ask for her help. We only have twenty minutes.”
Mattie flashed him a quick smile, but it disappeared just as fast. “You think the Crown’s responsible for opening a new portal that doesn’t differentiate between creatures of the middle realm and those of us who belong on either side of the Border?”
“It’s possible,” he replied. “The Crown’s found out about Cheyenne. That she’s here, Earthside.”
“And no one wants this drow halfling to complete those trials.” Mattie dipped her head. “I understand.”
“I’ve done what I could to keep her hidden, but it’s temporary.”
“The Heart of Midnight
