Gripping the wheels, the fae looked at her halfling friend with a crooked smile. “How am I doing?”
“You got her to laugh and make a joke. She might want to adopt you.”
“I might let her.” Ember nodded matter-of-factly and wheeled herself across the dining room toward the double doors.
Grinning, Cheyenne followed and balanced both their glasses in one hand so she could grip one of the handles with the other. “Go for it. I got you.”
Ember gave the wheels a quick shove to get her over the lintel and onto the veranda. The chair lurched forward, and a pale violet light flashed around the small front wheels beside the fae’s feet. The bump and jolt both young magicals had expected never came. Instead, Ember’s chair hovered above the veranda, and a second later, she lowered it gently to the stone.
The fae’s hands jerked away from the wheels, and she and Cheyenne stared at the chair. “Did you do that?”
The halfling stepped around the chair and handed Ember the tall glass of gin and tonic. “Pendant, Em. That was all you.”
“My face feels funny.”
Cheyenne bit her lip. “Maybe it’s the gin.”
Ember looked at her with wide eyes and slowly shook her head. “I can’t believe this.”
“Believe it or not, it just happened.” The halfling wiggled her eyebrows, then glanced at her mom.
Bianca stood a foot away from the balcony surrounding the curved veranda, her vodka soda lifted to her lips and her face turned slightly toward the young magicals just outside the double doors.
Yeah, she’s listening.
“Come take a look at this.” Cheyenne nodded toward the balcony and headed that way. “The view’s even better when you’re right over it.”
Ember cleared her throat and nestled the glass in her lap before wheeling across the smooth stone toward the Summerlin women. She stopped beside Cheyenne and ignored the thin, intricately carved stone posts supporting the railing every few feet. After a moment, having to look through those columns didn’t matter as she gazed at the acre of well-kept lawn behind the estate house before everything opened into the wide valley beyond. “This is incredible.”
“Thank you.” Bianca took another sip of her drink. “I can’t tell you how often I find myself out here. There’s nothing quite like being able to see as far as one can imagine.”
The fae lifted her glass to her lips again. “I always thought I liked the city. This just changed my mind.”
Bianca let out another thoughtful hum. “I remember the feeling.”
All three women soaked up the rare moment of peace in silence. Then Ember found herself full of questions. “Do you do all your work from here, Ms. Summerlin?”
“Bianca, please.” The woman stepped back to meet the fae’s gaze behind her daughter. “Unless you’re here on business too.”
Ember laughed and shook her head. “I wouldn’t know where to start.”
“That’s fine. Visits from close friends are necessarily infrequent, living all the way up here, though I’d rather host friends than associates and colleagues. And to answer your question, Ember, yes. I have everything I need up here to keep up with my work, and I accomplish more than I expected when I first moved onto the property.”
“Do you miss the city?”
Cheyenne turned and leaned against the balcony railing, smirking as her mom and her friend made polite small talk that sounded much more like genuine interest than the type of pleasantries she had grown up hearing. I knew they’d like each other. We all need a good distraction.
Bianca nodded and glanced back out over the valley. “Sometimes. After over two decades of running things out here in my domain, it’s difficult to imagine leaving this for so much…”
“Noise.”
The halfling’s mom blinked and caught Ember’s gaze again. “You and Cheyenne are remarkably well-matched as friends, aren’t you?”
“Pretty much.”
“It’s good to see.” Bianca smiled at the fae, then glanced at her daughter and raised an eyebrow. “You’re really enjoying this, aren’t you?”
Cheyenne grinned and offered her mom a blasé shrug. “Nice to switch things up a little, right?”
“As long as you’re certain all the switching can be balanced.” The look Bianca shot her daughter carried a warning and a challenge at the same time.
Thanks, Mom. I’m being careful. “I’ve got a pretty good handle on things so far.”
“I’m sure you do.” Bianca nodded, then rolled her shoulders and took another sip of her drink. “It’s getting a little chilly for me.”
“I don’t even feel it,” Ember said dreamily, gazing out across the sweeping valley below them.
Glancing at her wristwatch, Bianca nodded. “Dinner will be ready soon. Ember, can I make you another drink?”
“Uh, yeah. That would be great. Thank you.”
“I’m more than happy to do it. And please don’t feel obligated to thank me for every individual thing tonight. Once before you leave will suffice.” The woman headed toward the open double doors without another word.
Ember blushed again and stared up at Cheyenne. “Did I say the wrong thing?”
“No, Em. That had nothing to do with you.”
“I’m gonna take your word for that one. She just kinda flipped a switch, didn’t she?”
“Yeah. Never a dull moment with Bianca.” Looking away from the outline of her mom standing at the bar again, the halfling glanced at her fae friend and grinned. “She likes you.”
“Seemed like it until she told me to stop thanking her.”
“Nah. That’s just her version of hospitality. She’s trying to…” Cheyenne scrunched her face.
“Trying to what?”
“Well, level the playing field, I guess.”
Ember laughed. “I don’t know what that means.”
“Honestly, I think you’re the first person in a long time who’s made her think about who she was and what she was doing with her life before all this happened.” The halfling gestured at her face with a flick of her wrist. “She was a little older than we are, but I know she wasn’t ready to give everything up and steal away to the countryside to raise a half-drow on her own.”
“And I remind her of that.” Ember frowned and wrinkled her nose. “That’s a little
