Finally. “Yes.”
“Are you—”
“Yes, I’m sure.”
“Goddammit!” Sir roared.
The halfling jerked the phone away from her ear and could still hear every curse and made-up half-curse the FRoE director bellowed. When it died down, Cheyenne slowly pressed the phone to her ear again and heard his heavy breathing.
“I already checked it out,” she told him. “And it’s not...normal. That’s why I need some people up here. My mom’s not leaving her house, as I’m sure you already know, and I can’t keep watch on it by myself.”
“What do you mean, ‘not normal?’”
“Stuff coming out that shouldn’t be able to come out. Again, I can’t tell you over the phone. But I’m all for telling your guys in person once you send them.”
“If I send them.”
“We don’t have time to fuck around with your superiority complex, Sir. I didn’t have to call you and tell you about this.”
“And I don’t have to send you shit.”
Cheyenne nodded slowly. “Okay, fine. You’re right. We’ll call it a fair trade, then, huh? Your guys get full control of this thing for as long as you need to.”
“We already have full control over all of them anyway. That’s our goddamn job.”
“Not the ones you don’t know about.”
Sir growled. “Watch it, halfling. You’re this close to being cut off.”
“No, I’m not. You need me, and I’m pretty sure you need to get this new opening under control if you don’t want the whole secret world to know you guys screwed up and can’t keep a handle on every single one of them anymore.”
“You’re a goddamn Venus Flytrap, Cheyenne. You know that?”
“Actually, you’re the first person to say it quite like that, but thanks anyway.”
“What about your mother? She made it pretty damn clear she doesn’t want me anywhere near that property.”
“She’s not leaving. I know she won’t. But she saw what happened with that thing, and she won’t try to stop you, either.”
Sir sighed, and the clink of ice against glass came over the line. “You better give these guys every single scrap of info you have. Got it?”
“Yeah. No problem.”
“One hour. And do me a favor, huh? Don’t ever call this number again, telling me what to do with my organization. I call the shots. You’re expendable.”
“Get back to your drink.” Cheyenne hung up and felt quite a bit lighter because of it. Asshole.
Chapter One Hundred
“I most certainly will not leave my home, Cheyenne.” Bianca sat back in the armchair on the south side of the house, one leg crossed elegantly over the other as she held her daughter’s gaze. Eleanor glanced quickly between them and grabbed a pillow from the settee beside her before squeezing it tightly in her lap.
Sitting on the sofa with Ember beside her, the halfling took a small sip of her watered-down bourbon and nodded. “That’s what I figured, but I had to ask.”
“I hope your foresight led you to consider an alternative.”
“Yeah, and I went ahead and put it in motion.”
A small smile crept across Bianca Summerlin’s tightly pressed lips. “I knew you would.”
“They’ll be here in an hour.”
When her daughter didn’t offer any more than that, Bianca uncrossed her legs and leaned forward in the armchair. “If I’m to be entertaining guests, I expect to know who they are ahead of time.”
“You won’t be entertaining anyone. They’re coming for that thing outside. To keep it from doing anything worse than what you guys saw earlier.”
“It was very impressive,” Eleanor added, nodding at the halfling until her employer shot her a quick, expressionless glance. The housekeeper lowered her gaze and squeezed the pillow even tighter. “Mmhmm.”
“Cheyenne.” Bianca raised an eyebrow.
“FRoE agents, Mom. They’re the only ones who have the ability to handle something like that. I’ll have to fill them in, but they’ll keep you safe until we’re sure that thing outside isn’t a danger to you or anyone else in this house. I promise.”
“Will that obnoxious man who insists on withholding his name be joining them?”
“I doubt it. At least not tonight.”
“Good. I really don’t like him.”
Eleanor laughed and changed it into a fake cough.
“I don’t like him either, Mom, but this is all I can do right now. I’m sorry.”
“Cheyenne, I don’t want to hear another apology from you tonight. You handled a messy situation beautifully, and I’m prepared to put all the decisions about this issue into your hands so you can continue to do so.”
The halfling froze, staring sidelong at her mother. All the decisions. She’s scared. “I’ll take care of it.”
“I know. I’m still very interested to hear what else you can tell me about that eyesore cutting down the center of my view.” Bianca gave her daughter a tight, bitter smile and took another sip of her latest drink, whatever it was.
“Sure.” Cheyenne glanced at Ember, who now held a glass of red wine and had already downed half of it. “That’s not the only one. I don’t know how many there are. Hundreds, maybe thousands all over the world. Most of them are regulated.”
“By that organization.”
“Yeah. For the most part. Those things aren’t supposed to be popping up out of nowhere, though. That’s new. Pretty much like an earthquake or a tornado or any other natural disaster.”
“It’s quite unnatural, in all honesty. But I understand. What is it?”
Oh, she’s really gonna hate this. “It’s a portal.”
Bianca Summerlin blinked twice, lowered her glass to her lap, and looked over her daughter’s head to stare at something down the south hallway. “I’m listening.”
“To the other side.”
“I’m familiar with science fiction, Cheyenne. That would be how a portal works.” The halfling’s mother swallowed, her nostrils flaring as if saying a word related to any kind of magic put a rotten taste in her mouth.
“A different world, Mom.”
“That’s—”
“His world.”
“Quite enough, thank you.” Bianca downed the rest of her drink and stood. “I’ll be in my study. Do let me know when your friends arrive. I don’t enjoy being caught off-guard at any time
