Then it clicked.
“Holy shit,” she whispered and whirled to stalk back toward the booth at the other end of the Dungeon.
“And now she’s back in the game,” L’zar roared behind her. “Give ‘em hell!”
The halfling sped up as she neared the booth, and she slapped a hand on the door. L’zar laughed behind her as he pounded the iron bar.
The door buzzed, and the guard pushed it open to let her inside. “No safe word this time, huh?”
“I didn’t need it. Didn’t really need it last time, either.” Cheyenne reached the opposite door in two huge steps and tried to shove it open. “Hey, press the button already. We gotta go.”
“What the hell was all that about, rookie?” Rhynehart stared at her, then glanced uncertainly through the window at the Dungeon and the crazed drow having some kind of mental breakdown.
“I know where to find those kids.” The guard buzzed the door open, and Cheyenne slammed against it before stepping down into the narrow stone hallway.
Rhynehart quickly followed her, and the guard pulled the door closed again. “I call bullshit. The drow didn’t say a damn thing about the kids or who took them. I heard the whole thing, kid. Just a bunch of crazy talk.”
“Yeah. That’s what it sounded like, huh?” The elevator doors opened just in time for her to shove the grate aside without stopping and storm inside. She didn’t bother closing it behind Rhynehart before the elevator doors shut and they started moving.
“Then what kinda game are you playing, Cheyenne?”
She turned toward the FRoE agent and shook her head. “Not a game. I’m sure about this.”
He folded his arms and leaned against the wall of the elevator. “Then you better spill it right now.”
The halfling laughed and ran a hand through her dyed-black hair. “The FRoE’s got a mole.”
“A what?”
“Turncoat. Traitor. Double agent. Whatever.”
“You’re as crazy as L’zar.”
“I’m not crazy!” With clenched fists, Cheyenne forced herself to breathe. Would’ve gone full drow there without this pendant. “Who was in the gate tower on Rez 38 the day you took me there? The goblin.”
“Hell, rookie, I don’t know every operative’s goddamn name.”
“Well, you should. ‘Cause that’s the guy we need to find to find those kids.”
“That’s real funny.” Rhynehart scowled at her. “I’m not going on a manhunt in my own organization just because you pulled a name out of a hat. Or a face. Whatever.”
“Rhynehart, it’s him.”
“Nope. Sorry. I can’t take your word for it without any proof. And from where I’m standing, it looks like you’re grasping at straws.”
“No, that’s what you’re doing.” The halfling stared at the elevator ceiling and shook off the urgent frustration crawling across her back. “Okay, I’ll try to map it out for you. The FRoE only enlists magicals who were born Earthside, right?”
He frowned. “Yeah. As long as I’ve been doin’ this, yeah.”
“There’s a big difference between the people born here and the people who made the crossing. Sure, they’re all magicals, same races, same basic understanding of how the Border and the reservations work. But there’s a lot of stuff brought across the Border the magicals who were born here don’t even know about.”
“Oh, yeah? Like what?”
“Do you know what it meant when they all started banging on stuff at Rez 38?”
Rhynehart lifted his chin and frowned down at her like he was actually insulted. “No. And neither do you.”
“Yeah, I don’t have to know what it means. I just have to know the difference between the magicals from the other side and ones your people hire to be FRoE agents.”
“Okay, you’ve lost me completely.”
“The goblin in the gate tower, Rhynehart! He’s one of yours, or at least he’s pretending to be. I went out with Yurik and the others last night, and the same thing happened there. A bunch of magicals started pounding on metal crap, and none of those agents knew what the hell it was about. But the goblin on Rez 38? He sure as hell did.”
The elevator came to a stop, and Cheyenne would’ve blasted through the slowly opening doors if it weren’t for the pendant. Then they were finally open, and she stormed across the linoleum floors toward the metal detector.
“Okay, how the hell is that supposed to prove this is our guy? Maybe he’s spent too long on the rez, huh? Maybe he’s heard the stories and thought he’d try playing old-school from the other side.”
“Well, that’s the other part.” Cheyenne stopped in front of the metal detector when the closest guard held up a hand.
He bent toward the radio at his shoulder. “Donahue, they just came back up. Yeah, I’m sure. They’re standing in front of me.”
Rhynehart stared at her and shoved his hands into his pockets with a shrug. “I’m still waiting for the other part.”
The halfling rubbed her forehead. One thing to know something. Now I have to put it into small, easy words for the guy. “Who else knows about the construction site we blew up yesterday?”
“Just those of us who went in. And Sir.” The man chewed his bottom lip. “No one else needed to know.”
“Right, and did you send anyone back there after we took off?”
“No. Even if I did, there’s nothing left for anyone to find.”
“Almost nothing. But I—”
Door 4 buzzed and burst open with a clang, letting out a fuming Sir. “I brought you all the way out here so you could have another sit-down with that goddamn drow, halfling, and you’re down there for what? Twenty minutes? Don’t tell me you got L’zar to sing like a bird in twenty minutes.”
“He didn’t sing anything,” Rhynehart muttered.
“Just listen to me!” The halfling glared at both men, and even with the pendant dampening her ability to slip into drow mode, Sir and Rhynehart shut their mouths and paid attention. “I saw an imp yesterday with stuff from the site—the backpack and a necklace. Not the kind you see
