“Huh. You were spying on me.”
Ember released another strangled laugh. “Guilty.”
Cheyenne raised an eyebrow. “I think you’re missing the point.”
Her friend mimed zipping her mouth shut and nodded.
“Thanks. In case you haven’t put two and two together since now you know how you got to the hospital,” the half-drow cleared her throat again. “I followed you to the park that night. And I saw and heard everything. Including who shot you.”
Ember gave her a bitter smile. “Did you get him?”
Cheyenne shook her head until she found her voice again. “I will. I’m working on it, and I’ll make sure he knows how bad he screwed up.”
The young women stared at each other, then Ember sniffed and nodded once. “Good. Let me know when you do. And thanks in advance.”
That brought a little smile to Cheyenne’s lips, but it faded again. “Don’t thank me yet. I still have to find the fucker.”
Ember barked a laugh and winced when it moved too forcefully through her. “Well, I’m not going anywhere.”
“Okay, listen.” When she was sure she had her friend’s attention, Cheyenne reached for Ember’s hand. The other woman didn’t hesitate to give the drow halfling’s fingers a little squeeze of encouragement. “I’m sorry I wasn’t around when you woke up. That’s mixed into the first apology because I got caught up in something that kept me away. I think it’s gonna help me in the long run with finding Durg and with…doing what I should have started a long time ago.”
“Which is?”
“I’m not backing down from a fight again, Em. Ever.” Cheyenne raised her eyebrows and swallowed. “I’ve been keeping my head down way too long without embracing who I am and what I can do. You were right. People like us need to stick together.”
“’People like us?’”
The drow halfling frowned in confusion. “Yeah. That’s what you said at Gnarly’s before everything else happened. You already know what I am, so I’m kind of assuming at this point you and I are the same. I mean, without the drow part.”
Ember blinked, and her hand went limp in Cheyenne’s. “You think I’m a halfling?”
“Aren’t you?”
“Not technically.”
A nervous laugh vacated the half-drow’s mouth. “Okay, see, I hadn’t heard the word ‘halfling’ before you threw it around at the bar. And I thought I was starting to get a handle on things. Now I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
“Yeah.” Ember clicked her tongue against her teeth and slowly slid her hand out of Cheyenne’s. “Will you shut the door all the way? I, uh, I should explain some things to you. I mean, I owe you at this point.”
“Sure.” Cheyenne nodded and climbed out of the chair to go shut the door.
I have no idea what she’s about to tell me. Whatever it is, she doesn’t look happy.
Chapter Forty-Seven
As Cheyenne returned to her seat, Ember sucked down the last of the water in her cup, filling the room with the burbling sound of a mostly empty straw. She sighed, swallowed, and set the cup on the tray while Cheyenne crossed her legs beneath her and got ready to hear the whole story.
“Okay, when I said, ‘people like us,’ I wasn’t talking about halflings. I thought halflings were a myth before I met you.”
Cheyenne leaned forward. “What about that Trevor guy?”
“Yeah, well, I found him after you and I became friends. I don’t know him all that well. A couple months hanging out with him and the other halflings he knows, so it was eye-opening for me that way.”
At least she’s not feeling a massive betrayal after they chickened out and left her in a pool of her own blood. Cheyenne nodded. “Okay. What did you mean then?”
“I meant those of us who are…different.” Ember rolled her eyes with a dry laugh. “And I don’t mean magicals versus humans. Those differences are way obvious.”
“Most of the time.”
Ember raised an eyebrow. “What?”
Cheyenne passed her finger back and forth over the silver ring in her bottom lip. “I might have met somebody who’s a full-blooded…something. I don’t know what she is, and she wouldn’t tell me. But she looks human. All the time.”
“Seriously?”
“Yeah. It’s an illusion spell.” Cheyenne spread her arms with an exaggerated look of surprise. “Who knew?”
“Huh. Yeah.” Ember pulled the thin hospital sheets up and played with the folds in the fuzzy outer blanket. “I guess you know more about magicals out in the open than you did a week ago, huh?”
“Pretty safe assumption, yeah.” Cheyenne nodded and smiled at that.
I can tell her all about it later when she has less to worry about.
“Okay. That’s a good thing, by the way. For you.”
“I know.”
“Good. So, there are magicals—the full-blooded kind—and there are halflings. Obviously. And there are probably a whole bunch of other combinations in between. I don’t know. But I’m neither.”
“Um…” Cheyenne cocked her head. “The other option I know of is human.”
“Nope. Definitely not that.” Ember clenched her eyes shut. “I mean, I pass as human much of the time. My parents are fae.”
The drow halfling’s eyes widened. A laugh of surprise built in Cheyenne’s throat. She coughed instead. “Excuse me. I heard you say ‘fae?’”
“Yep. Not a whole bunch of fae on this side. Not that I’ve heard of. The fae I do know over here are family. My parents are third-generation immigrants, and fae don’t have a lot of kids. Kinda like drow that way.” Ember offered a hesitant frown, and Cheyenne nodded.
“No questions yet.”
“Right. So, that makes me full-blooded fae with, like, five-percent magic. The rest of me looks and acts and smells like a human.”
“Okay, one question.”
“Go for it.”
Cheyenne cocked her head. “Does that happen a lot?”
“Nope.” The fae-not-fae smoothed her hair, glanced at the ends of it in her fingertips, and made a face. “The showers here are not awesome. Anyway, no. It doesn’t happen a lot. The best we could figure is that being here for so long, on this side of
