“And the rest of your family?”
Ember took a sharp breath and let her mouth hang open for a second before trying to answer. “Yeah, the rest of my family thinks they’re all better off if they ignore I was born. My dad’s still in Chicago. Well, sort of Chicago. He’s on Res 61. And my mom is…somewhere else. When she found out the inherent magic I have is enough to keep me alive, she didn’t want anything to do with me, so, she left. Maybe she’s on another reservation. Maybe she’s picked up one of those illusion spells you were talking about. Who knows?”
“Wow.” Cheyenne swallowed and leaned forward over her crossed legs. “That sucks.”
“Hey, it is what it is, right? Everybody’s got issues.”
“Magical families, too.” The half-drow sighed. “I have no idea who my dad is. The person who made me what I am is out there somewhere, doing who knows what. My mom doesn’t even know his name.”
“Ouch. Does she talk about it, or…”
“We got together a couple days ago to spill what few beans there were.” Cheyenne tilted her head in consideration. “There’s more she has to tell me. I got kinda busy. I mean, it sounds like the guy gave her a fake name, and that was it.”
“You know what?” Ember grinned when the halfling glanced at her. “I think our sob stories are pretty evenly matched.”
Cheyenne let out a reluctant chuckle. “Sounds like it. But it makes sense, you saying we have to stick together. That’s the point I’m trying to make, Em. I’m always on your side.”
“Excellent.” Ember wiggled her eyebrows. “I could go for some pizza rolls right now.”
“You want me to sneak microwaved pizza rolls into your hospital room?”
“Why not? Stick them in some Gladware beneath a shirt and a new pair of pants. Bring ‘em in with my phone charger.”
Cheyenne laughed and shook her head. “Yeah, okay. That’s not on the list of preapproved meals when you’re sitting in a hospital bed, but I did tell you I’m on your side.”
“You did.” Ember wrinkled her nose. “Can’t back out now.”
“Sure can’t. Hey, thanks for telling me all that. It’s kinda weird, right? We’ve been friends all this time, and it took you getting shot and me making some interesting frenemies before we had a heart-to-heart.” Cheyenne stood from the chair and patted Ember’s keys in her pocket. “I’ll be back in a little bit with the requested items.”
She wrapped Ember in another hug, and her friend stopped Cheyenne with a sharp grip on her upper arm. Cheyenne pulled away a little with a frown. “You okay?”
“What kinda frenemies?”
“Oh. I’ll tell you about that. It’s a complicated story, and I’m still figuring out how to juggle the pieces.”
“Okay.” Ember released her clasp on Cheyenne’s arm and sat back against the raised bed. “Don’t get into too much trouble. I kinda like having you around.”
“Don’t worry.” Cheyenne rubbed the back of Ember’s shoulder, then gave her friend two thumbs-up. “The halfling’s got it covered.”
Ember scoffed. “The halfling’s weird. I like her better when she doesn’t refer to herself in the third person.”
“Yeah, me too. She’ll be back in an hour, okay?”
“Yep.”
Cheyenne opened the room’s door and slipped into the hallway. The half-drow stopped outside the room and peeked back inside. Her friend’s smile disappeared as soon as Cheyenne was out of sight, and Ember sank her head into the pillows and turned her face away toward the window.
I know you didn’t ask, Em, but there’s a lot more I can do to help than microwave you some pizza rolls. I’ll make sure you get what you need.
Cheyenne headed through the hospital’s recovery wing, feeling tired and ready to go home and do absolutely nothing. But she’d promised her best friend—who also happened to be full-blooded fae with almost no fae magic—that she’d get these small favors done.
Sometimes small favors are all we can do. But I’m not backing down from the big ones either.
Cheyenne couldn’t change the past, but she knew she could do a lot to keep things headed the way she wanted them. To keep them headed in the right direction, where nobody got hurt because she couldn’t pull herself out of her blind rejection of who she was.
I just need more answers.
Chapter Forty-Eight
After stopping at Ember’s apartment and grabbing everything she’d promised—phone charger, change of clothes, and yes, pizza rolls—Cheyenne was back at the hospital an hour later, in time to slip in at the end of visiting hours.
Hopefully, the nurses don’t go walking around checking on every room once those hours are up.
She made a beeline for Ember’s room, the smell of fried dough and processed pizza sauce wafting from the tote bag she’d pulled from her friend’s closet. This time, though, when she knocked on the door before opening it with a cheeseball grin, she found someone else in the room with Ember. Two someone elses, both in uniform.
Crap.
“Hello.” The Richmond PD officer standing in the center of Ember’s hospital room nodded at Cheyenne and waved her inside. “Come on in. We were following up with Ms. Gaderow about her incident last week, which I’m sure you already know all about. What’s in the bag?”
The woman’s tone was friendly, but Cheyenne knew prodding conversation when she heard it.
“Clothes, phone charger, snacks.”
“Smells good.”
Cheyenne took a chance in crossing the room to hand the tote over to Ember, who took it with an apologetic smile and a nod. “Anything else I can get you?”
“I’m good.” Ember stuck her face into the bag and inhaled. “Yeah, that’s exactly what I wanted.”
“Sorry. We haven’t introduced ourselves.” The officer extended her hand toward the drow halfling. “Officer Rawley. This is my partner Officer McMathers. What’s your name?”
“Cheyenne.” The halfling shook the officer’s hand and wasn’t about to offer her last name unless someone asked for it.
“You have a
