Aksu studied the halfling’s raised eyebrow, then pursed her lips. “You’re putting a lot of trust in an orc girl whose uncle pissed you off enough to do whatever you did to him.”
Cheyenne snorted. “Well, you’ve been a lot easier to talk to.”
That made the girl laugh again, and she stared into her lap. “All right. How ‘bout this? I won’t tell anybody anything about this place if you don’t tell anyone how I got Earthside.”
“Huh.” The halfling blinked and mulled over the deal. Now I’m the one tightening the drawstring. Awesome. “I can promise you I won’t say anything about your uncle sending for you or the magicals who got you across under the FRoE’s radar. But if things get dicey with that secret Border portal, I might have things to say to various people about that part.”
Aksu shrugged. “As long as my name stays out of it, sounds like a pretty good deal to me.”
Cheyenne dropped her hand off the steering wheel and held it out toward the girl whose uncle had put Ember in that wheelchair. Everything still has a price. “Deal.”
The girl quickly took the half-drow’s hand and gave it a firm squeeze and a single shake up and down.
“Let’s get the hell out of here, huh?”
“Yeah, the faster, the better.”
The halfling bit her lip and stepped on the gas. The Panamera’s 4.8-liter V8 engine kicked into gear, and they sped down the rest of the long stretch of unnamed road that would take them back to civilization. Aksu gripped the armrest on the passenger-side door, but she was grinning.
“So, you know your way around technology on this side, then.” Cheyenne took the wide left turn toward the highway at seventy-five miles an hour. “You bring any of that advanced O’gúleesh tech with you when you made the crossing?”
“I tried. Learned the hard way that that’s the only thing that doesn’t come with people over the Border.”
“Seriously?”
“Yeah.” The girl let out a wry chuckle. “People tried to tell me to leave it behind, but I figured nobody wanted humans to get their hands on the stuff. Turns out the Border takes it off you and does…whatever with it. Maybe it’s gone, or maybe it showed up again on the other side. I don’t know. Would’ve been really nice to have an O’gúl activator over here.”
“What’s that do?”
Aksu laughed. “Whatever I want it to.”
“All right. Keep your little tech secrets. I see how it is.” They both laughed a little, and Cheyenne readjusted her grip on the steering wheel. “So, the only things that make it through are magicals and magic, huh?”
“I guess. What else is there?”
That’s what I wanna know, kid. It was obviously a rhetorical question, so Cheyenne didn’t bother keeping up the conversation. And I would love to get my hands on some O’gúleesh tech.
Chapter Fifty-Nine
Just after noon, the Panamera pulled up in front of Durg Br’athol’s house on the north end of Jackson Ward. Cheyenne turned off the engine, and she and Aksu sat there in silence.
Then the halfling turned toward the teenage orc version of herself and nodded. “Ready?”
“Yeah.” Aksu peered at her uncle’s house. “I know you’ve already done a lot for me, but I kinda have one more favor to ask.”
Cheyenne lowered her hands into her lap and shifted in her seat to turn toward the orc girl. There’s that racing heartbeat. Why’s she only getting worked up now? “Hey, don’t worry about what I have or haven’t done already. And you don’t owe me anything, okay?”
Aksu turned toward the halfling and nodded. “Okay.”
“So, what’s the favor?”
“Can you come with me?”
The halfling blinked and tried not to laugh. “You want me to walk you to the front door?”
“Yeah.” Aksu’s eyes widened, then she rolled her eyes and slouched a little more in the passenger seat. “Okay, the thing is, I’m not a hundred-percent upfront with my uncle all the time.”
“Oh, okay. Hey, I don’t think there’s a single teenager alive who hasn’t lied to their parents about something. Or their uncle.”
“Maybe. But it kinda put him in the habit of not believing anything I tell him if he’s pissed off or worried about something. And the last time I snuck out overnight, he lost his shit a little.”
Cheyenne nodded slowly and glanced through the passenger side window at the house. “You think me walking up there with you is gonna convince him that you’re telling the truth?”
“Not really. If you told him, though, he can’t ignore it. He tries to hide it, but he’s terrified of you.”
“Uh-huh.” The halfling pressed her lips together and nodded again. Can’t laugh at that one either. Keep it together. “All right. I’ll help you ‘cause I know the story. Still, it’s probably a good idea to start working out your trust issues after this, yeah?”
“Already went through my mind.”
“Okay. Let’s go scare the crap out of your uncle again so he’ll believe you.”
Aksu snorted and unbuckled her seatbelt. They both got out of the car, and Cheyenne stepped onto the sidewalk with the orc teenager.
The girl stood there for a little too long, and the halfling pointed at the front door. “You’re gonna have to take the lead on this one, kid. I’m just backup.”
“Ugh. Fine.” Aksu rolled her eyes and moved up the walkway toward the front porch. Her overly large sneakers thumped up the wooden stairs, and Cheyenne followed quietly behind her.
With a deep breath, the prodigal magical minor knocked on the door and folded her arms.
A muffled grunt came from inside, then Durg clomped toward the front door and jerked it open with a snarl. He wasn’t expecting to see his niece in someone else’s baggy clothes standing on the porch, and while his eyes widened in surprise, the snarl stayed. “Where the hell have you been?”
The girl glared defiantly up
