“What?”
“These are your trials.”
Ember leaned sideways in her chair and barked a laugh. “This isn’t anything like that.”
“Okay, yeah, you’re not a—” Cheyenne glanced through the glass walls and lowered her voice. “You’re not a drow, and you don’t have a stupid box that spins and flies and throws spells at you.” The fae girl scoffed. “But this is your big thing, right? You come in here, you have Dr. Boseley to help you through it. I haven’t even met the woman, and I’m pretty sure I’d take her over Corian any day.”
“Oh, jeeze.”
“I’m serious.” The halfling chuckled. “You do the work, you have an endgame, you level up, and when you complete your trials, you get a badass cane from your best friend.”
Ember groaned and dipped her head. “If I were anyone else, Cheyenne, I might be insulted by the comparison.”
“Hey, if you were anyone else, you’d think I was insane, talking about flying boxes and spells and drow trials.”
They shared a laugh. “I appreciate your attempt to make me feel less weirded out by all this.”
“Is it working?”
“By a marginal percentage, maybe.”
“You’re telling me it’s working.” The halfling pointed at her friend and grinned. “I’ll keep it up.”
“Totally not necessary.”
“But it’s working!”
Ember smacked the half-drow’s wrist with the back of her hand. “Cut it out.”
“Oh, one more point for Ember’s trials. You don’t have to run around dodging lightning bolts. That’s a good one.”
“Make it stop.”
The door opened, and a woman with tight, bright-red curls falling just below her chin stepped in to join them. “Hi, Ember. I’m Dr. Boseley.”
“Hey.” The fae reached out to shake the smiling woman’s hand.
“Nice to meet you. How you doin’ today?”
“Ready to get started.” Ember let out a nervous chuckle.
“Good. We have some things to go over first, and then we will start.”
Cheyenne didn’t realize she was frowning at the doctor’s yoga pants and long-sleeved thermal shirt until Dr. Boseley thrust her hand under the halfling’s nose.
“Dr. Boseley.”
Blinking quickly, Cheyenne took Boseley’s hand and gave it a firm shake. “Cheyenne.”
“Nice to meet you too. I love to meet my patients’ friends and family. Puts us all on the same team, you know?”
“Yeah, she’s been ridiculously helpful.” Ember shot the halfling a quick glance and shrugged.
“Good. So, if you’re ready, let’s talk about what’s going on with you right now. You were discharged from VCU Medical Center just this last Thursday, correct?”
Ember nodded. “Yep.”
“I’m sorry. Excuse me.” Cheyenne jerked her thumb toward the windows and the hallway beyond. “Where’s your restroom?”
“Oh, yeah. Down the hall to your left, then you’ll pass the other hall on the far end of this room, and it’s the first door on the left.”
“Great. Thanks. You good?”
Ember looked at the half-drow and slowly nodded. “Totally. Are you?”
“Yeah, once I find the bathroom. Sorry.”
The fae gave her a dismissive shrug, and Cheyenne opened the glass door to step into the hall.
“Just come right on in when you get back,” Dr. Boseley called after her.
The halfling shot them both a thumbs-up and let the door fall quietly shut behind her.
Chapter Ninety-One
She headed down the hall toward wherever the bathroom was supposed to be and tried not to peer conspicuously into every open door or window she passed. What the hell is this tingling crap?
She rubbed the back of her neck and along her shoulder, but of course, that didn’t do anything. Can’t just stand out here staring at people. Make it look real, at least.
When she passed the hall running along the far end of the gym, she slowed to gaze at as much of it as she could. Only one other nurse walked quickly down it toward her, smiled, and opened a door before disappearing into the next room. Something’s up.
Cheyenne stepped into the bathroom and turned on the light before locking the door. She hiked up the bottom of her black corduroys and bent over to study her ankle. “All good there. They would’ve told me about darktongue side effects, right?”
The halfling turned and searched her reflection in the mirror. With a deep breath, she stared into her eyes and tried to will away the tingle across her back. The sensation flared, and she slapped at the top of her shoulder in reflex. “Ugh. Feels like...bugs all over me.”
Something flashed in the mirror, and she glanced back up to see the reflection of the Heart of Midnight pendant letting off another soft silver pulse. “Oh, come on.”
Rolling her eyes, Cheyenne grabbed the pendant and dipped her head to look at it. The Heart hadn’t changed, but if she focused hard, those little streaks of silver within the sparkling black stone looked like they were moving. Can’t take it off. Might not even be the stupid pendant.
She looked back up at her reflection and shook her head. “Snap out of it, Cheyenne. Pay attention to everything. Don’t assume what’s happening. Okay. Good talk.”
Opening the door again, she smacked off the light and stepped into the hallway again. This time, she paid attention to the tension in her face and forced herself to relax. The halfling stuck her hands in her pockets and moved down the hall at a leisurely pace. Just checking things out, right? Nobody’s gonna care.
When she got halfway toward the other side of the gym, she stopped and leaned against the wall between two closed doors. On the other side of the glass walls, Dr. Boseley knelt in front of Ember. She lifted one of the fae’s feet in both hands and slowly lowered it again before looking up to ask her patient a question. Whatever Ember said, it made the redheaded doctor laugh and nod.
Okay. Good clinic. Good doctor. At least Ember’s being taken care of right now.
One of the doors beside her opened, and a man a little taller than Cheyenne’s five feet three inches stepped into the hall beside her. He wore sweatpants and a short-sleeved thermal,
