“That was bound to happen. We’ll address it when we have to. What happened?”
“Okay. Uh, that little issue we ran into on our drive out to Maryland yesterday? The first time.”
“Yes?”
Cheyenne glanced at the vaulted ceiling of the foyer. “Well, I just found another one. Or it found me. I have no idea.” The line was silent, and the halfling pulled the phone away to double-check that they were still connected. “Corian?”
“Where?”
“At my mom’s house.”
A long hiss came over the line. “Has it opened yet?”
“Oh, yeah. Definitely. I think I took care of it for now, but I have no idea how long that’s gonna last.”
“By yourself.”
Cheyenne nodded and shot Ember an exasperated glance. “Yeah, by myself. I’m the only one here who could do anything about it.”
“Is it as big a threat as the last one?”
“Corian, I have no idea. That’s why I’m calling you. It’s not nearly as big as the last one, but it’s right behind my mom’s house. On her property. It could’ve brought the whole place down on top of us if it was any closer to the house.”
“Hmm. Well, it’s a good sign that you managed to take care of it on your own.”
The halfling snorted. “Not really. I wasn’t joking about the almost-dying part. Black fire. That’s as much as I can say on the phone—”
“Cheyenne, stop. You used that one just now?”
“I mean, maybe ten minutes ago, but yeah. That’s the only reason I’m still here, making a phone call to such a cheery guy.”
“Check the box.”
She gritted her teeth. “I can’t. I left it at home.”
“I’ll see if I can work around that one. But we need to see—”
“Hey, I don’t care about that right now. The only thing I need to do is make sure that thing doesn’t open again and start tearing the place apart. What are we supposed to do now? That’s why I called you.”
Corian paused again, and the halfling didn’t bother checking her phone this time. “The best thing is for everyone in that house to vacate the property. Go somewhere safe. Get away from the threat. Which I’m sure you already know.”
“Yeah, and I’m also sure that’s not gonna happen. I’ll ask, but in case she refuses, what do I do?”
“The next best thing is to call in your F-force friends.”
Cheyenne rolled her eyes. “Nice touch with the forum code over the phone, by the way.”
“Call them, Cheyenne. Have them send up a team to stand guard for a while, at the very least. If anything else tries to come through, they’ll handle it.”
“None of those magicals have made the crossing. They won’t know what the hell to do.”
“That doesn’t matter. They’re soldiers. Sort of. And their weapons are almost as powerful as m—as our weapons. Understand? Have them stand guard, and she’ll be fine.”
“Fine. What about you?”
“What about me?”
“Can you get out here?”
“No. I’m neck-deep in trying to put together those parts we brought back yesterday, and we’re about to follow up with a lead on that name.”
“Oh, great. Thanks for telling me you found something.”
Corian cleared his throat. “It just happened, kid. I almost didn’t answer my phone. Make your other call, sit tight, and text me your address.”
“Really?”
“If I have time, I’ll stop by to pick up some things. Where’d you leave the box?”
“Nightstand. And hey, if you do end up sneaking into my apartment, grab the darktongue salve too. Please. I need to start keeping that stuff on me.”
“Have you used it yet?”
“Uh-huh.”
A low chuckle escaped the Nightstalker, then Persh’al’s voice came from somewhere else in the room. “I gotta go, kid. I’ll let you know if you need to expect me. Anything else comes up, send me another text. Clean. My phone’ll be on silent for a while tonight.”
“Okay. Thanks.”
“Cheyenne? If you took care of it the way you say you did, we’re close. Understand?”
“Yeah.”
“I’m proud of you.”
A wry laugh escaped the drow halfling. “Have fun following your lead.”
She hung up and took a deep breath. “Shit.”
“What’s up?” Ember sat rigid in her chair, staring at her friend with wide eyes.
“I can’t believe I’m upset that I don’t have that burner phone on me.”
The fae frowned. “I didn’t think all this stuff had much to do with the FRoE anymore.”
“Normally, it wouldn’t, but Corian seems to think they can handle it. At least better than not doing anything. And I’m out of options.”
“Hey, I’d offer to drive back home and grab it if that was even remotely possible.”
Cheyenne looked up and gave her friend a wan smile. “Thanks, Em. I don’t need the phone. I was just really trying not to taint this one by calling them with it.” The halfling tapped her temple. “I’ve seen that number come up so many times, it’s stuck in here.”
“That’s lucky, I guess.”
“Yeah. Hey, feel free to go hang out with them. They’re probably getting lit right now, so at least it’ll be laid back.”
Ember laughed. “You could just say you want some privacy, you know.”
“Stay if you want to. I don’t mind. It’s gonna be a...rough conversation.”
The fae blinked and smacked her lips. “I think there’s still some gin left in my glass. I’ll go find out.”
Cheyenne snorted and watched her friend wheel out of the foyer toward the broad hall leading down the side of the house. “Uh, just please don’t tell her who I’m calling right now, okay?”
“I seriously doubt any of us wanna talk about that.” The fae winked at her friend and paused. “That was a close one out there, wasn’t it?”
The halfling chewed the inside of her bottom lip and nodded. “Close, but no dice.”
Laughing, Ember shook her head and left the half-drow alone in the foyer to make one more call.
Cheyenne stared at the keypad on her phone and grimaced. “He owes me one, and he’ll owe me another one after this.”
She dialed Major Sir Carson’s FRoE number from memory and slowly lifted the phone to her ear. She thought he wasn’t going to answer when
