“No. But the asshole things that are only supposed to exist between either side of the Border tried to come through. Right here on this little patch of grass where we’re standing.”
“You can’t be serious.”
The halfling pointed at her head. “This is my serious face, Rhynehart.”
“Like I can tell the difference between any of your faces. Do you know how crazy you sound right now?”
“Oh, yeah. I know. You’re just gonna have to believe me on this one, or we’re all seriously fucked.”
The man sniffed and pinched his nose, then gazed down the length of the portal ridge and nodded. “Fine. I’ll take your word for it, but if I find out you’re just blowing smoke up my ass—”
“You won’t. Just make sure anything that tries to break through stays on the other side of that black wall. Got it?”
“Yeah.” He started pulling on his dampening gloves and didn’t look at Cheyenne when he muttered flatly, “Anything else?”
“Uh, shooting the biggest tentacle is a great way to make the main thing angry enough to try coming through. But if you take that one down first, you might catch a little break for, like, a snack or something.”
“What the fuck are you smoking?”
Cheyenne clapped a hand on the agent’s shoulder and gave it a little shake. “Oh. They’re shapeshifters, too. So, whatever it looks like you’re fighting, don’t expect it to stay the same thing for very long. And don’t hold back.”
Rhynehart’s head wobbled on his shoulders when she gave him another shake of mock reassurance, but all he could do was stare at the black wall rising from all the black spears of stone. “Shapeshifters.”
“Thanks for making the drive. You guys can do whatever you need to do out here, but the house is off-limits.”
“Uh-huh.” He turned away from her without another word and headed toward his agents, who had gathered in a loose group behind him.
The halfling scanned their faces and didn’t recognize a single one of them. ‘Cause Sir doesn’t want the halfling making friends with his operatives. Message received.
She spun again and headed back toward the house as the last of the light faded to black. When she looked at the veranda, her mother’s silhouette was stark against the house lights spilling through the wall of windows. Bianca Summerlin didn’t look down at the drow halfling making her way across the lawn, focusing instead on the team of agents in black fatigues milling around the edge of the woods on her property. The woman lifted the glass of the good scotch to her lips and barely tasted it.
Chapter One Hundred Two
Cheyenne had offered to drive Ember back to their apartment, but her fae friend had refused without a second thought. “I’m not gonna make you drive me home so you can come all the way back out here and miss three and a half hours of whatever might happen. I’ll just take one of the guest rooms, and we’ll head back in the morning.”
The halfling didn’t have enough energy to argue, so she’d set Ember up in the guest suite next to her childhood bedroom and didn’t leave until Ember shouted to quit smothering her so they could both get some sleep.
Now, lying in a queen-sized bed in a room that was at least the size of her old crappy apartment, Cheyenne found herself unable to get to sleep. Big surprise. FRoE agents out back, a broken portal about to spit out monsters at any minute, and everyone’s pissed about it.
She rolled onto her other side and stared into the darkness. The outline of her massive bookshelf in the moonlight spilling through the window made her frown. Showing up for dinner’s one thing. I hate this room.
The halfling closed her eyes and willed herself to sleep, focusing on slowing her breathing until it fell into one long inhale and exhale after another.
Just as she felt herself slipping off, a jolt of buzzing energy flared across her body. She opened her eyes to bright white light and L’zar’s glowing gold eyes staring at her. “What the fuck!”
She tried to sit up in her bed but couldn’t move. There wasn’t a bed beneath her anyway, and she glanced down to see her bare feet standing on white nothingness. Good thing I put on pajamas.
“What happened?” L’zar stood in front of her, dressed in his Chateau D’rahl prison uniform.
“Okay, why are we standing in the middle of nothing?”
“Don’adurr Thread, Cheyenne. I initiated it. Are you okay?”
“There’s gotta be some kinda warning signal before you pop into my head right before I fall asleep.”
“It doesn’t work that way. I’m sorry if you don’t like it, but I had to make sure you’re all right.”
Frowning, the halfling stopped her spinning mind and focused on L’zar’s face in the white light. His gold eyes were wide, his shoulders hunched as he studied her in concern beneath disheveled white hair spilling over his shoulders. If I didn’t know better, I’d say he’s worried about something.
“I’m fine,” she said slowly. “Are you all right?”
“Knowing the Thread worked and I could still find you, I’ll be fine. Tell me what happened.”
“Lots of things happen to me. You’re gonna have to be a little more specific.”
“I can’t.” The drow pressed his lips together and took a sharp, anxious breath through his nose. “But I felt—” He sniffed and looked away from her, blinking quickly. “I felt you fade, Cheyenne. And don’t try to tell me I’m imagining it. I’ve felt the same far too many times before, and none of them were there when I—” L’zar hissed out a breath and bit his bottom lip in irritation.
He’s scared, and it pisses him off. Cheyenne stared at her wild-eyed father. “I faded, all right, and then I came back and took care of it. A new portal burst out of nowhere on Bianca’s estate. Right behind her house.”
“A new—” The
