“Dangerous for who?”
Corian turned around and fixed her with those glowing silver eyes in his feline face. “Everyone. Mostly you.”
“Really? ‘Cause at that mansion yesterday, it sounded like you were a hell of a lot more worried about saving your own skin.” Cheyenne gritted her teeth when the usual flare of her drow magic didn’t appear with the heat of her anger. Still weird.
“If you just came here to point fingers and get all defensive again, I’m more than happy to take down those wards. You can show yourself out.” One of the Nightstalker’s ears twitched, but his face remained emotionless.
Taking a deep breath, Cheyenne forced herself to let it out slowly through her nose. Suck it up and make some progress. “You know that’s not what I want.”
“Then act like it and tell me you’re ready to table this for later so we can train. That’s why you’re here.”
The halfling held his gaze for a little longer, then slid her backpack off her shoulders and set it down against the wall by the door. She pulled out the copper legacy box, a little surprised when it still didn’t react to her touch, and took it with her to join Corian beside the circle of unlit candles. “Consider it tabled.”
“Excellent.” Corian cast another spell, his hands working quickly as he whispered words in O’gúleesh. Flames winked to life on every candle, and the air above the center of the circle shimmered with dark light. The orb of his portal grew in seconds, revealing a shadowy doorway looking out onto a sloping grassy hill. “Let’s not waste any more time, huh?”
Cheyenne was stepping over the closest candles when he gestured toward the portal. She passed through the large, dark oval in the air.
The smell of saltwater and fish hit her instantly, followed by cold, slightly damp air that didn’t belong to Richmond at the end of September. The moonlight sparkled across a black expanse of water, joined by the reflection of thousands of tiny, glittering lights behind her. The halfling turned around to watch Corian step through the portal before the dark opening disappeared with a soft pop. “Where’d you take us this— What the hell is that?”
Corian smirked and faced the steep incline of the hill behind them and the wide, sweeping expanse of the stone building that would have been white in the daylight. Now, it was light gray, the tower of the lighthouse rising into the starry sky. “You ever been to the Rock?”
“My first thought is a resounding no.” The halfling stepped to the side, trying to peer around the massive building in front of them. In the distance, she saw more land jutting out into the water and all the sparkling lights from the city.
“Nowhere to go but here, kid. Being on an island and all.”
“Yeah, I’m starting to figure that out.” Cheyenne gestured toward the walls of the huge building above them. “The Golden Gate Bridge is right on the other side, isn’t it?”
“As far as I know.”
I really wanna punch that smirk off his face. “Why the hell did you bring me to Alcatraz?”
“Well, it’s not so I can lock you in an empty jail cell. As fun as it would be.” He snorted. “For me.”
“What happened to the field in the woods?” Cheyenne turned around again and stared at the glittering Pacific Ocean stretching out in front of her. “Or at least an ocean with warm water?”
“Riker’s Island is still an active prison so that one’s off the table.”
“I’m serious.” She spun around again and found him chuckling. “There’s a whole city of people over there who are gonna want to know why Alcatraz is lighting up like the Fourth of July in September.”
“Huh. I didn’t think about that.”
“Are you serious?”
“No.” Corian flicked his hand out toward the ocean. A shimmering dome of orange-tinted light appeared, stretching from the edge of the island and arcing over them toward the other side. “I don’t rush blindly into a new plan, Cheyenne. That’s another thing to put on your to-be-learned list.”
The orange dome disappeared, and the halfling shook her head. “You don’t have to rub it in, man. I get it. Still not sure why your portal had to take us all the way to California.”
“Got something against the Golden State?”
“Yeah. Too much sun.” When the Nightstalker snorted, the corner of Cheyenne’s mouth quirked into what was almost a smile. “I’m a fan of the woods.”
“That particular location was compromised, kid. I’m trying to keep our trail clean.”
She headed toward him, just to fall under the shadow of the prison building again. It still feels like people can see us. “We got out of there before the other portal opened.”
“Yeah, but they found where we were first.” Corian blinked in surprise and let out a wry chuckle. “Look at that. I’m talking to somebody who’ll understand this on the same level.”
“Not quite.”
He shook his head. “Opening a portal leaves a trace. Think of it like diving into the dark web, Cheyenne. No official VPN for a portal, but we have time to do what we came here to do tonight before I have to find another safe place for us to work the next time. Once you take off that pendant, I can only keep you hidden for so long. By the time they find this place and whatever markers we left here that I can’t cover up, we’ll be somewhere else.”
“They?”
“The people who almost crashed our last training session. I’m sure you and I are on the same page when it comes to not wanting them to succeed.”
“Yeah, we are.” The halfling grabbed
