“Temporarily.” The Nightstalker took a deep breath of the salty ocean air and cocked his head. “You hear that?”
A low honk drifted over the constant rush of waves breaking on the ocean and crashing up against the sharp drop off the Rock. Another echoed it, followed by more.
Cheyenne blinked and shot her mentor a disbelieving stare. “Does your magical island bubble keep out seals, too?”
Corian shrugged. “Guess we’ll find out. Ready to start?”
Rolling her eyes, the halfling spun the chain around on her neck so she could untie the knot she’d put there yesterday. “Give me a second.”
“We don’t have all night, kid. Hurry up so we can make the most of it.”
Finally, she loosened up the broken ends of the chain and jerked off the pendant before stuffing it into one of the many pockets lining her cargo pants. It surprised them both that she didn’t automatically slip into drow mode, but Cheyenne only had to think about it to make it happen.
The drow halfling faced the cat-like Nightstalker and spread her arms. “Let’s do this.”
Chapter Forty-Four
“Do you have any progress to report before we get started?” Corian stepped toward the sharp incline of the earthen walls cut into the island. “Seemed like you had plenty of practice at that giant house yesterday.”
“I did, actually.” Cheyenne turned the drow legacy box over in her hands, then bent and set it on the dry grass growing in patches across the dirt. “Got one more piece of that thing locked in place, and I’m pretty sure I mastered the shield.”
“Mastered is a strong word. For now, you understand how and when to use it.”
The halfling snorted. “I understood enough to use it perfectly when we were going after those kids.”
“Good to hear.” The Nightstalker cleared his throat. “While we’re on the subject, who found them?”
“The kids?”
He widened his eyes and lifted his chin, waiting for her to continue.
“I did.”
“You found them?”
Cheyenne laughed without any amusement. “You know, for someone who’s supposed to be teaching me how to be better, you don’t sound all that confident.”
“It’s not a lack of confidence, Cheyenne. Just surprise.” He scratched his tufted ear, his silver gaze darting around the thin grass and the dry shrubs. “And I might be rethinking my abilities if you found something on the dark web that I didn’t.”
“That’s not what happened, so don’t worry. No black mark on your reputation or anything.”
The Nightstalker met her gaze again and frowned. “Not on the net?”
“I tried, but no. I negotiated my way into another visit with L’zar.”
Corian’s silver eyes narrowed. “L’zar Verdys knows a lot of things, kid. Hard to believe the location of a bunch of kidnapped magicals he had nothing to do with is one of them.”
“He didn’t tell me where they were.” Cheyenne glanced at the stars and took another deep breath. He doesn’t believe anything he can’t see with his own eyes, does he? “It was more like he helped me figure it out.”
“Still sounds off.
“Tell me about it. It was one of the weirder conversations I’ve had recently.”
Folding his arms again, Corian studied her. “Well, I suppose all those kids and their parents have both of you to thank for that.”
“I don’t think either of us is waiting for a thank you. The FRoE only came to me about it because they were out of options, and I did what I had to do.”
“How did he jog your memory?”
The halfling rolled her eyes. “Mostly, it was a lot of banging on iron bars. Like a drow monkey at the zoo.”
That made the Nightstalker chuckle. “Did you at least remember to tell him we’d started your trials?”
Cheyenne pressed her lips together and stared her mentor down. “Yeah, I remembered. He got pretty excited about it, and that was probably the only reason he helped me put the pieces together about those kids. You were right about that, at least. The guy’s looking out for number one.”
“Which includes looking out for you too, Cheyenne. Even if it’s from behind bars.”
“You know, if he ever gets out of Chateau D’rahl and comes to help me with a new problem, I might believe that. He did give me a spell for speeding this whole trial thing up, though. Don’adurr Thread, I think?”
“The Don’adurr Thread?”
“That’s what I said.”
Corian’s amusement disappeared, and he rubbed a fur-covered hand over his mouth before shaking his head. “That wily sonofabitch.”
“Not gonna argue with you about that one.”
“He gave you more than a simple spell, Cheyenne.” Frowning, Corian rubbed his hands together, shook them out in preparation for another spell, then cocked his head. “Not what I would’ve given you to start with, but if L’zar thinks you’re ready for it, it’s not my place to say he’s wrong.”
Bad news when a Nightstalker starts looking uncomfortable. “What is it?”
“I can set it up for you, but you have to do the work on your own.”
“Let me guess.” Cheyenne folded her arms. “Because I’m not ready.”
“More like because I can’t do anything else. It’s a drow ritual, kid. I don’t have what it takes to show you the ropes on this one.” Shaking his head again as if that would get rid of his astonishment, the Nightstalker muttered a spell and opened a new portal directly in front of him. This one was a lot smaller, and he ducked through the opening into his basement to reach for something in the junk on the metal shelves lining the walls.
“And this ritual will make my trials go faster?”
“That’s for the two of you to figure out. I’m just the messenger at this point. Supplier. Alchemist. Damn babysitter.”
“Someone’s getting grumpy.” The halfling stepped around the portal to watch him grab random items from the shelves, which he tossed behind him into the dirt on Alcatraz Island. Not sure I like where this is
