Cheyenne snorted as she returned to the living room and slumped into one of the leather recliners. “That part can’t surprise you much.”
“No, not really.” Ember shrugged and pushed herself farther up the couch’s armrest. “I’m more surprised that you agreed to go over there. I mean, I know you have to eventually for that coin or whatever, but this came out of the blue.”
“I know.” Running a hand through her hair, Cheyenne glanced at the ceiling. “It was nuts.”
“You okay?”
“Yeah, I’m fine now. Almost didn’t make it back.”
“What?”
“But I did. And I’m totally fine, Em. Promise. And I need to send some kind of thank you basket to Yadje for that darktongue salve.”
Ember stared at her friend, then a grin broke out on her face. “Tell me everything.”
Cheyenne laughed. “In a nutshell, Ambar’ogúl’s fucked. Magicals who can afford living in the capital are being held prisoner in one giant, endless party. And halflings can apparently bring advanced O’gúl tech across the Border.” She leaned forward and wiggled the silver coil at the fae. “Like this.”
“A metal spring. Nice.”
The halfling stood and walked toward the couch. Ember gestured to the wheelchair beside her, and Cheyenne shrugged before sitting down in it. “Doesn’t look like much, right?”
Ember stared at the coil and bit her lip. “Nope.”
“It’s an activator, Em.”
The fae’s eyes widened. “For real?”
“Yeah. I’m pretty sure this is what got me in trouble last night on our way back, but it’s real. And it works.”
“You’re screwing with me.”
“No, really. I used it last night.”
Ember reached for the silver coil and studied it intently. “I bet it doesn’t work for anyone else.”
“I mean, Persh’al’s the only other magical who tried to use it. Didn’t work for him, and he was pretty pissed about it.”
“I bet.” Biting her lip, the fae lifted the coil with a questioning glance. “You think maybe?”
“Go for it.” Cheyenne sat back in the wheelchair and folded her arms. “If it works for you, it blows a hole right through L’zar’s theory, but it might ramp up your magic.”
“Right.”
“Behind your ear.”
Ember swiped her hair around over her other shoulder and lifted the activator to her head. She grimaced at the sharp pinch and waited. “Now what?”
“You see anything different?”
“No.”
“Yeah, it’s an instant on-switch.” Cheyenne shrugged. “Guess that proves the halfling theory.”
“Damn.” Ember removed the coil and handed it back. “I mean, good for you. That part’s awesome. Just got my hopes up a little, I guess.”
“Don’t worry, Em. We’ve already seen your magic. You keep going the way you’re going, and you’ll be walking again too.”
The fae snorted. “You mean, go into underground magical marketplaces and almost get ripped apart by war machines sniffing my blood? Yeah. A few more weeks of that, and we can throw the chair out altogether.”
“Very funny.” Cheyenne stuck the activator back in her pocket. “That’s not gonna happen again. I promise. We’ll figure out how to jumpstart your magic too.”
“Maybe.”
A loud, urgent pounding came from the front door. The girls shared a curious glance, then Cheyenne stood from the chair. “What time is it?”
“I don’t know. Eight-thirty, maybe.”
“That’s too early for a surprise visit. I don’t even know anyone who’d drop by the old-fashioned way anymore.”
Ember snorted and turned the TV back on as Cheyenne approached the front door. She stood on her tiptoes to peer through the round peephole and reared back. “What the hell?”
“Who is it?”
Cheyenne blinked and shot Ember a furious scowl over her shoulder. “It’s Rhynehart.”
The fae grimaced. “Uh-oh.”
“Yeah, uh-oh for him.” The halfling unlocked the deadbolt and the lock on the doorknob, then jerked the door open a few inches to glare at him in the hall. “What are you doing?”
Rhynehart grimaced. “We need to talk.”
With an irritated growl, Cheyenne slipped through the door and yanked it closed behind her. She shoved him away from her apartment and shook her head. “You can’t just show up where I live, Rhynehart. This is crossing a serious line.”
He glanced down the hall at the elevators. “You sure you wanna have this conversation out here in the hall?”
“I don’t wanna have this conversation at all,” she hissed. “And you should be up at my mom’s house with your team. You know, guarding that rock and keeping her safe.”
“My guys are still up there, Cheyenne.” He folded his arms. “And apparently, they did what they were up there to do last night. It went active, and they had to fight off a bunch of nasty black things spilling out of an invisible space between those rocks. Huge things. Two tentacles and a giant claw.” Rhynehart mimed pincers with his hands and raised an eyebrow. “But they took care of it.”
Cheyenne frowned. “Yeah, sounds like that was just a baby. And you could have told me all that over the phone, man! You didn’t have to show up at my door. No, you shouldn’t show up at my door.”
“Well, I had to come see for myself.”
“What are you talking about?”
“I wanted to make sure you were here instead of running all over who knows where gettin’ into more trouble than I can imagine.”
The halfling folded her arms and glared at him. “If I was, that’s none of your damn business. Also, I’m fairly sure we all agreed that me working with you people had conditions, like staying the hell out of my personal life and especially out of my apartment.”
Rhynehart glanced down the hall again and shook his head. It took him longer than usual to lift his gaze to Cheyenne’s. “I saw something else come out of those rocks last night.”
Shit. I should’ve knocked him out harder. She pressed her lips together and didn’t say a word.
“I know what I saw, Cheyenne. My guys briefed me on the things spilling out of that opening because I missed the whole thing. Now, I know I can’t
