Cheyenne snorted. “Something nice. I’ll see what I can do.”
“I’m sure you’ll come up with something appropriately off the mark,” Corian said, chuckling. “This is a big deal, Cheyenne. For both of you. Oh, and don’t eat lunch.”
“Lunch?”
The line went dead, and she stared at the home screen of her phone. “Seriously, that’s all I get?”
She looked up and found Ember staring at her. “You’re gonna disappear for some other crazy mission now, aren’t you?”
Cheyenne snorted and paused in the door of her room. “Kinda. You’ve been invited too.”
“What?” The fae turned off the TV and tossed the remote on the coffee table. “Those guys have lost their minds.”
“According to the crazy rebels, we’re doing that ceremony today.”
“No shit?”
“Yeah. We can expect a nightstalker portal at two.”
Ember laughed. “I don’t even know what to say to that, except to remind you that you can’t even try to back out of this now.”
“I’m not gonna try, Em. You made your point about the whole Nós Aní thing. And from what I hear, I’d be stupid to fight a fae when she’s made up her mind.”
“Yeah, right.”
Cheyenne glanced at her phone again. “I’m gonna put on some real clothes, then you up for a quick shopping trip?”
Ember cocked her head. “For you or for me?”
“Sure.” The halfling slipped back into her room to find something to wear that wasn’t bloody, ripped, or pajamas.
An hour later, Cheyenne and Ember moved slowly down the formalwear aisle at a consignment store outside Jackson Ward, browsing the racks for something that would pass for nice. Ember ran a thin, sparkly black dress through her fingers and shook her head. “I don’t get why we’re dressing up for this. It’s weird, right? Like, putting on a show for five other magicals inside a warehouse?”
“Yeah.” Cheyenne pulled a black shirt off the rack and wrinkled her nose at the flowered pattern on the sleeves before putting it back. “But it’s an excuse to get out. Pretend we’re two normal people about to dress up for something that’s totally not normal.”
“That makes just as much sense.” Ember held a hot-pink minidress against her chest and looked at her friend. “You think they’d approve of this one?”
“I don’t give a shit what they’d think. I’d tell you to burn it.”
Ember laughed and put the dress back, both her fingers and the hanger flashing with pale violet light as the hook rose from her fingers and returned to the rack. “What do you think the ceremony entails, huh? Obviously, sacrifices and bloodletting are out.”
“Unless Corian was lying to you to get you to say yes.”
“Guess we’ll have to see. Just putting it out there, though—I didn’t write a speech or anything.”
“Nah, they probably have a script.” The girls snickered and kept searching through the racks. “Or it’s one of those repeat-after-me deals.”
Ember tilted her head and pulled the corners of her mouth down in a haughty impersonation of pompous dignity. “‘Do you, Ember Gaderow, profess your undying loyalty to the halfling child of the world’s most-wanted drow criminal?’”
“Ugh.” Cheyenne shot her friend a sidelong glance and chuckled. “You do a pretty good job of looking just like my mom, though.”
“Hey, you think they invited her too?”
They burst out laughing, ignoring the skeptical glances of the other women milling through the boutique who preferred a less giddy shopping experience.
“Wait a minute.” Cheyenne pulled a heavy black romper from the rack, complete with pockets, a silver zipper up the front, and black satin along the collar and on the cuff of each long sleeve. “I like this.”
“Looks like a mechanic’s jumpsuit in fancy black.”
“I’m goin’ with it.”
Ember shook her head with a small smile and kept moving down the rack. “I’m not gonna find anything in here. I don’t even know what I’d— Whoa.” She looked over her shoulder to make sure no one was watching, then pointed at a hanger. Everything flashed purple, and the simple, slate-gray dress with short sleeves sailed into her hand. “Yeah, this is it.”
“Yeah?”
“Oh, yeah. I’m not into jumpsuits.”
Cheyenne snorted and took the dress from her friend, pinning its hanger in one hand with her own outfit. “Fair enough. Let’s get outta here.”
They moved through the aisle and headed toward the checkout counter along the far wall. The halfling stopped when she looked at the mannequin in front of them and cocked her head.
“I need that too.”
“The jacket?” Ember wrinkled her nose. “You’re going all out, aren’t you?”
“Hey, it works. Semi-formal meets trench coat with a hood, and it’s my color.” Cheyenne sorted through the jackets behind the mannequin before she pulled out the last one in her size and grinned at it. “I needed a new jacket anyway.”
Laughing, Ember wheeled herself toward the checkout counter. “At least you know what you like.”
“Hey, I’ve got an extremely specific style. Pretty hard to replicate too.”
“I bet your mom and Eleanor loved shopping for Christmas presents, huh?” They reached the desk, and Ember’s smile faded when she saw her friend’s hesitant frown. “What?”
Cheyenne placed the items on the counter as the short, smiling clerk came toward them to get started on the purchase. “Would it surprise you if I said Bianca doesn’t believe in Christmas?”
Ember blinked. “No, not really. I probably should’ve guessed that.”
“Eleanor snuck past the barricade a few times, but it was more like books and then parts when I started building computers.” Cheyenne chuckled. “You know, performance-based gifts.”
“Jeeze.”
“Did you find everything you were looking for today?” the clerk asked, smiling sweetly at her newest customers.
“Yeah, thanks.” Cheyenne pulled her wallet out of her back pocket and slipped out her card.
“Excellent. Would you like me to box these for you?”
“Oh, no. Just in the bag is fine.” Cheyenne flipped her credit card against her fingers and nodded.
“Sure.” The woman removed the clothes from the hangers before folding them gently and placing them in a large brown paper bag with handles. “There
