L’zar snickered and turned toward his daughter. “When you know the right locks to pick, none of it matters. We’re just waiting for the tumblers to turn.”
“Right. Because you’re the best O’gúleesh thief either world has ever known.”
“Something like that.”
“We should go,” Corian added. “Ember bought us plenty of time before the Crown will make another attempt like this, but I’d rather not push it. The sooner we leave, the harder it’ll be for her people to trace us again.”
“By all means.” L’zar dipped his head and waited for Corian to cast another portal in the clearing. The whole time, he stared at Ember, studying her like someone else would study a piece of chocolate cake.
The fae met his gaze and leaned away. “Whatever you’re thinking, cut it out.”
He chuckled and closed his eyes.
Corian’s portal glistened with dark light as it opened, and he gestured for the others to head through into Persh’al’s warehouse. Before anyone else moved, Ember wheeled herself over the grass toward the opening. “I don’t know about the rest of you, but I’m ready to get out of here.”
“Right behind you, Em.” Cheyenne nodded when her friend gave her a thin smile before she rolled across the warehouse’s concrete floors.
Byrd and Lumil went next. The goblin woman shot another look at the lined-up prisoners and snorted. Then L’zar stepped through, his chin lifted and his golden eyes focused on something only he could see. Persh’al scooped up one of the round flying machines Cheyenne had shot from the sky, tossed it once in his hand, and nodded as he followed the others.
Corian caught Cheyenne’s gaze, and she turned away from the portal toward the prisoners immobilized in the center of the clearing. “I have to deal with this first.”
“I understand.” With the flick of his wrist, the portal closed. “I’ll wait.”
“Thanks.” She dug into the pocket of her fancy new trench coat and pulled out her phone. This is gonna be one of my weirder phone calls, for sure. “Hey, where are we right now?”
Corian raised an eyebrow.
“I mean, geographically.”
The nightstalker pressed his lips together and turned away to hide a smile. “Savage River State Forest.”
“Shit. That’s hours from them.” Cheyenne rolled her eyes and pulled up Rhynehart’s number. “This is not gonna be pretty.”
“It doesn’t have to be pretty, kid, as long as it gets done.”
“Yeah, I’ve noticed that’s how you guys operate with most things, but there are different levels to that. Getting something done doesn’t always have to be a shitstorm.”
A slow grin broke out on Corian’s feline face. “I’ve always agreed with that sentiment, Cheyenne. That’s something L’zar still hasn’t managed to wrap his head around.”
She snorted. “Well, I’m not here to clean up L’zar’s messes. Just my own.”
The phone rang twice before Rhynehart picked up her call. “I didn’t expect to hear from you again for a while.”
“It’s not like I ever plan to call you.” With a quick glance at Corian, Cheyenne stepped away from him and pretended like that made a difference.
“So, what made you pick up the phone?”
“First, I should probably tell you that I can’t say anything about the how or the why. Like, at all.”
“Uh-huh.”
“That’s part of working next to each other, right? This has to be something you tell me you can handle without any questions since I can’t answer them.”
Rhynehart paused on the other end of the line and cleared his throat. “Well, what can you tell me?”
“I’ve got two dozen magicals tied up in front of me.”
“You what?”
“Are you gonna hear me out, or should I call someone else?”
Rhynehart sighed. “Sorry. Keep talkin’.”
“I’m ninety-nine-percent positive none of them are in your system. At all. And even if they are, you won’t be able to get their names out of them.”
“What did you do?”
“Jesus, I didn’t do anything! I’m trying to clean this up the best way I know how, and right now, that’s calling the one guy who said he trusts that I know what I’m doing. Don’t tell me I made the wrong choice.”
“Sounds like there’s more to this situation.”
Cheyenne let out a slow breath and forced her anger back down where it belonged. There’s a time and a place. This isn’t it. “Yeah, there’s a lot more, but I’m hoping you’ve got some special FRoE tricks up your sleeve for this one. These magicals aren’t registered, and they’ve been causing a lot of problems over here.”
“Which falls right into my jurisdiction.”
“I know. It’s just a little more delicate. They’re pretty much useless for anything but taking up space right now, and the only way to change that is to take them back across the Border. I mean, by the hand.”
“Uh, you know my guys don’t make that crossing.”
“Yeah, but you send some of the bad eggs back through the rez portals. Give someone a free pass in exchange for ferrying these ones across. Worst-case scenario, no one steps up to the plate, and you push these ones through anyway.”
“Best case, we’re getting rid of two dozen jerkoffs who somehow slipped in right under our noses, plus whoever takes our offer as a guide.”
Cheyenne nodded. “Exactly.”
“Sounds like a win-win for the FRoE. What’s in it for you?”
Closing her eyes, the halfling bowed her head. I can use it as a bargaining chip. That’s it. “I won’t have to kill them.”
Rhynehart cleared his throat again. “All right, that’s a reason I can accept. If I send a team out to take these guys off your hands, are they gonna find themselves stepping into something they didn’t sign up for?”
“Not if they’re quick about it.”
“Hmm. Looks like we have a deal. Where are you?”
“Savage River State Park.”
“No shit. I’ve got a transport team making a rez delivery about an hour away from there. I’ll send ‘em over. You hang tight until they get there.”
“Sorry. I have somewhere else to be, but these guys aren’t goin’ anywhere.”
“What, you got ‘em chained up in a basement or something?”
“No. Just make sure your team knows they’re coming
