Ember stopped flipping through the pages and scanned the dates of the file updates on the top of the stack now.
“Yeah, whoa.” Cheyenne folded her arms. “It keeps going.”
“These go back almost five years.” The pages rustled as Ember flipped through them faster and faster.
“Once a month for the last five years at least, yeah. ThomasSafe has been actively updating these programming files. And I bet you literally my entire inheritance that if I took the time to dive into these, I’d find constantly updated patches, bug fixes, new update alerts, the whole deal. Matthew Thomas wrote a fucking app for remote-controlled war machines.”
“His company wrote the app.”
“Em, he’s been pretty vocal about how much he likes to be ‘hands-on’ with his projects. He went on and on in an interview about how he reads every single scholarship application kids send him for his stupid college fund every year. Matthew isn’t the kind of guy who lets other people take over a complicated project like this while he sits back and waits for the money to roll into his accounts.”
“You think the Crown’s paying him for this?”
“Well, he’s not doing it out of the kindness of his heart.” Cheyenne gave a heavy sigh as Ember shot her a warning glance. “Again, sorry.”
“Don’t apologize. Just quit talking to me like I’m an idiot. I’m trying to look at this from all angles.”
That made Cheyenne pause. From all angles. That’s something I need serious practice with. She took a deep breath and dropped her head back to stare at their vaulted ceiling. “Okay, then let’s talk hypothetically.”
“I thought we were.”
“Proof isn’t hypothetical, Em.”
Ember flicked the stack of papers in her lap. “This proves what his company’s been doing for at least five years. What it doesn’t say is how involved Matthew is in this or what he thinks his company’s been accomplishing for that long. And it doesn’t tell us why he agreed to do it or what his intentions were.”
“His intentions don’t matter.”
“For real?” Ember dropped the printed pages in her lap and spread her arms. “You’re gonna stand next to me in this chair and tell me that when somebody makes a mistake, we should just throw their intentions out the window because they don’t matter?” She slapped her hands down on the armrests.
“Oh, come on. Those are two totally different things.”
“No, they’re not. What if Matthew doesn’t have a clue what his company’s programs are being used for? Or if he got into this whole Ogúl-tech-app thing, thinking he was doing his part to help magicals who made the crossing come over here, huh? Tell me how that’s different from you thinking your best option was to follow me to the skatepark that night instead of walking head-on into that meeting with me.”
Cheyenne blinked a few times in surprise and swallowed. No wonder my mom likes her so much. “I can’t.”
“Thank you. So there you go.” Ember picked up the stack of papers again and tapped them against her thighs to tidy the pile. “And just so we’re clear, no, I still don’t blame you for what happened that night. I mean, if I’m being painfully honest, getting shot might’ve been the best thing that ever happened to me.”
“Yeah, that’s definitely painful.” Cheyenne grimaced. “And weird. What do you mean?”
“Without the whole hospital thing, maybe you wouldn’t have had the time to step in every other day and tell me about whatever wild goose chase you were on that day. I wouldn’t have needed any help. No PT. No new apartment.” Ember snorted. “Okay, maybe you would’ve gotten a place like this anyway, ‘cause your last apartment was shit.”
“Thanks.”
“Don’t even try to pretend you’re insulted by that.” The fae girl studied the pink hue of her hand and forearm, now glowing with a fae’s natural aura, then held her hand up toward Cheyenne. “Plus, I’m starting to think a spinal injury was what forced my magic into showing up. You know, all that crap about fae being natural healers or whatever. Even for myself.”
“Okay.” The halfling nodded. “I get your point. Just as long as you don’t thank me for letting you get shot.”
“Are you fucking kidding me?” Ember raised an eyebrow and shook her head. “Durg’s the only one who gets credit for that, and he can suck it. But I can thank you for saving my life and hanging in there with me. I mean, you were the only person who cared that I couldn’t just walk out of that hospital bed and keep doing things the way I’ve been doing them.”
“Yeah, Em. You’ve already thanked me for that.”
“For real, though. Now I have a personal chauffeur in a pretty sweet car, you’re paying for this cushy place, and I look like an actual fae all the time now because some psycho in a different world wants you dead.”
“Okay, okay.” Cheyenne clenched her eyes shut. “Just stop.”
Ember laughed. “Good, we’re on the same page. The real question is how we deal with this new information about our surprisingly enmeshed neighbor.”
The halfling nodded and turned to pace across the wide section of open floor between the sitting area and the north-facing window wall. A wry laugh escaped her. “I was all pumped and ready to break down his door. You just burst my bubble, and it’s all fizzling away again. Happy now?”
“Yes.” Ember gave her a goofy salute. “Someone needs to talk you out of unnecessary chaos. Looks like I have the job.”
“Well, you’re the only person who hasn’t tried to lie to me, manipulate me for some secret bullshit, or fight me, so there’s that.” The friends stared at each other with deadpan expressions before Cheyenne snorted and paced away from Ember again. The fae girl smiled and sat back in her chair. “You’re right, though. I found
