“Thanks for the pizza.” Cheyenne shut the door before he’d had the chance to step away and turned around to stare at Ember. “The pizza guy.”
“The pizza guy!” The fae howled with laughter, slapping her thigh. “And we were…you were so…”
“Yeah, you too.” Laughing, Cheyenne took the box to the coffee table and cleared away the scattered papers with one hand. “Guy probably thought I’m in here as your caretaker, the way you’re losing it right now.”
“It wouldn’t be the first time.” Ember barked another laugh, clapped both hands over her mouth, and snorted back her laughter while the halfling opened their dinner.
“Wanna work on lowering the volume a little?”
“On the TV? It’s not that loud.”
“On the alarm.”
Ember whipped her head up to meet Cheyenne’s gaze. “The alarm!” She burst out laughing all over again.
Chuckling, Cheyenne slid the pizza box two inches away from her friend and shook her head. “This is worse than you drinking that fae whatever-it-was at the Empty Barrel.”
“What?” Ember let out a mocking gasp. “We haven’t opened a bottle of anything since we moved in.”
“No, you were too busy opening all those boxes.” The halfling pulled out a slice of drooping pizza and nudged the box toward Ember now that the fae seemed to have pulled herself together again.
“We haven’t officially moved in without opening a bottle and toasting to the place.”
“Please. We’ve already eaten everything but the pickles, you were attacked in your sleep, and a band of O’gúleesh rebels built wards around the place. I’d say it’s official.”
Smacking her lips, Ember reached for a slice. “Now you’re splitting hairs. And there’s no way this is worse than me drinking in Peridosh, whatever you’re trying to imply with that one.”
“I’m implying that maybe fae get drunk off their magic. Ever think of that?”
Ember froze with a bulging mouthful of pizza and frowned. Then she shrugged, grabbed the remote out of her lap, and turned up the volume.
Chapter Sixty-Eight
By the second time Ember’s tripwire spell went off, she’d adjusted the noise level to match the volume of the action sequence playing out on the TV. When the flashing yellow light raced across the wall and the front door again, both magicals sat up straighter, anticipating the blaring shriek that came next.
“Good work.” Cheyenne gazed around the living room and slowly rose from her chair. “Sounds like another siren in this car chase that’s been going on way too long.”
Ember deactivated the alarm with a quick flick of her wrist and swallowed her last bite of pizza. “That’s the point of a car chase in every movie. They go on way too long.”
The halfling reached the front door and peered through the peephole again. “It’s him.”
“Matthew?”
“Yep. Just closed his door.”
Ember snatched the wadded-up paper towel off the couch and wiped her hands, then brushed the pizza crumbs off her lap and from around her mouth. “Crap.”
“You missed a spot.”
“What?” Ember wiped the corner of her mouth with the back of her hand, sucked off the extra red sauce, then looked down and groaned. “Great. Grease stains all over my pants.”
“I seriously doubt Matthew’s gonna be focused on your grease stains, Em.”
“But I can go change really fast.”
“Hey, I will grab that wheelchair and push you all the way to his apartment if I have to.”
“You could try.” Rolling her eyes, Ember ignored the mess on her clothes and wheeled away from the coffee table to head toward the door after grabbing her new bracelet. “Don’t forget, halfling, I have magic too now.”
“Uh-huh.” Cheyenne quickly gathered the printed stack of Matthew Thomas’ dirty little secrets, then grabbed the remnant of the war machine from the recliner and headed for the door. She glanced at the clock over the stove and frowned. “Who stays in meetings ‘til nine o’clock at night?”
“You don’t know he was in a meeting.” Ember opened the front door as much as she could before having to wheel herself out of the way for the rest of it. “You stay out way past nine some nights.”
“Seriously, don’t make a habit out of comparing me to the wrong people.” Cheyenne pulled the door shut behind her as she followed Ember into the hall.
“I’m just saying.”
“Yeah, I know. I get it. We have no idea what he’s been up to, and that’s the point. That’s why we’re doing this, right?”
Ember scanned the hall’s ceiling and shrugged.
“Oh, nice. Make it super-obvious that we’re on to his hidden-camera trick.”
“Cheyenne, we’re at his front door.” Ember stopped and knocked on said door. “He’s gonna find out what we know anyway.”
“I know he’s gonna find out,” the halfling hissed. “But it’ll work better for us if he’s surprised.”
The door opened quickly, and their tall, broad-shouldered neighbor grinned down at them. “Hey, Ember.”
The fae girl cleared her throat and forced herself to smile back up at him. “Hi.”
“And Cheyenne. You’re both standing outside my front door.” Matthew chuckled, the corners of his eyes crinkling in amusement. “Everything okay?”
“We’re fine,” Ember replied quickly. “All good. How are you?”
He glanced from Ember to Cheyenne’s scowling face and back again. “I’m a little surprised, honestly.”
Ember raised her eyebrows at the halfling, and Cheyenne pretended not to notice. “We were hoping you had a few minutes to talk about some stuff.”
“Oh. Well, yeah. You sure everything’s okay?” Matthew glanced at his shiny wristwatch and raised his eyebrows. “It’s kinda late.”
“Thought we’d run a few things by the security expert,” Cheyenne muttered, staring him down. “You know. For safety reasons.”
“Uh-oh.” Matthew leaned against the doorframe. “You get yourself into some kinda trouble?”
“Did I get myselfin trouble?” Cheyenne gestured past him into his living room. “No. I’m not in trouble. But if I was, I wouldn’t wanna stand here in the middle of the hallway talking to you about it.”
“We’re the only people who live on this floor.”
“Can we come in, or what?”
Ember batted Cheyenne’s arm, while the halfling made a poor attempt at hiding the stack of papers and the
