“Okay. Good.” Ember nodded at the paper in Cheyenne’s hand. “What’s that?”
“Maleshi’s number. All this time and she just gave me her number a few days ago.”
“What would she know about this?”
“No clue. I’m just hoping she’ll be able to keep an eye on Corian so he doesn’t try to find Matthew before I’m back. I wouldn’t put it past him to do that.”
“Huh.” Ember wheeled away from the doorway, frowning. “I’ll go make coffee.”
“Oh, sorry.”
“Don’t worry about it. I don’t have anything else to do right now, and I need caffeine.”
As Ember headed into the kitchen, Cheyenne sent the call through to Maleshi and waited for an answer.
“Hello?”
“Hey, it’s Cheyenne.”
“Oh.” Maleshi cleared her throat. “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing immediate. Did you hear about this Syno guy with—”
“Control over a few war machines and a business deal with someone who apparently lives in your apartment building? Yeah, kid. I heard all about it. Got one hell of an earful from Corian.”
“Yeah, he was ready to bash in a few heads last night.” Cheyenne headed out of her bedroom and closed the door behind her. “At least I calmed him down enough so he could go check into those buildings instead.”
“Did you call me to chat about this, or is there something else?”
Okay, abrupt and to the point. Got it. “I just wanted to know if you’d heard about what’s happening, or any other information. And, I don’t know, maybe you’ll be better at convincing Corian not to go barging through apartment doors over here looking for this guy anyway.”
“Well, if he told you he wasn’t going to do that, I’d be seriously surprised if he went back on his word. Not his style, despite what you might think about the way we handle people who get in our way.”
Cheyenne said, “Okay. So what’s next?”
“Besides regrouping later to get better information?” The line filled with rustling and the quick zip of Maleshi closing her briefcase. “I’m going to teach my classes today just like any other Friday, Cheyenne. You should do the same. We’re playing the game on both sides right now, seeing as your top-secret friends might be more involved in this than any of us gave them credit for.”
“I know, but we haven’t figured that out yet.”
“That doesn’t mean we don’t have to be careful. Any slip-up on our part that might let this Syno or that scaly taratas or whoever else know we’re on to them before it’s time is a dangerous mistake we can’t afford to make. So get to campus, teach your class, and we’ll go from there.”
“Right. Good thing I was planning on showing up there.”
“That’s an excellent choice, seeing as it’ll keep you enrolled in the graduate program.” Maleshi’s light chuckle carried through the line.
“All right. I guess I’ll talk to you later.”
“Yep.” The nightstalker IT professor hung up without another word, and Cheyenne slipped her phone into her back pocket.
“Any powerful insights from the general?” Ember called from the kitchen as the scent of brewing coffee hit the halfling’s enhanced sense of smell.
“Pretty much the same thing. Wait. Keep waiting. Keep things running business-as-usual until we have more information and no other choice but to do something immediately.”
“And that includes her?”
“Yep.” Cheyenne lifted her backpack off the floor beside the couch and set it on the armrest to make sure she had everything she needed. “Even with O’gúl war machines tearing through the place and new portals popping up everywhere, General Hi’et is reporting for duty as a college professor.”
Ember snorted, poured the first cup of coffee, and waited for the rest of it to keep brewing. “She sure did pick one of the last professions you’d expect of an O’gúleesh legend.”
“It makes sense, though.” Cheyenne gratefully took the first mug of coffee when Ember offered it. “She knows how O’gúl tech works over there. And after seeing what their stuff can do on the other side, yeah. Using human cutting-edge technology feels like playing with baby toys. Hey, good coffee. Thanks.”
“Yep.”
Cheyenne rifled through the pantry. “We need groceries.”
“I’ll just do a grocery delivery thing. Anything specific you want?”
“Just food.” The halfling took another sip of coffee and glanced at the clock above the stove. “Shit, I gotta go.”
“Forty-five minutes early?”
“I’m not gonna stand up and lecture to a bunch of skeptical undergrads on an empty stomach. Gotta factor in time for breakfast. That was a lot easier when I lived down the street from a gas station, come to think of it.” She took three large gulps of the steaming coffee, then set the mug on the counter and went to grab her backpack.
Ember glanced at the still-brewing coffee, then snatched Cheyenne’s half-full mug and got started on that. “Please tell me that’s the only thing you miss about your old place.”
“It’s not, actually.” The halfling grabbed her fancy new trench coat out of the closet by the front door and shrugged it on. “I had better neighbors over there too.”
After gulping down the hot coffee to keep from spraying it all over the kitchen, Ember winced and laughed at the same time. “Fair enough.”
“Speaking of neighbors.” Cheyenne shrugged on her backpack and pointed at her friend. “Don’t even think about paying Matthew another visit without me being there.”
“Please.” Ember rolled her eyes. “I don’t want to be alone with him right now. Or at all, honestly. See you later.”
“Yeah.” Cheyenne slipped through the front door and locked it behind her. Before she headed down the hall toward the elevators, she cast a quick glance at Matthew Thomas’ front door and frowned. We’ll be back soon enough.
Chapter Seventy-Three
She ate a breakfast burrito from a gas station on the drive to the VCU campus. By the time she pulled into the student lot and headed down the path toward the Computer Sciences building, Cheyenne still wasn’t convinced it was a good idea to be here. We should be talking to Matthew
