“Okay.” Cheyenne plucked her cell phone from between the fae girl’s knees and stuck it pointedly in her jacket pocket. “What about any kind of charm that keeps my magic on the down-low while I’m out?”
Ember smiled at the halfling. “Are you reading my mind, or am I reading yours?”
“I don’t know. That depends on what you say next.”
“I was already working on it. Come here.”
Cheyenne leaned toward her friend, and Ember whipped her arm back to land a vicious slap on the halfling’s upper arm. A burst of purple light and tingling energy raced across Cheyenne’s arm and chest. She straightened and rubbed her arm. “Ow. Did you have to slap it onto me?”
“No, the slap was for luck, and because we both know you probably shouldn’t leave, but I can’t stop you. By the way, if you use any magic or go drow mode, the charm’s done. Then magicals will be able to find you.”
“Then I won’t power up anything.” Cheyenne grinned. “Thanks. Oh, and by the way, let me know if you get any notifications, yeah?”
“From Glen?” Ember looked at the back of the computer tower in the mini-loft. “Why would they come to me?”
“’Cause I just synced them to your phone.”
“You have a phone too.”
Cheyenne cocked her head. “Yes I do, and it’s back in my possession, thank you. I have a few small searches running. Just tiny stuff I put up real quick in case anything pops up about those war machines, their handlers, whether or not Corian’s managed to take care of the problem.”
“Seriously? You’re monitoring them now?”
“Yes. And if you’re thinking about lecturing me on the morality of said monitoring, I’ll quickly remind you that Corian’s been spying on me my entire life.” Cheyenne grinned. “This doesn’t come close to paying him back for that.”
“Okay.” Ember quickly shook her head. “But why did you hook your fancy computer up to my phone?”
“I’m going out to get a prophecy, Em. Something tells me an unexpected alert would ruin the mood. Who knows? Maybe even get in the way of whatever this raug thinks I should hear.” Cheyenne stuck her hands in her pockets and paused. “Unless you’re totally against the idea.”
“Stop.” Ember said, “I’ll monitor your spy alerts from the computer you named Glen.”
“Thank you.”
“Wait, but what if there’s something important? Texting you would interrupt you just as much as an alert.”
“Right.” Cheyenne fingered the keyring in her pocket and headed for the door. “But I trust your judgment. Only text me if something’s life-or-death, okay? I mean, if anything even shows up.”
Ember squinted at her friend. “Why do I have the feeling you set all that up just to distract me from the rest of my movie marathon?”
With a sharp laugh, Cheyenne opened the door. “I trust you. And I kind of like the idea of having a fae partner in crime keeping an eye on things for me.”
“Uh-huh.”
“And yeah, maybe you’ll find another hobby you like a little more than watching movies all day.”
Ember pointed at her. “If I want to watch movies all day, I’ll watch movies all day. I’m a grown-ass adult.”
“True. Then think of it as payback for magically stealing my phone. Bye.” Cheyenne slipped into the hall and pulled the door quickly shut behind her. Ember’s laughter followed her down the hall toward the elevators.
Chapter Eighty-One
Cheyenne pulled her black Panamera to the curb outside Gúrdu’s apartment building. The high-pitched chirp when she pressed the automatic lock made her smile as she headed down the walkway to the building’s front door. Her smile faded a little when she glanced at the browning grass in the corner formed by the walkway and the sidewalk. That’s where Maleshi puked her guts out. Great memory to bring up, coming into this.
Two chickens clucked somewhere behind the building, but the raug’s irritated magical neighbor didn’t have an objection to the noise today. Cheyenne pulled open the grime-coated glass door and walked down the breezy hallway of the rundown apartment building. When she reached Gúrdu’s front door, she paused for a quick glance around, then knocked.
The door opened immediately, a puff of dust raining down from the top of the doorframe. The huge raug behind it didn’t seem to notice but stared at Cheyenne instead with glowing orange-brown eyes. His thick, muscular gray jaw worked on crunching a mouthful of something Cheyenne didn’t care to know about. Makes him look like a bull chewing his cud.
“You’re interested.” Bits of black sludgy something spilled from the corner of his mouth.
She tried not to stare or let her nostrils flare at the smell. Like copper and steamed broccoli. “Wouldn’t have come all this way if I wasn’t.”
Gúrdu grunted and waved a meaty gray hand tipped with thick, sharpened red nails. “Then let’s get to it.”
He turned away and left the door open for her. Cheyenne slipped into the dark, dusty entryway of the raug’s large and neglected apartment, pulling the heavy metal door shut with a low echo.
Gúrdu’s hulking figure disappeared between the dangling strands of wooden beads hanging from the hallway’s ceiling. Cheyenne pressed her lips together when she saw the last four strands dangling without any beads at the end of the wooden rod. Good thing Maleshi’s not here with me this time to pick another fight with that thing.
She swept away the clacking strands of beads and turned left into the long, wide room that stretched the entire length of his apartment. Low natural flames flickered in the lanterns hanging from the ceiling. Cheyenne almost tripped when her shoe caught on a frayed strip of fabric dangling from one of the dozens of cushions scattered across the dusty floor. She kicked off the clinging tatters and sent a puff of yellowed stuffing bouncing across the other pillows.
The large wooden platform at the back of the long room creaked and groaned beneath Gúrdu’s tremendous weight as he climbed onto the stacked cushions of his Oracle’s throne. Making her way
