“She deserves to know, Maleshi.”
“She deserves not to have her brain stuffed with cryptic tatters that could get her killed if she doesn’t know how to untangle them the right way. She deserves not to be dragged into a deathflame show arena, you masochistic asshat.” The general shot Cheyenne a quick, appraising look. “Come on. You’ll figure it out eventually.”
“Yes. We made sure of that, hidna. Didn’t we?” Gúrdu chuckled and reached for the wooden bowl of water to pour it into his mouth. Water slopped over the sides in thick streams and splashed the raug’s lap, his cushions, and the wooden platform. Cheyenne turned to follow Maleshi out of the room. “Ah. Only one thread unchanged, Aranél. Don’t forget. That one’s yours.”
Maleshi stopped in front of the curtain of threaded beads and spun so quickly, Cheyenne almost tripped over herself to keep from running into her. “What the hell were you thinking?”
“Well, I was—”
“I’ve been around a long time, kid, but I’m not anywhere near senile. Didn’t we talk about this? Today?”
“Yep.”
“You put this entire cause at risk by heading out for a little joyride and a visit to the raug Oracle. Are you insane?”
Cheyenne raised her eyebrows. “Is that a rhetorical question?”
“Of course it’s rhetorical!” Maleshi glanced into the long room full of pillows with a hiss.
I’m not gonna get in more than five words at a time.
“Or maybe it’s not,” the general continued in a low, threatening snarl. “At this point, I’m not sure I can tell the difference. Are you insane?”
Cheyenne widened her eyes and waited.
“What?” Maleshi looked the halfling up and down. “What are you doing? What’s wrong with you?”
“I don’t know. I seem to be incapable of finishing a—”
“You know what? You’ve got a lot of nerve… Oh.” The general cleared her throat, stepped back, and nodded. “Go ahead, then. I’m not sure I have anything else to say that hasn’t already slipped out.”
“Okay.” Cheyenne waited a little longer until Maleshi’s glowing silver eyes finally rose to meet her gaze. And we’re a go. “Look, I know you guys didn’t want me to leave my apartment. I appreciate the wards. They work. Thank you. I left anyway.”
“Mmhmm.” The nightstalker bit her lip to keep from saying anything else.
“Ember made me a charm that masks my magic pretty much like the Heart of Midnight, only it broke when I went drow instead of me breaking it myself. So no, I wasn’t driving around Richmond sending up magical smoke signals. I have learned a thing or two in the last few weeks, in case anyone was wondering. And yeah, I broke the charm because I have no idea what the hell just happened back there, and I was about to try blasting the raug out of it too until you showed up and sucker-punched him.”
“Right. Well, don’t worry too much about whatever you might’ve missed at the end there. Once a prophecy starts repeating itself like that, it’s just running on fumes. Cheyenne, I have to ask what you gave him as an offering.”
“Nothing.”
“Because right now, it’s…what? Nothing?”
Cheyenne shrugged. “He reached out to me on the Borderlands forum and told me he’d ‘deliver a message for free.’ Sure, he was vague about it, but it was pretty clear he had a prophecy about me—for me—and I figured it was something I could use to help us once we head back to Hangivol for this last hurrah. And then, yeah, he said the same thing when I got here.”
Maleshi’s silver eyes narrowed. “Did it make sense?”
“It was a prophecy. What do you think?”
With a snort, the general turned away and cast a new portal between them and the curtain of strung beads. “Then the rest is on you to figure out, and when you do, let’s hope you figured it out right. I knew a golra once who misread his own prophecy and killed his healer brother. Turns out his brother could have saved him from the plague, which killed the golra two days later. And yes, we do get sick over here.”
Cheyenne fought back a laugh. “Really?”
“Yes, really. Now, please. After you.” Maleshi gestured toward the open portal, and Cheyenne peered through it.
“Go ahead. I’ll drive.”
“Nope. Sorry, kid. You, in the portal, now.”
“No.” Frowning at the nightstalker woman, Cheyenne stepped back and headed for the curtain of beads. “I’m not leaving my car. It’ll take me like fifteen minutes to get— Hey!”
Maleshi’s hand wrapped around Cheyenne’s bicep before she jerked the halfling back toward her. “I’ll take care of the car, Cheyenne. You cannot leave your apartment while we’re getting the last few things together. Understand? No one’s gonna be able to track you down inside an Oracle’s den, but once you step through that front door, you might as well put up a post on magical Craigslist. Go.”
“You need to let go of my arm.”
Rolling her eyes, Maleshi released the halfling’s arm, then lunged toward her and shoved her through the portal.
“What the hell?” Cheyenne whirled to glare at the general through the portal.
“Stay home. Keep your phone on you. We’re almost ready.”
The portal disappeared with a pop, and Cheyenne stared at the kitchen of her apartment. “Fuck.”
“Lemme guess.” Ember glanced over her shoulder with a grimace of sympathy. “You broke the charm, and your Probation nightstalker tracked you down.”
“Yep.” Cheyenne swung slowly around and eased toward the closest recliner before slumping down into it. The chair rocked back a few inches. “At least I got most of a prophecy.”
“Oh, really?” Ember wheeled backward to get a better look at her halfling friend. “Now, this I’ve gotta hear.”
“It’s a bunch of jumbled crap, honestly. Except for a few things.”
“Uh-huh.” Ember propped her forearm on the armrest and leaned over it toward Cheyenne. “Such as?”
“Well, for one thing, this one had L’zar’s name in it. Called him the Dark Smiling Weaver and
