“Yeah, and it still sucks.”
Maleshi winked at her, then rejoined the rest of the group standing around the meditating L’zar.
Cheyenne noticed Ember watching her in concern, and she spread her arms. “Shot in the dark, Em.”
“Fifty-fifty chance, right?”
Nodding, Cheyenne pulled up Rhynehart’s number on her phone and made the first call. Right. Fifty-fifty chance. Either I make this work and it’ll suck, or today’s the day everybody stops listening to me.
Rhynehart picked up after the third ring. “Yeah.”
“I need a favor.”
“Oh, yeah? Figured you’d call me this time instead of going straight to Sir again, huh?”
Seriously? When does this end? “You’re talking about the new portal at VCU.”
“Damn right, I’m talking about it. I thought you and I had an understanding.”
“We do, Rhynehart. I wasn’t going behind your back, and the whole VCU situation isn’t exactly a black ops thing. I didn’t wanna bother you with something you would’ve just sent up the line to him anyway. I know you’re up there at the portal at my mom’s still, so believe it or not, I considered you quite a bit before calling Sir.”
There was a slight pause on the other end of the line, then Rhynehart cleared his throat. “All right. What’s your favor this time?”
“I need you to call your team away from that portal for like twenty minutes.”
“Are you shittin’ me?”
Cheyenne sighed. “Yeah, Rhynehart. I called you just to waste your time.”
“Are you gonna tell me why my guys get an extra break all together without leaving anyone on rotation?”
“Because I’m asking you to do this for me. Tell them to turn away for twenty minutes. That’s it. You can take them around to the front of the house for all I care, as long as they can’t see anything in the back.”
“I’d appreciate a crumb, halfling.”
“Well, I’m sure you can figure out on your own why I’d want your team to leave that portal alone for twenty minutes. Beyond that, anything I tell you will just make it harder for both of us. Look, you said you trusted me to take care of my end of things. Please, Rhynehart. Just trust me on this.”
His slow, frustrated exhale through his nose rustled against the speaker. “Fine.”
“Thank you.”
“When do I make this happen?”
“In the next five minutes. I’ll text you when it’s time to move them out of there. I have one more thing to take care of first, but I won’t keep you waiting long.”
“All right. If anything blows back on me because of this—”
“It won’t. That’s why I’m doing this the way I’m doing it—so nobody has to take the fall for something that shouldn’t have fallout anyway.”
“All right. I’ll wait for that text.” He hung up, and Cheyenne dropped her head all the way back and stared at the sky.
That sucked. This is gonna be even worse.
Chapter Eighty-Seven
Cheyenne pulled up her mom’s cell number and forced herself to make the second call. Grimacing, she brought the phone to her ear and waited.
“Please tell me this is a courtesy call informing me that these agents on my property are being recalled.”
Cheyenne bit her lip. “Hi, Mom. I wish I could tell you that, but no. And I’m letting you know ahead of time that you’ll like this conversation even less than having those guys in the backyard.”
“Well, thank you for the warning. I’m listening.”
She won’t be thanking me at the end of this.
“I’m not asking for permission, because I’ll probably do it anyway, even if you refuse. You deserve to know ahead of time that I’ll be at the house in a few minutes with some friends.”
“Is Ember with you?”
Cheyenne almost laughed at that. “Yeah, Mom. Ember’s here, and a few other people like me.” Spit it out and get it over with. The worst she can do is hang up. “And,” she added, gritting her teeth and clenching her eyes shut,“he’s with us too.”
Bianca didn’t utter a word, and even with her drow hearing, Cheyenne couldn’t hear so much as a whistle of breath from her mom.
“Mom?”
“I heard you.”
“Okay. This’ll be quick and quiet, no confrontations with the agents there. I made sure of that already. We’re just heading out to the backyard. A few minutes at the most, and then we’ll be gone.” That’s as much as I can openly say about walking through a portal into another world.
“Yes. Brevity and silence are very much appreciated.”
“I promise, Mom. We won’t bother you.”
“Oh, that ship has sailed, Cheyenne, but that’s not the issue. I am perfectly willing to turn a blind eye to the presence of you and your friends on my property on two conditions.”
Of course. “I’m listening.”
“The first is that we never speak of this again, which works well for both of us, I should think. And the second is that you come inside to speak to me personally the instant you arrive. After that, whatever you and the rest of your party decide to do is in your hands, and I won’t meddle. But I want to speak to you in person.”
“Absolutely. I can do that.”
“Good. Is there anything else?”
“Thank you.”
“Don’t thank me, Cheyenne. You said it yourself. You’d come here even if I refused. And you’re right, I wouldn’t be able to stop you. You know how I feel about this.”
“Yeah, I do.”
“Then you also know that despite my feelings and my personal opinions, I very much respect your decision to call me before any of it takes place. That can’t have been easy for you.”
Cheyenne blinked and turned away from the group of magicals so they wouldn’t see her surprise. Respect from Bianca Summerlin for pissing her off. The whole world’s falling apart. “Okay. Will you accept a thank you for that?”
“Yes, Cheyenne. That one I will accept.”
“Thank you.”
“You’ve earned it. I expect to see you at the front door very shortly.”
“I’ll be there.”
Bianca hung up first, and Cheyenne took a moment to pull
