She headed back toward the others. L’zar uncrossed his legs and stood in one fluid motion, settling his golden gaze on his daughter. “Time to go.”
Cheyenne paused. “Yeah. Everything’s ready.”
A small smile lifted the corner of his mouth. “I’m much more used to being the one who handles the connections, Cheyenne. Still haven’t figured out if I enjoy the experience of letting someone else handle it.”
“I’m positive I don’t enjoy the experience of taking you to my mom’s house for that portal, but we’re doing it anyway.” She spread her arms. “Right?”
“Right.” Corian lifted his hands. “Is now a good time?”
“Hold on.” Cheyenne texted Rhynehart with one word.
Now.
She wiggled her phone with a shrug. “Just give it like five minutes. Oh, and by the way, I have to talk to my mom in person before we hit the portal. It won’t be long, but that’s the only way to keep her from losing it.”
“More waiting.” L’zar swallowed and looked at the sky. “My favorite.”
Three minutes later, Rhynehart replied.
Clear.
She pressed her lips together and stuck her phone back in her pocket. “Time to go in.”
Corian shot L’zar a quick glance before conjuring a portal straight into Bianca Summerlin’s backyard. The drow stood stock-still, hands clasped behind his back and his eyes closed, breathing in a loud, slow rhythm through his nose.
Ember moved closer to the halfling and lowered her voice. “Everything okay?”
“Not really. Kinda weird that I’m more nervous about facing the wrath of Bianca than I’ve ever been about heading into a fight or even when making the crossing. Either time.”
“Well, your mom’s terrifying.”
“Ha. Yeah. You know, she’s never blamed me for being what I am. Not that she likes it, but she hasn’t held it against me. This feels like she might.”
Ember sighed as the portal opened in front of Corian and their group started walking through. “Guess you’ll just have to find out, right? Not the end of the world if she blames you.”
“True. I just don’t think she’ll be able to move past it if that happens.”
“Cheyenne.” Corian gestured at the portal. “Let’s go.”
She and Ember moved side by side through the oval of dark light and stepped onto Bianca Summerlin’s well-maintained lawn behind the estate house. They stood in front of the much smaller portal ridge stretching between them and the edge of the forest.
“Okay.” Cheyenne turned toward the house. “This’ll only take me a few minutes. Shit!”
Out on the winding back veranda overlooking the valley and the backyard stood Bianca, a full glass of red wine in hand. She didn’t move an inch while she stared at the group of unwanted magicals who’d appeared through a different kind of portal onto her property.
“What?” Corian turned, and the others followed suit to catch a brief glimpse of Bianca before she spun away from the veranda’s railing and stormed into the house.
“She wasn’t supposed to see us.” Cheyenne grimaced and took off toward the house. “I’ll take care of it. Just stay there.”
I screwed this one up. Covered everything but the part about us not showing up in a car at the front of the house. How did I forget about that?
The halfling took the stone steps at the side of the house two at a time from the yard up the hill. The front door slammed shut, followed by a FRoE agent asking, “Ma’am, is everything okay?”
Bianca ignored the question and came storming around the side of the house toward her daughter. Her blue flats wobbled on the gravel when she rounded the last pruned hedge, but she didn’t miss a step in barreling past and practically running down the stairs.
“Mom.” Cheyenne stepped sideways and raised both hands in an attempt to stop her. “I’m sorry. This was my mistake.”
Bianca didn’t say a word but tried to sidestep around her daughter instead.
Cheyenne blocked her again. “Let’s just have our talk. We can do that here, face to face. You don’t need to go down there, okay? Let me take care of it.”
Her mom stopped trying to step out of the way and looked Cheyenne’s drow appearance over from head to toe with a furious gaze. “I don’t care if you look more like him than me right now, Cheyenne. I would recognize that man anywhere. Get out of my way.”
Bianca didn’t shove her daughter aside as much as she tried to barrel through her. Cheyenne stepped quickly aside to avoid knocking either of them down the stairs and watched her mom hurry across the lawn toward the portal ridge. Yep. Worst-case scenario right here.
She followed her mom, shaking her head when Corian and the others looked from Bianca to her halfling daughter. Then she realized L’zar wasn’t with them. Oh, great. He ran away again so he wouldn’t have to face this.
Bianca reached the group of magicals and gazed frantically from one face to the next. Then she stormed around them and checked the right-hand side of the portal ridge, then the left. “Where is he?”
No one said a word.
“I know you can talk, and I know you know who I’m talking about.” The woman spun and glared at them. “I rarely raise my voice, but this is one of those moments. Where is he?”
Cheyenne slowed from her jog and stopped beside Ember. She clamped a hand over her mouth and watched her mom’s fury in horror.
Ember leaned toward her to mutter, “Should she be out here?”
“I tried. The only way to stop her is to knock her out or tie her up. Nobody’s getting away with that.”
“Ms. Summerlin,” Maleshi said gently, “I’m not sure this is the time.”
“You’re on my property, whoever you are. I’ll decide what’s the right time for my own choices. If you won’t tell me where he is, I’ll thank you to keep whatever you have to say to yourself.” Bianca’s chest heaved as she scanned the group of magicals, the other side of the
