The fae didn’t notice a thing. “There. See? You made an illusion charm for yourself, and if I don’t end up looking like a drow, I look—” Ember glanced down at her hands and frowned. “What the hell?”
“Yeah, go look in a mirror.”
Ember wrinkled her nose at the halfling and wheeled herself back to turn toward the kitchen. “Don’t tell me what to do. I’m gonna look in a mirror.”
Cheyenne chuckled as her friend moved swiftly across the living room and disappeared through her open bedroom door. The chair bumped against a wall or two, then the bathroom light flicked on.
“What the hell?”
“Told you,” Cheyenne called.
“What did you do to my eyes? Why am I pink and purple?”
“Must be the real you, Em.”
“This is insane!” Ember cackled in her bathroom, then bumped around a bit. When she reappeared in the doorway, she’d centered herself enough to wheel the chair back into the kitchen without making a dent. “You did this?”
“Yeah, I know it’s hard to believe.”
“You did this!”
Cheyenne cocked her head. “You okay?”
Ember let out another wild laugh and looked at her hands again as her chair rolled slowly forward, turning them over in amazement. “I have no idea. Is this what I’d look like right now if I was born looking like this?”
“Have you never seen a full-blooded fae in action?”
“It’s a hell of a lot different when it’s me.” The fae slipped the silver ring off her finger, and the pink glow and the violet light vanished.
This time, Cheyenne saw her friend’s cheeks fill out the slightest bit and the almost imperceptible shift in her eyes when they faded to their normal brown color.
“You saw my eyes, right?” Ember pointed to her face. “They got all big and weird-looking.”
“Not that weird.”
“It’s pretty fucking weird, Cheyenne. And you just slip in and out of drow and human like changing your underwear or something.”
The halfling snorted. “That’s a weird comparison, but okay.”
The ring went back on Ember’s middle finger and her fae appearance returned, full glow and everything. “Look at this!”
Stepping toward her friend, Cheyenne fought back a laugh and pointed at Ember’s hand. “Hold up your hand for a second.”
“Why? What’s wrong?”
“Nothing’s wrong.” Cheyenne grabbed Ember’s hand and pressed their palms together with a frown. “Weird.”
“Hey, I’m already freaked out about looking like a fae with an illusion charm. You’re not helping.”
“I couldn’t get that ring on anything but my pinky. Corian said fae have small fingers, but yours aren’t that much smaller than mine.”
Ember took her hand back and laughed. “Seriously? It’s magic, Cheyenne. Why is that not enough of an explanation for you?”
The halfling cocked her head and chuckled. “Huh. I guess that’s the only answer I need.”
Glancing at her legs, Ember turned down the corners of her mouth and shrugged. “The only thing that would make this better is if my legs started working again.”
“Aw, my bad. I should’ve started with something even I know is seriously advanced magic.”
The fae smirked. “I don’t think a spell for that exists, but I saw myself in the mirror and couldn’t help wondering.” Ember shook her head. “Doesn’t matter. I’ve only had one physical therapy session so far.”
“Which Dr. Boseley said went really well, right?”
“Yeah. But admittedly, looking like a fae in a wheelchair is a lot better than not looking like one.” Ember blinked quickly, sniffed, and met her friend’s gaze. “Thank you.”
“Just something I had lying around. You know.”
“Uh-huh.”
“So.” Cheyenne sat back down on the recliner’s armrest and wiggled her eyebrows. “Is that enough to get you to come to Peridosh with me and some FRoE boneheads or what?”
“Damn straight, it is.” Ember grinned. “Let’s get the hell out of here.”
The halfling glanced at the clock over the stove and choked back a laugh. “We’re gonna have to wait a little longer. Yurik said six.”
“Whatever.” The fae stared at her hands and shook her head. Her grin stayed put. “That’s just more time for me to get used to seeing myself like this. Otherwise, your FRoE friends are gonna think I’m the crazy one.”
“Worst-case scenario.”
Shooting her friend a quick glance, Ember studied her arms and patted her face a few times. Then she grabbed the remote from where she’d propped it between her legs and handed it to the halfling. “Pick whatever you wanna watch. Maybe it’ll distract me.”
Cheyenne stared at the remote but didn’t touch it. “I wouldn’t even know where to start.”
“What? You just scroll through the shows and pick something. Do I need to show you which buttons to press?”
“I don’t watch TV.”
“It’s not TV, Cheyenne. It’s Netflix.”
“Same thing.”
Ember dropped her hand and the remote into her lap with a thump. “Are you kidding me? Now you’re gonna tell me you didn’t watch anything as a kid, either.”
Cheyenne shrugged. “Did you see a TV at my mom’s house?”
The fae’s luminous, violet-glowing eyes narrowed, then she stared at their blank TV against the wall. “You grew up in that big fancy house without TV.”
“No movies, either. I mean, I had the internet, but I dare you to imagine Bianca Summerlin sitting down for movie night with a bowl of popcorn.”
“Ha.” Ember blinked and shook her head. “That’s pretty much impossible. Okay, fine. I’ll pick something, and you can pretend to enjoy it for three hours while I pretend to ignore that I look like a freakin’ fae.”
The halfling bit her lip to keep back a laugh as her friend jerked the
