Chapter Twenty
The elevator shuddered to a stop, and the doors opened to reveal the Employees Only door on the other side.
“Oh, shit.” Tate reached into his pocket and almost dropped his black illusion ring before jamming it onto his finger. His violet skin and scarlet eyes faded to tan and brown, though the tattoos remained. “Dude, we gotta get her mask.”
“Her what?”
Cheyenne looked down at Ember and wiggled her fingers, then slipped back into her human form. “Illusion charm.”
“Oh.” The fae stuck her hand in the pocket of her jacket and slipped off her illusion charm.
The halfling watched the fingers of Ember’s other hand move uselessly in her lap. She’s tipsy, but she’s keeping up a good front.
Ember’s pink and violet coloring faded into her regular human-looking-fae form. While Yurik struggled to pull Bhandi away from the wall, Tate turned toward Cheyenne with a grimace. “Can you, like, make sure we don’t get stuck in this elevator or something?”
“Yep.” Cheyenne cracked the door open and peered around the froyo shop. “Hey, Joe.”
The grumpy man behind the counter shot her an expressionless glare that rivaled the half-drow’s. “What?”
“We’re having a little trouble in here. Can you come here for a sec?”
Joe glanced blandly around the front of his store and blinked. “I don’t leave this goddamn counter until this place closes, which is pretty much never. But there’s no one here anyway. What’s your problem this time?”
Cheyenne peered around the counter to take in the empty storefront. “Oh. Is there some kinda button to keep this thing from goin’ back down before we get everyone out?”
Joe set his magazine down on the counter and scowled at the crack in the door above her head. “I swear, if that crazy troll puked in there again, I’m gonna make her mop it up with her face.”
“Why the hell are you trying to kill me, you bastards?” Bhandi shouted, followed by some quick thumps. “I’ll rip your arms off and shove ‘em in your ears!”
“Hey, grab her arm, will ya?”
“What does it look like I’m tryin’ to do? Woah, woah, wait! Hold the door.”
Cheyenne slipped into her drow form long enough for her enhanced strength to pull the thick elevator doors apart again. They banged back into the wall with a shudder, then she opened the door again, met Joe’s gaze, and shrugged.
“No button. Just pull her into the bathroom ‘til someone gets her under control.”
The halfling let her drow form fade and opened the door before turning back to the agents. “You hear that?”
“Yeah. I just don’t know how to—ah! Fuck!” Yurik clamped both hands over his nose, and blood dripped from beneath his palms. “We’re tryin’ to help you, asshole.”
Bhandi flailed around against the back of the elevator, her arms whipping in every direction.
“Was that her elbow?” Tate asked with a grimace.
“Yeah, and my face.” Yurik stalked out of the elevator, turning sideways to slip past Cheyenne, and headed for the bathroom across the narrow hall.
“All right.” Tate held up both hands in surrender and waited for Ember to wheel herself out of the elevator before he backed out of it too. “Bhandi.”
“Nobody fucks with this.” The troll woman tapped her chest and lurched toward him, her eyes flitting everywhere but his face. “I’ll send all your ancestors to the grave!”
“Well, too bad they’re already there. But hey, we got another pitcher. Waitin’ for you right in that room across the hall.” Tate gestured toward the bathroom, where Yurik leaned over the sink, cursing at his bloody nose in the mirror. “See? Your favorite goblin’s already getting started.”
“He’s not my favorite.” Bhandi blinked and dropped her hands against her thighs. “You say another pitcher?”
“Uh-huh.”
“Well, shit. You shoulda strat…stratted…just say that next time, huh?” As Bhandi walked calmly out of the elevator, the doors rumbled shut behind her. She kicked the Employees Only door, and Cheyenne caught it before it could crack against the back wall.
“Hey, put your mask on, huh?”
The troll woman swung around to face Cheyenne and pointed in her general direction. “Like you?”
“Yeah.”
“What the hell for?”
“It’s a themed party.” Cheyenne shrugged and glanced at Tate for reinforcement. His mouth dropped open, and he shook his head.
“Everybody’s doing it,” Ember added.
Bhandi tried to slip her hand into the front pocket of her tight burgundy pants, crouching sideways before she withdrew her illusion ring. She held it up in front of her face, and Tate had to grab her other hand and aim a finger into the ring for her. Her purple troll skin and scarlet braids melted into light-amber skin and long, straight brunette hair. Then she jerked her hand out of Tate’s grip and headed toward the bathroom. “Now let’s go.”
Yurik stumbled out of the bathroom with his own human illusion returned and snarled over his shoulder, “Next time I see your ugly mug, asshole, I’m gonna make you eat it.”
Ember snorted and choked back a laugh.
The goblin slammed the bathroom door shut behind him and thumped it with the side of his fist. “Can you believe that? Douchebag took our pitcher.”
“Oh, hell, no.” Bhandi rushed the bathroom door, but Yurik caught her in one arm and spun her toward the front of the froyo shop.
“I took care of it. Look.” He gestured toward the blood smeared under his nose and nudged her forward. “He got in a good hit, but I laid him out. Time to go.”
“Aw, man.” Bhandi glanced over her shoulder at the bathroom but let herself be guided toward the front of the shop. “Hey, Joe.” She stopped and blinked, trying to focus on the man’s expressionless face. “What are you doing down here?”
The guardian of the elevator into Peridosh raised an eyebrow and said nothing.
“Keep moving.” Yurik gave her another forceful nudge and Bhandi stumbled forward again, knocking into tables and chairs. Then he turned to glare at Tate. “Another pitcher in the bathroom? Really?”
“You ran with it. Kinda testin’ our luck to say someone stole it, though, doncha think?”
“Yeah, sure.
