Bhandi shoved the glass door open, rattling the bell dangling from the handle, and marched out onto the sidewalk.
“Shit.” Yurik sped up to follow her outside. “Somebody’s gonna run her over.”
“Or get run over.” Tate turned back to give Ember and Cheyenne an apologetic shrug. “Nice to meet you, Ember.”
“Yeah, you too.”
He pointed at the halfling. “Hit us up if you find anything else that would be remotely helpful. You know, for keeping our heads attached to our shoulders.”
“Same.” Cheyenne jerked her chin at him. “Yurik has my number.”
“Uh-huh. Later.” Tate slipped out the front door and stopped, clapping both hands to his bald head. “What are you doing?”
Ember leaned forward in her chair as she and Cheyenne headed toward the door, peering through the windows. “Should we, like, help them or something?”
“Nah. They’ll figure it out.” The halfling held the door open for her friend, and by the time they peered down the street, the FRoE agents had disappeared. “See?”
“So vanishing into thin air is ‘figuring it out’ in your world, huh?”
Cheyenne chuckled and headed in the opposite direction down the sidewalk toward the parking lot across the three-way intersection. “Really?”
“Yeah, it totally is.” Ember laughed as she pushed herself quickly down the sidewalk. Brief flashes of purple light helped her navigate the cracked, bumpy pedestrian ramp before they crossed the street.
A jogger turned the corner in front of them, glanced at the glowing wheels, and nodded. “Nice lights.”
The girls gave him ten seconds to jog down the street before they burst out laughing. “Oh, man. People see what they wanna see, don’t they?”
“That’s a lot easier when the lights are the only thing I can do.” To prove her point, Ember wheeled up to the curb of the sidewalk lining the parking lot. Another pulse of violet light illuminated her hands and the wheels, lifting her up and setting her gently back down. “And I don’t even have to think about it.”
“I’m pretty sure that’s how magic is supposed to work, Em.” Cheyenne pulled her keys out of her pocket and pressed the unlock button. The Panamera chirped on the other side of the parking lot, headlights flashing. “Like moving your limbs, right? Hey, which is something else you can do now.”
“Don’t get my hopes up.” Ember smirked up at her as they navigated the parked cars at Union Hill. “It was one little kick. Barely anything. I’ve been trying the whole time to do it again.”
“You did it once. You’ll do it again.”
“You don’t know that.”
Cheyenne shrugged and opened the passenger side door. “Just a feeling, but when I have a feeling about something, I’m usually right.”
“Ha.” Ember locked the wheels and pushed herself up on the armrests so the halfling could help her transfer. “Now you do sound cocky.”
“I’m cool with that.” With Ember in the passenger seat, Cheyenne folded up the chair and took it to the back of the car, popping the trunk.
“I’ll tell you this, though,” Ember called through the open door. “I’d take cocky Cheyenne over chasing a wasted troll all over Union Hill any day of the week.”
The halfling opened the driver’s side door and slid behind the wheel. She tossed the machine-bug leg into the back seat and started the engine. “Thanks, Em. I’m flattered.”
Laughing, the fae strapped herself in. “Yeah, you should be.”
Chapter Twenty-One
As soon as they got out of the elevator on the top floor of Pellerville Gables Apartments, Cheyenne glanced at the empty elevator. “This place has some serious soundproofing.”
“What?” Ember laughed and gestured at the end of the hall and the only two apartments on it. “I heard that bass halfway up here.”
“Huh. Guess I was really focused on not hearing it.” And way more focused on why a giant crawling machine dug its way into Peridosh. Especially when Corian and his little gang are supposed to be on top of that.
“Sounds good though, right?” Ember bobbed her head as she wheeled down the hall.
“If you say so.”
“I mean, I’m not normally a fan of dubstep, but this song could maybe grow on me.”
Cheyenne shook her head and eyed their neighbor’s front door with a raised eyebrow. “I think it just sounds better through thick walls and a closed door.”
“It’s not that bad.”
“It’s not my jam.”
With a snort, Ember stopped in front of their apartment door and searched through her jacket pockets. “Crap. I never grabbed my keys.”
“Good thing you take me with you.” Cheyenne caught up with her and unlocked the front door. Just as she pushed it open into their apartment, Matthew Thomas’s front door opened too. The heavy electronic music blasted into the hallway, and the halfling ducked at the sudden blaring volume. “Jeeze, that’s annoying.”
“Hey! Right on time.” Matthew stood in the open doorway, his arms spread wide.
“For what?” Ember shouted across the hall.
“To join us. I know you guys just got back, but it’s still early, right?” He grinned at them and tilted his head, arms still open and weirdly inviting. “I mean, if you’re up for it. Of course.”
Cheyenne felt Ember looking up at her and gauging her decision. The halfling ignored her and raised an eyebrow at their overly friendly neighbor. “You got a lotta people in there, huh?”
“A few, yeah.” Matthew chuckled. “All good people.”
“And everybody’s making a lot of noise. Fun party gets pretty loud.”
“I know.” His crooked smile didn’t waver as he glanced over his shoulder. Someone inside cheered, and the shouting swept across his apartment to enter the hall. “We’re the only ones on this floor, so I figured I could get away with it.”
“Okay, Matt. I’ll make you a deal.”
Ember’s eyes widened, and Matthew perked up despite the halfling’s use of his unapproved nickname. “Let’s hear it.”
“Ember can do whatever she wants, obviously. But I’ll come to your party and do a little schmoozing if you can explain
