“Sure.” The halfling turned to head across the lawn, paused, and glanced at him one more time. “Good luck.”
“Yep.” Rhynehart shifted his folded arms and sniffed, gazing at the portal ridge.
With a quick nod, Cheyenne stalked back toward the house. Her gaze flickered briefly to the wide wall of windows on the second floor that curved in the same line as the extended veranda below. The morning sun glinted off the windows, so she couldn’t see anything in the breakfast room.
But she’s watching. That’s what she does. Watches and waits, only this time, she won’t be able to do anything if something happens. That’s a first.
The halfling hurried under the veranda and around the side of the house to jog back up the steps. If I play this right, Mom won’t have to lift a finger.
Chapter Three
“All right. Let’s get outta here.” Cheyenne left the front door open a crack.
Ember shrugged. “I’m just waitin’ for my chauffeur.”
“Very funny.”
Eleanor hurried back down the staircase, her face flushed. “I wasn’t about to let you two slip away without saying goodbye.”
Cheyenne stepped willingly into the woman’s open arms, anticipating the crushing hug Eleanor never failed to give. The housekeeper’s arms closed gently around the halfling instead as she murmured into Cheyenne’s ear, “She loves you and only wants what’s best for you.”
“I know.” The halfling hugged Eleanor back and smiled when the woman pulled away and held her at arm’s length.
“It’s been very good to see you so much lately. This should happen more.” Eleanor’s smile disappeared, and she blinked quickly before letting out a tiny, choked-off laugh. “Not exactly like this, of course. I’m not sure how much more she can take before I’m cleaning up shattered glass off the floor of every room.”
“You’ve got plastic tumblers still, right?”
The housekeeper chuckled. “Yes, Bianca Summerlin drinking cocktails from a plastic tumbler. When that happens, be ready for the world to end.”
For some reason, the words made Cheyenne’s insides squirm. She covered it with a tight smile. The world’s not ending. Not this one.
“Thanks for everything, Eleanor. As always.”
“I wouldn’t have it any other way.” The woman patted Cheyenne’s cheek, then turned toward Ember with an even warmer smile. “It was so nice to finally meet you, Ember. I know it’s already been said, but I’m allowed to make my own invitations. Any time you want to come back, you just make Cheyenne drive you right up here, got it?”
Ember laughed and accepted Eleanor’s hug as the housekeeper bent over to wrap her arms around the fae girl. “Thank you. I had a great time.”
Eleanor raised an eyebrow as she straightened and patted her gray hair back into place.
“Yeah, even with everything that happened,” Ember added. “It’s good to get out.”
“I’ve been saying that to the woman up there for twenty years. Maybe she’ll listen if she hears it from someone else.” The housekeeper winked, then turned to head back up the stairs. “You drive safely, do you hear me? None of that reckless fast-car nonsense.”
Cheyenne walked backward toward the door, spreading her arms. “Can’t make any promises.”
“Oh, get out of here.” Chuckling, Eleanor went up the steps.
The halfling held the door open for her friend, and Ember wheeled herself to the threshold before pausing.
“You want me to help?”
“Nope.” Ember tightened her grip on the wheels. “Let me try.”
“Sure.”
The wheelchair rolled back an inch, then Ember lurched forward and pushed herself out onto the landing. The wheels caught for a split second on the metal liner of the doorway, and she tipped forward before pale violet light flashed around the wheels of her chair. She hovered two inches off the ground and slowly lowered to the stone landing, her knuckles white around the rims.
“You still got it.” Cheyenne stepped outside and shut the door behind her. “I don’t think it’s going anywhere.”
“Just had to check.” Ember grinned. “This is wild.”
“I have a feeling it’s gonna get wilder.” The halfling stopped at the edge of the first step, folded her arms, and considered the wide, curving stairs in front of them. “What about now?”
“Yeah, definitely.” Ember nodded quickly and pulled the drow lockbox farther into her lap. “I’m not going to try to conquer a whole staircase.”
Chuckling, Cheyenne grabbed the chair’s handlebars and spun her friend around before tilting her back onto two wheels. “It’s more like half a staircase, but I get what you mean.”
They moved down the steps as gently as possible. When the halfling’s black Vans crunched on the gravel, she kept pulling back to get Ember to the passenger side of her brand-new Porsche.
“Easier to go down than up, isn’t it?”
“Was that supposed to have some kind of double meaning?”
“I’m talking about stairs, Em.” Smirking, Cheyenne opened the passenger-side door and helped her friend transfer into the seat with a practiced ease they’d nailed down over the last few days. Then she folded the chair and took it to the trunk before sliding into the driver’s seat. The engine started with a push of the button. “So, that was my mom and my home life, packed neatly into fifteen hours.”
“I like her.” Ember shrugged. “Even with the giant rocks sticking up out of the ground and you fighting off monster things.”
“Well, that part was new.”
“Still. Your mom’s incredible. I don’t know anyone else who’d just stand there and watch all that while sipping a drink.”
Cheyenne laughed and buckled her seatbelt. “She tried to hide it, but I saw her sneak a few swigs here and there.”
“Can’t blame her.”
“For knocking back booze like she was?” The halfling shifted into drive and took off slowly around the huge gravel circle in front of the house. “No. Can’t blame her for that.” For other things, but who’s keeping score?
She drove down the long gravel drive and the gentle incline down the hillside away from Bianca
