“Well, I wasn’t trying to hide it.”
“I didn’t think so.”
Ember spread her arms and shrugged. “What does it mean, then? Nós Annie.”
“Nós Aní,” Cheyenne muttered. “That’s what he is.”
Corian and Ember looked at her in surprise, and the nightstalker frowned. “Who told you that?”
“No one. I put two and two together all on my own like a big kid.” Cheyenne leaned back against the corner of the armrest and the couch cushion. “And yeah, I’ve heard the term before.”
“I hope it didn’t come with any unnecessary embellishments I’ll have to teach you to unlearn. Or stories about me that might not be true.”
“It didn’t have anything to do with you, Corian.” Cheyenne tipped her head toward Ember. “The guy who brought it up was talking about her.”
“Interesting.”
“Okay, but what does it mean?” Ember asked, leaning forward to better insert herself into the conversation.
“It’s like a captain’s first mate, Em. Or a second in command.”
“A what?”
Corian scratched the side of his fur-covered face. “That’s oversimplifying it quite a bit. But in a nutshell, sure, I suppose it’s fairly accurate.”
“You know what?” Ember rolled away from the coffee table and wheeled around the back of the couch. She stopped on the other side of the coffee table, the chair’s front wheels rolling silently onto the black and silver area rug, and slapped her hands down on the armrests. “If I’m suddenly the topic of another cryptic conversation, I’m not listening to it from the other side of the room.”
Corian nodded. “That’s fair. It’s a drow term for essentially what Cheyenne described. Something of a best friend. The rest of it’s a little more complicated.”
“I can handle complicated.” Ember gestured around their living room. “Obviously.”
“It’s interesting that someone else named Ember your Nós Aní before we did. Officially, at least.” Corian glanced from one girl to the other and raised his eyebrows. “Who was it?”
“One of the staff at Ember’s PT clinic.”
“Wait a minute.”
“No, really, Em.” Cheyenne nodded at her friend. “It was before either of us knew your magic was coming back or that any of this craziness was about to come down on us. The guy was all coy about it, too. Said I’d made a good choice and that they’d take care of you while you’re recovering.”
Ember blinked, opened her mouth, and tried a second time to get words out. “You’re telling me there are magicals working at that clinic, and I didn’t pick up on it.”
“Yeah. Your doctor’s one of them. I don’t know what she is, but I bet that’s part of what makes her so good at her job.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
Cheyenne shook her head. “There wasn’t a lot of time. Then everything else happened, and it got pushed into the corner.”
“Well, I’m seriously glad I know now before I go back in tomorrow.”
“No. You can’t go back in there.”
Ember’s mouth dropped open. “You don’t get to make that decision for me.”
“I do if I’m the one taking you.”
“I’ll pay someone else to do it!”
Cheyenne lurched forward on the couch, leaning toward her friend’s face. “That asshole at the clinic was the one who brought up the Nós Aní thing, and I wouldn’t be surprised if he had something to do with stealing your blood from the hospital so all those damn machine-bugs could hunt you down.”
“My blood?”
“We think that’s how the digger found you in Peridosh,” Corian clarified calmly. His gaze flickered toward Cheyenne when she pushed herself off the couch and started pacing behind it. “Someone got the word out about your connection to Cheyenne. They didn’t have a better way to lock onto her directly, so they picked the next best magical.”
“That’s insane. I can’t even do anything.” Ember watched her friend’s agitated pacing and shook her head. “I’m the least threatening person involved in this.”
“But you are involved, and as Cheyenne’s Nos Aní, you’re a lot more threatening than you might think.”
“I can’t believe I didn’t see it.” Cheyenne pounded her fist on the back of the couch. “I knew something was up in that clinic, but the minute he started talking about taking care of you, I let myself ignore it.”
“Did you get his name?”
“Marsil. He told me to pass along some kind of sworn-fealty message to L’zar from House Keldryk.”
Corian rubbed his chin. “That doesn’t sound like one of the Crown’s zealots.”
“Well, he sure as shit didn’t look like a magical, but he’s fooling the rest of the world about that too. I handed him what he wanted to hear on a silver platter.”
“We don’t have any proof that this Marsil of House Keldryk was the one who exposed Ember.”
“I don’t need proof. Who the hell else could know?”
“That information could’ve gotten out anywhere, just like word of you passing your trials. Just like the Crown’s Earthside loyalists knowing she’s looking for you and wants you taken out of the picture. She’s got eyes and ears everywhere, Cheyenne. You can’t jump to conclusions and assume everyone’s lying to you.”
“That’s the only way to survive!” The halfling swung an open hand at the back of the couch and sent it scooting across the floor until the area rug bunched up beneath the coffee table. With a growl, she kept pacing along the same track, purple sparks flaring at her fingertips. Do I really believe that?
“You know that’s not the only way,” Corian muttered. “Things are complicated, kid, and they’re only going to get more complicated for both of you from here on out. I promise I’ll help you find whoever’s responsible for putting Ember’s name out there and setting those trackers on her. I give you my word on that.”
Cheyenne took a deep breath and killed the purple sparks. “I’ll hold you to it. I wanna start with that Marsil guy.”
“Sure. Gently.” Corian nodded. “Tomorrow. Tonight, neither of you are leaving this apartment, which might just be the safest place for either of you once we’re
