Cheyenne swallowed and took a step to Sir’s right to cover the hole in the wall beside his head.
The woman smiled and glanced between her husband and the pale Goth girl beside him. “Aren’t you going to introduce us?”
“Yeah.” Sir cleared his throat and recovered enough to come up with lies. “This is one of my work associates. Cheyenne—”
“Blakely,” Cheyenne blurted with a nod. Sir shot her a weird look, and she forced herself to smile at his wife. We’re not throwing my real last name around for fun. I don’t care how long they’ve been married.
His wife cleared her throat.
The words spilled out of Sir all at once. “Cheyenne, this is my wife Alice.”
Cheyenne kept the oddly tight smile on her face and reached slowly toward the woman to shake her hand. “Pleasure to meet you, Mrs. Carson.”
“Well, don’t do that.” Alice quickly shook the halfling’s hand and laughed. “Just Alice, please.” She looked at them and raised an eyebrow. “You must be a big deal at the office, Cheyenne. He never brings anyone over, even for drinks. Speaking of which, can I get you anything?”
Cheyenne almost burst out laughing. “Yes, please.”
“What? No.” Sir took a step and stopped when his foot hit a can of garbanzo beans that had spilled out of the grocery bag. “Cheyenne was just leaving.”
“Don’t be ridiculous, Guy.” Cheyenne waved a coy hand at him like they’d been close friends for years. “I can’t turn down hospitality like this.” Sir sputtered and stared at her, one eye twitching. Now I got him. “Alice, I would love to stay for a drink. Do you have any whisky?”
“Ha. Do we have whisky.” The woman winked and pointed at her guest. “I know for a fact my husband keeps a bottle of his favorite at the office, and I keep another bottle of it here. I don’t see what the big deal is with Glenlivet, but I’m sure you two can compare notes. Want anything with it?”
“No, thank you. On the rocks is perfect.” The grin Cheyenne gave Mrs. Alice Carson was as genuine as they came for the half-drow. “I’m gonna help your husband clean this up. I think I startled him when I showed up early.”
Alice finally noticed the groceries spilled all over the floor and the broken glass from the fallen picture frames. She looked up at her husband. “What did you do?”
Sir grunted. “Stumbled.”
“Okay.” The woman looked him up and down, then smiled at Cheyenne. “I’ll get the drinks. Make sure my husband doesn’t hurt himself, won’t you? His blood pressure tends to spike when he does a lot of physical work. Even picking groceries up off the floor.” Alice chuckled and stepped down the hall. “It’s still the worst on Mondays, isn’t it, honey?”
Sir’s lower jaw jutted out in aggravation. “Yeah.”
“I’ll be right back. Make yourself at home, Cheyenne. I’m glad we finally have company to entertain. You have no idea how long it’s been.”
“My pleasure.” Cheyenne smiled after Sir’s endearing wife until the woman returned her attention to the mail in her hand. The whole time, she felt Sir’s glare burning into the side of her face and couldn’t help but rub it in a little more. “I like her.”
“Don’t.”
“You picked a winner there, Guy.”
“I’m serious.”
“Any chance she’ll invite me to stay for dinner? I might take her up on that.”
“Shut up and get out of my way.” Sir dropped into a squat and reached for the can of garbanzo beans.
Cheyenne slipped into drow mode and tossed an arc of purple sparks at his hand. He snatched his hand back and scowled up at her. “I’ll get it. Don’t wanna spike your blood pressure, do we?”
Sir got to his feet and wagged a finger in the halfling’s face. “I swear to every fat, fluffy, furball on legs, halfling, if you so much as look at her the wrong way, I’ll—”
“Track my phone? Show up at my house? Try to blackmail me? Skip the halfling hierarchy and go straight to Bianca to prove a point?” Cheyenne clicked her tongue and felt her grin take the same shape she hated seeing on L’zar. “Come on, Guy. You’re out of empty threats and you know it, so sit back and leave the thinking to someone who knows what they’re doing, huh?”
He snorted. “You mean, you?”
The activator pulled up a series of commands from Cheyenne’s magic when she glanced down at the spilled groceries. She flicked her fingers, selecting the offered levitation spell she couldn’t cast on her own in a million years, and the grocery bags leaped from the floor to pile themselves neatly in her arms. Then she slipped out of drow form, cocked her head, and let herself channel Bianca Summerlin. “Well, I do have you at something of a disadvantage, don’t I? I hope it’s good whisky.”
She stepped past him and headed down the hall.
Behind her, the man shoved the broken glass into a pile with the side of his white New Balance sneaker, spitting out curse after curse, not in Major Sir Carson’s bellowing rampage, but in Guy Carson’s small, hushed whisper.
This is way better than bashing in his skull. “Alice?”
“Yes?”
“Where’s the kitchen?”
“Oh, turn left at the end of the hall. I’m almost finished with the drinks.”
“Perfect.”
Chapter Fifty-Two
Glass spilled out of the dustpan into the trashcan before Sir shoved it back into its place beside the fridge.
“You know, I wasn’t a huge fan of those picture frames anyway. They were gifts. Really, honey, there’s nothing to be embarrassed about. It’s the perfect excuse to go buy new ones.” Alice handed Cheyenne a rocks glass of whisky with two square ice cubes, then lifted her own glass of chardonnay and clinked it against the halfling’s. “To meeting my husband’s associates.”
“And such
