“Ha! You did get the psycho gene from that slippery white-haired fuck.”
“Hey, did you suddenly forget where we are and how easy it was for me to find you? This isn’t a game.”
“It’s not true!” Whisky sloshed over the side of his glass when he spun toward her. “No way in hell, halfling. The FRoE doesn’t have double agents. Shit, except for you.”
She cocked her head.
“Everyone below and above me is squeaky-clean.”
“Like Ranzig Ca’admar, right? ‘Cause nobody smelled that one coming except for me.”
“That was a one-time thing.”
“No, it was not.” Cheyenne glanced at the house when the clink of dishes rose from the kitchen inside the back porch. “I’m not making this up, and I’m giving you a chance to clean up your organization because it’s rotting from the inside out. When the O’gúl loyalists with that program running their war machines get everything working the way they want, a few unexpected portals popping up around Virginia are gonna be a piece of cake in comparison. Those aren’t normal machines, either. Your agents aren’t regular O’gúleesh, and they don’t have enough training or experience with this to know the first thing about how to take those machines down.”
“Bullshit. My agents aren’t the problem.”
“The problem is Colonel Thomas!” Cheyenne stepped away from him and glanced at the house again as Alice opened the sliding back door and poked her head outside.
“I heard shouting. Everything okay?”
Sir and Cheyenne raised their hands at the same time to wave at his wife. “All good, honey. We’re talking shop.”
“You know how I feel about that.”
“I’ll rein him in.” Cheyenne nodded and plastered a wide grin on her face.
“Okay. I’m almost ready.”
“Grill’s fired up and waiting.” Sir winked at her with an equally tight smile. The minute Alice closed the door and disappeared inside, he spun toward Cheyenne again. “You’ve always been a pain in my ass, and now you’ve gone too far.”
“You know what? I came out here fully intending to bash your head in if you didn’t pull it out of your ass long enough to hear what I’m telling you. We have a serious problem. The FRoE isn’t run by the same people you started it with twenty-one years ago, and Colonel Thomas is gonna bring the whole thing crashing down on top of you.”
“It’s impossible. That’s it.” Sir’s face darkened again, his cheeks quivering furiously as he shook his head. “Not even. There’s no way.”
“It’s true, and I can prove it. Why would I lie to you?”
“Huh, I don’t know.” He leaned closer and thrust a finger toward the back door. “You showed up at my home and threatened my life. I can think of a few reasons you’d wanna set me up and ship me out.”
Cheyenne said, “More than a few, but ruining your life doesn’t do anything to help all the other people on this side of the Border, the refugees at the reservations, or all the O’gúleesh on the other side. If we don’t stop this, everyone’s going down, not just you. That’s what they want, and who do you think people are gonna blame when they find out about magic and the ruler on the other side sending her army out here to conquer Earth?”
“What are you, schizophrenic? You sound like it.”
“And you sound like a piece of shit for thinking that’s the right answer.”
Sir stepped toward her and thrust a finger in her face. “Don’t try to pin your problems on me, halfling. You did this to yourself!”
“You don’t know half my problems. You’re just the one I’m looking at right now.”
“This is bullshit.” Sir downed the rest of his drink, glared at it, and grunted. “I need a drink.”
“Do I have to kidnap you from your own backyard?”
“Okay, okay. Shut up.” The man sniffed and shook his head. “I like the sound of this whole thing about as much as I enjoy a hot poker up my ass.”
“You kiss your wife with that mouth?”
“Fuck you. I’ll look into it. That’s it. I’m not signing a goddamn statement, Cheyenne, but I’ll look. That’s all I can do.”
“Fine.”
The back door slid open again, and Alice stepped onto the back porch with a long platter holding two well-marinated steaks. The stink of vinegar and spices made Cheyenne’s nostrils flare. I’m never touching vinegar again, not after Nor’ieth.
“I’m sorry that took so long. The rolls have another five minutes in the oven, but these are ready to go.” Alice set the platter on the grill’s cold side-burner and stuck her hands on her hips. “Cheyenne, it’s been great to have you here. Why don’t you stay for dinner?”
“I can’t,” Cheyenne muttered.
At the same time, Sir said, “Fat chance.”
“Oh.” Alice blinked rapidly and shrugged. “Okay. Is everything—”
“Thanks for the drink, Alice. Excuse me.” Cheyenne turned and stormed toward the gate in the fence. The wood creaked and snapped when she pulled the gate open, and she forced her anger and the brewing heat of her drow magic back under control.
Alice stared after her until their guest disappeared around the front. “Did something happen?”
The first steak sizzled on the grill, and Sir tapped the tongs on the grate. “Who knows with that one?”
She shot him a confused look. “I’ll go close the gate, then.”
“Excellent.” He scowled at the grill, ignoring the smoke blooming up in his face as he slapped the other steak down beside the first. I’m never leaving my gun at the goddamn office again.
Chapter Fifty-Four
Cheyenne stomped down the sidewalk through Guy Carson’s neighborhood. He can’t seriously think I’m pulling all this out of thin air. The fact that I found him should’ve been enough.
A dog darted toward her across the front yard of the house she passed. It stopped at the line of the invisible fence and jumped back and forth, hackles raised and tail wagging at the same time.
Cheyenne looked at the dog and let out a low growl. The barking stopped, and the dog’s tongue flopped over the side of its open
