Instead, Cheyenne reached out for the handles on the French doors and pulled them closed. Then she shuffled into the breakfast room, blinking heavily, and dropped into one of the cream-colored armchairs overlooking the back lawn, the forest, and the valley behind the Summerlin estate. Muffled laughter rose from the gathering beside the portal ridge. L’zar and Bianca remained in the same positions, unaffected by the drinking and lewd jests being thrown around the impromptu party. Can’t blame them for wanting to lighten the mood a little. Just as long as they can handle themselves when it’s time to get shit done.
She pulled out her cell and called Corian.
“What’s wrong?”
“Nothing. I just didn’t wanna walk all the way back out there for a thirty-second conversation.” She watched Corian turn around and glance at the house. “Just don’t let L’zar touch her without running it by me first, okay? The second he comes out of that trance or whatever.”
“I’ll let you know, Cheyenne. You have my word.”
From where she sat in the armchair, it was impossible not to see the nightstalker’s silver eyes glowing in the darkness at the other end of the lawn. “Thanks.”
“Get some rest. You and Ember might be the only ones enjoying peace and quiet tonight.”
“Yeah, you can handle it.” She hung up and slipped her phone into her pocket. Then she settled back into the armchair and propped her arms on the armrests. Despite her heavy eyelids and a yawn of her own, she couldn’t bring herself to look away from the group of magicals drinking and eating beside the scar of jutting black stone stretching out of the forest. Probably couldn’t eat, even if I was hungry. Sleep’s looking just as impossible right now too.
Cheyenne watched Bianca’s unmoving silhouette and sank lower in the armchair. “Gonna be a long night for sure.”
Chapter Sixty-Four
“Wake up, Cheyenne. Now!”
She jolted at the shout and opened her eyes. She sat outside on the lawn in front of her father, his golden glowing eyes a foot away from her. “Dammit, L’zar! You gotta cut this out.”
“I’ll use the Don’adurr Thread when I have to, Cheyenne. You’re the one who agreed to the connection.”
“Yeah, ‘cause I thought it was a one-time thing.” She looked around, noting the blurred appearance of the grass and the tree line and the sky starting to lighten into dawn. “If this wasn’t in my head, I’d be walking back to the house right now.”
“Listen, I think I’ve found what we need.”
Her gaze settled back on his. “To help Bianca?”
“Not directly, no, but it will greatly improve our chances of successfully forcing Ba’rael to accept your terms.”
“Fuck that. You were supposed to be looking for the cure for this curse or whatever you wanna call it. Right now, I don’t give a shit about Ba’rael or Ambar’ogúl or anything else. You need to fix this for my mom.”
“I will, Cheyenne.” L’zar stared at her without any trace of his usual annoyance. “My word might not mean anything to you at this point.”
“You’re right. It’s pretty much worthless.”
“But this is a huge step for us. I found it. It’s right here on Earth. Ba’rael can’t possibly refuse to step down when we bring this to her.”
Cheyenne blinked. “Seriously? It took you this long to find something that was here the whole time?”
L’zar tilted his head. “Give me a break, all right? There’s a lot going on in my head, and sometimes it takes longer than I’d prefer to dredge up what I want.”
“You mean, like anything useful?”
They stared at each other, then L’zar took a deep breath and slowly let it out again. “Whenever you’re finished berating me, I really would like to—”
Muted shouting rose through their astral-dream connection. The valley around them flashed with multi-colored lights, and Cheyenne was thrown out of the Don’adurr Thread with a jolt.
She gasped and sat bolt upright in the armchair in the breakfast room, wincing at the tightness in her neck and shoulders. “Ow. Shit.”
Rubbing out the pain, she looked through the curving wall of windows to see every FRoE agent and O’gúleesh rebel on their feet, moving quickly and shouting at each other. The portal ridge flashed with multi-colored lights rippling between the formerly inactive columns of black stone.
Not inactive anymore. Shit.
Her gaze fell on Bianca, who seemed unchanged one second and started trembling violently the next.
“Mom!”
Cheyenne slipped into drow speed and sprinted through the house, racing down the stairs and slipping back into normal speed again only to open the glass French doors onto the veranda without shattering them. Then she darted in a gray and white streak to the balcony, leaped over the side, and sped across the lawn.
When she dropped out of enhanced speed right in front of her mother, Bianca’s entire body bucked and jerked, her eyes rolling back in her head. “Mom. Mom! Come on. Corian!”
The nightstalker appeared beside her in a flash of silver light.
“What’s happening?” Cheyenne reached out to Bianca, who made strangled choking sounds, but Corian jerked her hand away.
“Don’t touch her.”
“What’s going on?”
“I don’t know, Cheyenne, but it’s not safe.”
“Watch it!” Byrd sent a ball of green flames hurtling past the half-drow and the nightstalker before it burst on the portal ridge. “I’d get the fuck away from there.”
Cheyenne and Corian spun to see a glistening black tentacle undulating between the fists of black stone. “Fuck.”
“Nothing we haven’t handled before, kid.” Corian grabbed her arm and drew her away from Bianca.
“Stop.” Cheyenne jerked her arm out of his grasp. “We can’t just leave her there!”
“You wanna take yourself down trying to pick her up?” Glinting claws emerged from his hands with a metallic tzing. “’Cause that will happen if you touch her now.”
“L’zar held on.”
“L’zar’s an idiot. We take out these things first.” Corian turned to the FRoE agents and the rebels behind them and shouted, “No reason to
