“Like I said, Mom’s upstairs.”
“I am perfectly capable of watching her while I feel awful, Cheyenne. Of course, I’ll look after her, and I’ll call you the second something else happens. Assuming she doesn’t disappear or…oh, I don’t even know what else is possible.”
“Anything, really,” Ember muttered.
“What was that?”
Cheyenne shot her friend a sidelong glance and shook her head.
“Nothing.”
“I’ll let you know when we’re leaving, Eleanor.”
“Sounds good.” The housekeeper looked up from her distracted cooking and managed a weak smile. “I’m glad everyone’s all right.”
“Yeah, so are we. Thanks.” Cheyenne nodded for Ember to step out of the kitchen with her. Eleanor’s moans of discomfort followed them through the swinging door.
“So, now that your mom’s lying in bed instead of standing frozen in the backyard, Eleanor’s cool as a cucumber, huh?”
“I guess so.” Cheyenne stopped behind the loveseat and braced herself against it for a moment. “This isn’t exactly the way I—”
The front door creaked open, followed by heavy footsteps. Lots of heavy footsteps.
“Holy fucking mansion.”
“Dude, would you look at the size of this place?”
“How are we supposed to find her in here, huh? I bet you there are a million fell-damn rooms, and half of ‘em are hidden or something.”
Cheyenne jerked her head up and stared at the foyer, which was blocked by half of the huge central staircase. “No. No way.”
“Yeah, you don’t walk into someone else’s house uninvited.”
“It’s not like I just didn’t invite them, Em. I told them no. More than once.” Cheyenne pushed herself away from the loveseat and stormed through her mom’s house to the front door. “Hey. Nobody told you guys to bring the whole damn circus into the house.”
“Relax, halfling.” Lumil dismissed her with a wave and gazed around the foyer. “You’re wrong.”
“What?”
“Yeah, L’zar’s the one who shipped us all off up the hill.” Persh’al let out a low whistle. “Never thought I’d be looking at the inside of this place, kid.”
“And you’re not supposed to be.” Cheyenne shook her head and tried to block them as Jamal, Payton, and the FRoE agents stepped inside. “This isn’t L’zar’s house. He doesn’t get to decide who walks through that door.”
Bhandi pointed at her and raised an eyebrow. “Not your house either, right?”
The halfling pointed at the open front door. “Get out.”
“After we’ve all had a chance to sit down and chat face to face about what happens now,” L’zar said as he stepped slowly inside. “Interesting.”
Cheyenne rolled her eyes. “Nobody’s gonna listen to me about this, are they?”
“Don’t take it personally,” Rhynehart muttered, stepping around L’zar in the doorway and skirting past the drow thief with a wary gaze. “I’ll tell you one thing. I’m tired of sitting, standing, and sleeping on that grass. I don’t care how soft it is.”
“Pretty soft, though, right?” Lumil winked at Rhynehart and chuckled when he turned away from her to explore more of Bianca Summerlin’s house.
“So, where should we gather?” L’zar’s gaze lingered at the top of the wide staircase, then he looked at his daughter and raised his eyebrows.
Cheyenne closed her eyes and took a deep breath. “The dining room, I guess.”
“Excellent. And that would be where?”
Grimacing at her father, Cheyenne gestured at the back of the house. “Under the stairs.”
Bhandi gave the halfling a confused frown. “Say what?”
“You’ll see.” Rolling her eyes at Ember, Cheyenne brushed past the uninvited magicals and led them to the long dining table at the back of the house, which overlooked the veranda and the valley beyond it.
“Lovely.” L’zar pulled out a chair facing the wall of windows, dropped into it, propped his feet on the seat next to him, and folded his arms.
Cheyenne stared at his shoes, stacked one on top of the other. Mom would kill him if she saw that. Too bad she’s passed out upstairs.
The other magicals filtered around the dining table, scooting out chairs and thumping boots and chair legs on the floor.
“Hey, big guy.” Persh’al nodded at Jamal and pointed at the head of the table. “Go ahead and take a seat.”
Jamal folded his arms. “I’ll break that chair.”
“What? Come on. You don’t know that.”
“I can tell, troll.”
Persh’al lifted both hands and shrugged. “Yeah, okay.”
Cheyenne took the chair at the head of the table instead because it was the only one left open. I’m not about to stand here feeling like I’m on the outside listening in. Who knows how long this is gonna take?
L’zar smacked the table. “Now that we’re all such great friends…”
Corian snorted. “What’s this about?”
“I’ve found our next step.”
“Which has nothing to do with breaking L’zar’s curse on my mom.” Cheyenne folded her arms and sat back in the chair, staring at her father.
“Which I also tried to share with you this morning before my sister and that portal had a little meltdown together. Incidentally, your mother’s in much better condition now, isn’t she? Tucked safely into her bed upstairs, I’m assuming.”
Cheyenne cocked her head. “Don’t.”
“Then don’t interrupt me.” L’zar glared at her and turned to address the other magicals around the table. “I found exactly what we need next to bolster the irrefutable terms Cheyenne will be presenting to the Crown in a few days. No, it’s not a direct solution to aiding the lovely woman whose home we currently occupy—”
The halfling snorted.
He ignored her. “But when the Spider steps down off her throne, the curse she never intended for Ms. Summerlin will end on its own.”
“Don’t say that’s gonna happen if you’re not sure,” Cheyenne warned.
“Well, even if I wasn’t sure, I’d still say it because I’d still have a hunch.” L’zar leaned over the table and glared at his daughter. “But I’m sure.”
“Hold on. Wait a minute.” Yurik thumped both elbows on the table and lifted his hands for everyone to stop. “You said some stuff about a crown and a throne and a curse and…I don’t even know. But I do know it all sounds like bullshit. What’s really going on?”
L’zar clicked his tongue at the muscular goblin. “Pity you Earthborn have no
