“To those she fears,” L’zar added and slapped a hand on the table in delight. “Which is exactly what makes you a perfect candidate for escorting Cheyenne back into the Heart.”
“And if she dies of terror when she sees me again, I cannot say I’ll be disappointed,” Venga snarled. “At the very least, I mean to make her piss herself.”
Byrd and Lumil burst out laughing, drawing looks from the closest human patrons.
Venga met Cheyenne’s gaze and grinned, his tongue flicking out between his teeth despite it no longer looking forked or nearly as threatening. “Perhaps more than that, if the Aranél permits.”
“Well, let’s take that part one step at a time when we get there, huh? If you can scare the Crown enough to make her step down, that’s really all we need. But if it comes down to a fight—”
“I cannot involve myself.” Venga raised his super-sized soda cup toward the halfling and nodded. “I am aware of the old laws. I’m merely extending a suggestion for after the Spider crawls willingly down from her web.”
“Sure.” Cheyenne nodded. “I don’t give a shit about what happens to her afterward.”
“Excellent.” Venga’s green eyes narrowed, and he stuck the straw back into his mouth to gulp down more soda.
“What about the blight, though?” Ember asked.
The goateed magical raised his eyebrows. “The what?”
“Whatever you called it. The Undoing. If you created it, you know how to get rid of it, right?”
“Hmm. Perhaps. I imagine the Undoing has developed its own agenda, more or less. That happens when a necromancer’s work is left unchecked for so long without its master.”
“But you can help us reverse it.”
“I’m not certain it can be reversed.”
“Oh, yes, it can.” Ember leaned across her uneaten burger and pointed at her chest. “I pulled your fucked-up experiment out of a Raug chief to save his life, and I beat it back across a Border portal that wasn’t supposed to exist and definitely wasn’t supposed to be spewing the blight all over Cheyenne’s backyard.”
“Technically not my backyard.”
Ember rolled her eyes. “The point is, it can be reversed. It can be healed out of magicals and out of the earth. So if you’re coming with us to get revenge on the Spider, you sure as hell better do whatever you can to clean up the mess you left behind.”
Venga set his drink gently down on the table and held Ember’s gaze. “You are merely one fae.”
“No shit. Unfortunately, my magic isn’t strong enough to pull a necromancer’s poison out of an entire world. This is on you.”
“I will try.”
Ember scoffed and turned to Cheyenne. “A little help here?”
“Hey, you’re doing a pretty decent job all on your own.”
“Cheyenne.”
The halfling fought back a laugh and shrugged. “What do you want me to say, Em? He said he’ll try.”
“That’s not good enough. He needs to promise.”
“I cannot give my word before I’ve seen what has become of the Undoing,” Venga muttered, his root beer now forgotten as he frowned at Ember. “Nor will I make a vow to some fae who seems to think I am a hatchling she can order around.”
“’Some fae,’ huh?” Ember folded her arms. “Do you know who I am? Why I’m sitting next to this drow who already started the turn of a new Cycle?”
Cheyenne wiped her lips to cover a surprised smile and watched the showdown. She’s pulling out the Nós Aní card. Somehow, I get the feeling that’s not threatening to a necromancer.
Venga stared the fae down and raised his eyebrows. “Enlighten me.”
Ember sneered at him. “If you can’t figure it out, I don’t think your head’s in the right place to make the crossing with us. You know, too much time spent in an isolation tank.”
“Then promise to give the order,” Persh’al muttered as he tapped his cell phone. Every magical at both tables looked at him.
“What order?” Cheyenne asked.
When Persh’al realized everyone was staring at him, he shrugged and slipped his phone back into his pocket. “Fighting about what he is and isn’t willing to promise before we even get there is pointless. When Ba’rael steps down and Cheyenne turns her new Cycle, she can give a fell-damn order to anyone, even a necromancer. Problem solved. Can we move on, or what?”
Ember opened her mouth to reply but thought better of it and sat back in her chair again.
“Okay.” Cheyenne pointed at Venga. “I agree with everything Ember said, so this is fair warning. I’ll order you to clean up the Undoing when we’re done with Ba’rael. Sound good?”
Venga stroked his goatee and turned his head to eye her sideways. “As long as it’s not the Spider, Aranél, I am happy to serve the Crown.”
“Good.” Cheyenne gently nudged Ember’s shoulder. “Taken care of, right?”
“As long as he follows through. Sure.”
“Cool.” Cheyenne met Persh’al’s gaze and nodded. He nodded in return before grabbing his burger again and stuffing what was left of it into his mouth all at once. Guess it pays to have a blue troll around for breaking up heated discussions. Good to know.
“Here.” L’zar whisked a napkin off the table and offered it to Venga. “You’re dripping.”
The necromancer grunted and took the napkin before roughly wiping his mouth and chin.
“You know, when all this is over and done with, I would very much like to hear about your work.”
Cheyenne tuned out her father’s voice and pulled her buzzing phone out of her pocket. “Great.”
Ember turned to her and glanced at the screen. “What?”
“It’s Sir.” Cheyenne grabbed her bottle of water off the table and stood. “I gotta take this. Be right back.”
As she headed to the restaurant’s door, she heard Byrd sniggering behind her. “Super-private conversation, huh?”
“More like she doesn’t want the whole restaurant to hear the guy screaming at her,” Ember replied.
Chapter Seventy-Nine
Cheyenne pushed open the door and stepped onto the sidewalk in front of the restaurant. Ember’s got it down.
Then she accepted the call and raised the phone to her ear. “That was fast.”
“Which goddamn
