L’zar blinked at the magic shooting from the city center as his daughter stormed past him and back down the avenue. “If you’re talking about all the magic my moronic sister was storing in her torture chambers, I’m inclined to agree with you. Yes.”
“Good thing the moron gene ended with me.”
The drow thief spun and followed her, laughing. “And I had nothing to do with that, huh?”
“No, I don’t think you did.” Cheyenne stopped and whirled on him, shoving a finger in his face. “The Crown isn’t the only one around here I can blame for making stupid choices. What the hell was that back there?”
He tilted his head. “Which part?”
“The part where you kept running away like a coward to save yourself. The part where you tried to drag me with you when I clearly knew what I was doing and could save this city and the people you told me I’m here to protect!” She shoved his chest with both hands, and L’zar staggered backward.
His smile disappeared. “I don’t want to lose you too, Cheyenne.”
“This isn’t about me, this is about your self-righteous power games. You’re willing to let everyone else fend for themselves, even if they end up dead, because they aren’t part of your master plan.”
“Cheyenne!”
“Shut up!” She launched a crackling sphere of black energy at his face, and he ducked but didn’t step back. “If you want me to do any of this, giving the Crown her terms, taking the throne or not taking the throne, helping to put this screwed-up world back together, don’t even think about telling me I’m wrong or that I don’t understand. I get how you work, L’zar. It’s great that you wanna protect me, but it’s too late to think I’ll start listening to you now over what I know I can do.”
He pressed his lips together. “I did get you out of the way of all that magic shooting through the alley.”
“Please.” Cheyenne rolled her eyes and turned away from him to stalk down the avenue again. “I wasn’t even close to being in real danger.”
With a deep breath, L’zar took one more look at the pillar of dazzling, churning magic spilling into the sky and hurried after his daughter. She’s not exactly like me, not in this. When he caught up with her, he stuck his hands in his pockets and easily matched her agitated stride. “You know, you would make an excellent Crown if you decided to stay. I’m inclined to think your human blood is responsible for that.”
She snorted. “You’re not a selfish asshole because you’re not human, L’zar. Me being half-human doesn’t make my decisions for me either.”
“Maybe. Maybe not.” The drow thief chuckled and didn’t say another word.
Cheyenne snuck a quick glance at him and found him staring at the blue sky as they walked down the avenue. Looks like I got my point across. Maybe you can teach an old drow new tricks.
Chapter Fifteen
They met up with the others at the fighting pits in Vedrosha. Most of the magicals had scattered and returned to their homes and stores on the lower levels. Some O’gúleesh remained to help with the cleanup, which mostly amounted to getting the magicals lying on the ground back on their feet and inspected for serious injuries.
Cheyenne found Ember surrounded by magicals holding bleeding faces and arms, clutching whatever hurt and waiting their turn. The fae girl reached toward the next injured magical in line, her palms glowing with a slightly brighter violet light than her other spells before fading again.
The healed magicals stared at their mended wounds and bowed to the fae girl, muttering their thanks before heading out of Vedrosha to regroup somewhere else. Cheyenne waited for Ember to tend to the last of them, then approached.
“So you’re whipping up healing spells now after magical disasters, huh?”
Ember grinned when she saw the halfling and raised her pink-tinged hands. “I don’t even need spells. It just happens.”
“You know, I’ve heard things about the fae’s innate healing.” Cheyenne snorted. “The only things that come out of my hands are magical bombs and whips.”
“Everybody’s got a calling, right?” Ember’s smile faded as she glanced at the column of magic at the city’s center. “What happened?”
Cheyenne looked over her shoulder at L’zar, who had joined Corian, Maleshi, and some of the other rebel magicals to explain his version of events. Probably downplaying his panic to get the hell out, too. “Remember that room we fought our way through yesterday? With the pool of black whatever and the bubble of light in the ceiling?”
The fae girl frowned. “Yeah. They were stealing magic in there.”
“That magic had to go somewhere, right? I’m pretty sure the Crown sucked up too much of it and overloaded the city somehow. I fixed it for now. I think.”
“That was you, huh?” Maleshi’s strained smile made her look incredibly tired when she approached them. “You just happened to find the O’gúl breaker box to turn off the dome shield and let off the extra pressure.”
“No, I found one place where I could access all those things. I’m sure there are more on different levels.”
Maleshi briefly set a hand on Cheyenne’s shoulder and nodded. “Whatever you did, it seems to have worked. We can’t be sure how long it will last, though.”
“I know. That’s a problem.”
Corian joined them with a concerned frown. “And it could quickly turn into a large, very dangerous problem. You made the right call, kid. Honestly, I’m glad this happened. Now we know what else we have to deal with when your two weeks are up.”
“You mean, getting all that extra magic back under control, so it doesn’t rip up the city?”
“Forget ripping it up.” Corian scratched behind his tufted ear and grimaced at the pillar of shimmering light. “Hangivol could be blown off the map entirely, and millions of citizens with it.”
“What about dampening wards like
