“No.” L’zar’s grin disappeared, and his golden gaze bored into the fae’s violet eyes. “You step aside for no one, Cheyenne. Not today. Enter the tunnel.”
The warning in her father’s voice sent an involuntary shiver down the halfling’s spine. She exchanged a quick glance with Ember and blinked slowly. We’re doing things differently than the last time I was here.
“Excuse us.” Cheyenne nodded at the fae man and slipped around him into the bright tunnel leading out of the district square.
Ember followed, smiling briefly at the other magical until the fae man turned his gaze on her and narrowed his eyes. She swallowed and raised her eyebrows as she floated past him into the tunnel.
L’zar dipped his head toward the fae, a smile flickering across his lips before he followed his daughter and her Nós Aní. The blue-haired fae turned slowly to watch the trio make their way down the tunnel and out of the upper level beyond the drow inner city. His silver-slippered feet didn’t touch the ground once.
When L’zar caught up to walk at Cheyenne’s side again, she shot him a sidelong glance. “Apparently, not everyone’s happy to see the rebel Weaver return to Ambar’ogúl.”
“That brooding fae is one of the outliers. I think.” L’zar shrugged. “It doesn’t mean he’s loyal to the current Crown or that he won’t celebrate the new Cycle when it turns. The second he steps inside his opulent quarters on the top floor of some high-rise penthouse, he’ll be dancing himself into a purple fae sweat.”
Ember leaned forward to look at him. “So why’d he try to block us?”
“Not us, just me.” L’zar brushed his hair away from his face with a nonchalant chuckle. “I probably did something a thousand years ago to piss him off, and he’s still holding a grudge. That happens a lot.”
Cheyenne snorted. “Doesn’t sound like he’s just ‘one of the outliers,’ then.”
“I’m talking about total numbers in Ambar’ogúl, Cheyenne.” The drow lifted his chin with a sneer and clasped his hands behind his back as they moved through the tunnel. This one also sparked and crackled with visible light in the grooves in the walls. “Most of the magicals here are only too happy to see change, even if it comes merely because I stepped back over the Border from the human realm you and I love so much.”
The halfling’s eyes widened, but she kept walking straight ahead without turning to look at him. “They don’t like that you were over there for so long.”
“Mostly, they don’t like that I was over there at all. Or that anyone goes Earthside, though it’s been happening for as long as any of us can remember. By the way, let’s keep that little nugget of truth to ourselves for the time being.”
Cheyenne glanced at the flashing ceiling of the tunnel in exasperation. “And what little nugget is that?”
“The one about where you come from. It’s not common knowledge, as I’m sure you’ve noticed by now.” L’zar hummed a humorless chuckle. “We have to approach it gently when the time is right.”
“Oh, yeah? As gently as you approached barging through the Heart so I could throw myself off a balcony for that stupid coin?”
“Naturally. That’s about as gentle as we get, isn’t it?” He shot her another grin and raised his eyebrows.
Cheyenne shook her head. More secrets about who I am. I guess it’s better to be keeping them this time instead of being the clueless one.
“Stop.” The urgency in L’zar’s voice made Cheyenne and Ember spin to look back down the tunnel. He ignored their surprise and reached a hand straight out in front of him, eyes wide, before whirling around and slapping his hand against the wall on their left. The tunnel echoed with the smack of flesh on metal, then the wall flashed yellow light. A section of metal burst out of the wall two inches in front of Cheyenne and Ember, making them both jump back before a hollow clang signaled the sliding metal hitting the other side of the tunnel and blocking them.
Cheyenne glared at her drow father, who merely grinned and stepped away from the wall he’d slapped, hands clasped behind his back again. “What the hell are you doing?”
“Testing my memory.” He scanned the ceiling and the solid obstacle in front of them. “I’d step back if I were you.”
Ember quickly did as he said, and Cheyenne narrowly avoided dropping through the hole that opened in the floor a second later. She leaped away, slamming a hand against the wall to steady herself as the metal floor shifted and folded in tiny clinking squares. When the movement stopped, the trio found themselves standing at the opening of a short stairwell leading into the underbelly of the city.
The halfling peered down the dark staircase. “A heads-up would have gone a long way, you know?”
“I told you to step back.”
“Yeah, after you almost took my face off when you cut the tunnel in half.”
L’zar clicked his tongue. “The surprise is half the fun.”
“Okay, agree to disagree.” She gestured toward the stairs. “Why don’t you go ahead and meet all the other surprises first, huh?”
“With pleasure.” The drow thief stepped forward with a little jig, gave his daughter a mocking bow, and headed briskly down the staircase.
Ember bit her lip to stifle a chuckle and shrugged when Cheyenne shot her a warning look. “At least his memory works.”
“I’m not sure I trust that either.” With a snort, Cheyenne stepped down after her father, followed closely by Ember. The second the fae girl’s head descended below the level of the tunnel’s floor, the small metal squares unfolded and sealed themselves back up to cover the hole in the floor. Cheyenne glanced at the ceiling. Why do I feel like he doesn’t have any idea where we’re going?
Chapter Three
L’zar led them through a confusing series of twisting corridors and
