by Martha Carr
“Good. We’ll set something up in a day or two to make it official. Of course, Cheyenne will have to agree to it, though I have a feeling she already has.”
“She won’t if we tell her this is a one-way street for me with no way out.”
“Probably.” Corian folded his arms and gazed out the window at the half-full parking lot. “I’ll leave it up to you as to how much you want to tell her before the ceremony.”
“Why is that up to me?”
“Because that’s what a Nós Aní does.”
“All right. I’ll figure it out.”
“I know you will. And I’m happy to hear this is your choice. Cheyenne’s going to need as much support as she can get for what she’s about to do.”
Cheyenne stood in the lobby of the physical therapy clinic with her arms folded, shooting challenging glares at anyone who dared to look the Goth chick in the eyes. If he’s not out here by the time I count to thirty, I’ll rip through this place and go after him. One, two…
An unmarked door opened on the other side of the lobby, and a short woman in scrubs nodded toward Cheyenne. “Right over there.”
Beside her stood Marsil Keldryk, AKA George Gardener. Despite the woman’s nervous frown, Marsil’s eyes lit up when he saw Cheyenne, and he nodded at her before stepping into the lobby. “Thanks, Cheryl.”
Cheryl cast the angry-looking Goth chick a fleeting glance, then disappeared on the other side of the door and pulled it shut behind her.
“I gotta admit, I was a little confused when I heard someone was out here asking for me personally. That doesn’t happen. I’m still a little confused, though.” The muscular assistant glanced around the lobby, his smile wavering uncertainly. “Where’s Ember?”
“We need to talk.” The halfling’s low voice bordered on a growl, and she slowly unfolded her arms. Calm and cool until he gives me a reason not to be. That’s it.
“Sure. Is everything okay?”
“In private.”
Marsil looked around again. “Yeah, okay. Come on.” He nodded toward the hallway wrapping around this side of the glass room the clinic called the gym.
Cheyenne stalked after him, focusing the intensity of her gaze on the back of his head and the short dark curls that weren’t technically his. When the assistant stopped at another closed door at the end of the hall, he peered around the corner to be sure no one was watching and opened the door.
“The only room in this place I know nobody’s gonna come barging in on a private talk. Hey!”
The halfling shoved him through the open door and followed close on his heels, using all her willpower not to slam the door when she shut it behind her.
“Careful.” Marsil moved around, and something plastic fell and bounced across the floor. “Let me just find the light.”
As soon as the overhead bulb switched on, Cheyenne grabbed the man by the front of his scrub shirt and pushed him against the wall, only the wall was a shelving unit in the supply closet. Rolls of stacked toilet paper bounced off Marsil’s head and onto the floor, which he didn’t seem to notice as he stared at the chick with her face inches from his. “Okay, this was not what I expected.”
“You’re gonna answer every single question I ask, got it?”
Frowning, he looked her up and down as much as he could, as close as she was, and shook his head. “You handle all your complaints like this, or do I give off some kinda vibe?”
Cheyenne let the heat of her drow magic flare through her and made the transformation in an instant.
Marsil’s hands banged against the shelves behind him in surrender. “Woah, woah. Okay. You don’t have to go that far. I’ll tell you whatever you wanna know.”
“The truth.” She shoved him against the shelf again, and a box of latex gloves glanced off his shoulder. “Don’t fuck with me. I’ll know if you’re lying.”
He swallowed. “Sure.”
“You said Ember Gaderow was my Nós Aní. That I’d made the right choice. Who else knows?”
“That you and I had a conversation two days ago?”
“That that’s what you think she is to me.” Cheyenne shoved him back again and leaned her fists on his collarbones.
“Just me!” Marsil breathed heavily and stared at her glowing golden eyes. “Okay, and Dr. Boseley, but you already knew she was one of us. That’s it. I didn’t have a chance to tell anyone else.”
“How many other magicals work in this clinic?”
The man’s eyelids fluttered rapidly as he tried to think. “F-five. Total.”
Cheyenne sneered and leaned in until their noses almost touched. “How many of you are loyal to the Ogúl Crown?”
“What?”
“Answer me!”
He jerked away from her and slipped on the scattered supplies. Cheyenne dragged him back up and pinned him in place against the shelf again. As he searched her fiery gaze, his eyes darting back and forth between each of hers, his startled fear slipped away. “None of us. That’s why I came to talk to you. If I was one of those nutjob loyalists, you really think I’d just walk up to the one drow the Crown wants dead more than anyone in both worlds for a little chat? And then let her leave?”
Cheyenne leaned away from him. “You know about that?”
“Well, yeah. Anyone who wants to see O’gúl monarch’s head fly knows about that. You, the Crown’s bounty on your head, your father—”
“You know L’zar?”
“I mean, not personally.”
Cheyenne slowly released Marsil’s uniform and took one small step backward. “Prove it.”
“That I know who L’zar Verdys is?”
“That you’re not one of those nutjob loyalists.”
The man sputtered and gazed around the cramped supply closet. Then he grabbed a fistful of his shirt and pulled it down to expose his neck. “I don’t wear jewelry anyway, but you don’t see a bull’s head, do you?”
“No.” Cheyenne looked him over and shook her head. “But that doesn’t mean anything if you’ve been waiting at this clinic for the right time to make your move. Or to use your job to steal blood samples from VCU Medical Center.”
Marsil shook out the front of his shirt and shrugged to rearrange it. “Now you’ve lost me.”
“Ember’s blood. For tracking her to get to me. Know anything about that?”
He met her gaze. “Only that whoever did take fae blood to track your Nós Aní either has a serious set of cajones or a single brain cell. She’s okay, right?”
“She’s fine.” Stepping back across the closet, Cheyenne folded her arms and nodded. Nobody trying to collect a bounty on my head is gonna ask about Ember, or stand here and let me shove them against a shelf without fighting back. “I need to know who broke into the hospital so I can wipe out what they have on her, at the very least.”
“I’m sorry, Cheyenne.” Marsil slowly shook his head. “I can’t tell you anything about that. But I swear on my life and on House Keldryk that I’ve been loyal to the Cu’ón since I was old enough to make the choice. And I’ll do it again.”
“Okay. Maybe I made a rushed assumption.”
Marsil thumped a fist against his chest and raised his eyebrows. “Right now. Marsil Keldryk. By the blood of my house, I swear fealty to Cheyenne, uh…”
She forced a tight smile. “Summerlin.”
“Cheyenne Summerlin.” His lips parted in a crooked, determined smile. “On my life, I’ll follow you. I swear fealty to L’zar Verdys, the Cu’ón, and the four-pointed star rising against the O’gúl Crown. Everything I have. All of it’s yours.”
Cheyenne took a deep breath and slipped back into her human form. Then she rubbed the back of her neck and nodded. “Okay, I gotta admit, that part was pretty convincing.”
“It better be.” He lowered his fist and chuckled. “You’ve never heard that before, have you?”
“No, but I understand what’s behind it.”
“Good. You’ll be hearing a lot more of that pretty s
oon, I’m sure.”
They stared at each other in the cramped, disheveled supply closet. The halfling shrugged and cocked her head. “Sorry I slammed you against the shelves.”
“Don’t worry about it. I can take a hit. Sorry I gave you a reason to think you couldn’t trust me, or that I’d do anything to hurt Ember. That’s not what this is about.”
“Yeah, I realize that now.”
“Okay. Then we’re good.” With a quick glance at the door, he sidled along the shelf and paused with his hand around the doorknob. “Where is she, by the way? She’s got a session now, right?”
“She’s out in the car.”
“Ah. Waiting for you to tell her whether House Keldryk turned traitor, huh? Well, twice, I guess. According to O’gúl law, we’re all traitors, aren’t we?”
Cheyenne smirked. “I guess so.”
He nodded, looked her over one more time, then opened the door. “I gotta go pull some charts. Should I tell Dr. Boseley Ember’s still coming in?”
“Yeah, thanks. I’ll go get her.”
“Okay.” Marsil held the door open for her as she left the supply closet, chuckling when the halfling kicked a loose piece of plastic packaging someone had apparently forgotten to throw away. “I’ll get that later. And feel free to have an open conversation with me in the hall from here on out, right?”
She turned and let out a wry laugh. “Got it. Hey. Thanks for telling me what I wanted to hear.”
“The truth? Sure. Wouldn’t be doing either of us any favors if I didn’t hold onto what I know.” With a final quick smile, Marsil nodded and turned down the hall away from the lobby. He picked at the front of his scrubs and snorted, shaking his head.
Cheyenne made her way toward the clinic’s front doors. At least I know this is a safe place, and that L’zar’s “rebels” have a lot longer fuse than I do.
Chapter Thirty-Two
Two hours later, Cheyenne slipped behind the wheel and closed the door behind her. “How’d it go?”
“Fine, I guess.” Ember stared at her legs and shrugged. “Still couldn’t get these things to move again. I’m guessing it’s one of those ‘activate your paralyzed limbs under duress’ kinda things.”
“But you’ve done it once.” Cheyenne buckled up, turned on the engine, and pulled out of the clinic’s parking lot. “It’ll happen again, Em. And until it does, you’ve got one of the best physical therapists in Virginia working on getting you there the old-fashioned way.”
“You mean, the human way.” The fae chuckled. “Somehow, I can’t see a bunch of O’gúleesh on the other side lining up to get their Western-medicine fix.”
“Yeah. There’s probably a lot more magic involved.”
“Probably.”
They rode in silence for the first half of the drive back to the apartment, then Cheyenne shot her friend a quick glance. “So, what did you and Corian talk about while you guys were waiting for me to stick my foot in my mouth and realize not everyone’s lying to me?”
“A few things.” Ember clenched her fists in her lap and slowly opened them again. “Which I kinda want to talk to you about too.”
“Sure. Corian told me to give him a call when we get home, which probably means he’s got some other weird mission for me to try not to screw up. And he asked if I had the rest of the day free, so whatever it is, I’m guessing it’ll take a while. When I get back, though?”
“Actually,” Ember said, “I don’t think you wanna wait for this.”
Cheyenne did a double-take and frowned. “What did he do?”
“What?”
“I mean, he’s a total asshole sometimes, but I didn’t think he’d screw with your head.”
“He didn’t. He was totally normal and polite. I guess. Made some jokes.”
“Okay, so what happened?”
“He told me a little more about this whole Nós Aní thing.”
“Oh.” Cheyenne sat back in the driver’s seat and loosened her grip on the steering wheel as they rolled up to a red light. “What, like how he’s been L’zar’s for forever? And that should be enough to convince you that the most wanted drow on both sides of the Border isn’t a bad guy, just misunderstood?”
Ember barked out a laugh. “Sort of. He said he might wring L’zar’s neck someday.”
The halfling grinned. “I bet that was cool to hear.”
“I mean, I get it, and I’ve only met the guy once.”
“There’s more, though, isn’t there? Come on, Em. Spit it out.”
“Fine. Okay.” Ember stared at her lap. “Basically, I’m almost your Nós Aní, and he wanted me to know it’s a lifelong thing where we’re bonded to each other by some drow ceremony so we both get superpowered magic, and if I choose to do this, I can’t back out of it somewhere down the road unless one of us dies.”
“What the fuck?”
Ember glanced at the traffic light and pointed. “Light’s green.”
“What did you say to him after that?”
A car honked twice behind them. “Cheyenne, the light!”
“If I keep driving right now, I’m gonna crash this brand-new car.” Cheyenne shifted into park and turned to face her friend. “Did he try to make you agree to this?”
“No, he didn’t try to make me do anything. He said it was totally my choice.”
Two more cars honked and really laid on their horns this time.
“Maybe you should just pull over up at the next street.”
Without looking away from her friend, Cheyenne rolled down the passenger-side window and stuck her hand out to flip the bird at all the drivers losing their minds behind them. Then she punched the emergency lights and raised her eyebrows. “Please tell me you didn’t give him an answer before telling me about this.”
“Well, nothing’s official until whatever ceremony thing happens.”
“Ember.”
“Yes, I gave him an answer. Which was, of course, I’m ready to be your Nós Aní, so let’s do it.”
“No. No way.”
Ember turned to look at the halfling with minor irritation. “See? I knew before I brought this up that you’d be against it if I told you everything. That makes me perfect for it.”
“I didn’t want you dragged into all this.” Cheyenne ran her hand down her cheeks and closed her eyes. “That is why we did the whole thing with the apartment, Em. To keep you safe, not to put you front and center in this whole O’gúl rebellion thing.”
“You didn’t put me anywhere, Cheyenne.” Ember leaned forward and tried to catch her friend’s gaze. “I’m choosing this.”
“I can’t let you do that.” Cheyenne shook her head and chewed the inside of her cheek, unable to look the other girl in the eye. “I let you down once by not standing up when it counted, and I won’t let that happen again.”
“Oh, my God. Come on.” Ember slapped her thigh. “This happened because I got shot by an asshole orc, not because you failed. But if you’re worried about letting me down, I can tell you right now that not stepping up to let me be this for you when it’s what I want is just another form of running away. Maybe worse. You can’t do all this on your own, halfling. I can help you better than anyone else. I mean, yeah, that’s what Corian said, but I know it’s true. I can feel it.”
Cheyenne stared blankly through the windshield as the irritated drivers veered out of the lane behind her and passed through the intersection, honking and flipping her the bird in return. “That’s a huge decision to make, and it apparently lasts forever.”
“Yep. Bring it.”
Slowly, the halfling turned to look at her best friend and swallowed. “Are you sure? I mean like, really, really sure?”
“You’ve done more for me than anyone’s done in my entire life.” Ember nodded. “I’m behind you one hundred percent. I’m doing this.”
Cheyenne ran her hand through her hair and studied the intersection again. “Shit.”
“Yeah, tough break when someone else is just as
stubborn as you are, huh?”
“Which means I don’t have a choice.”
“Sure, you do.” Ember sat back against the seat and smirked. “You can go on a flying halfling rampage and make an ass of yourself, or you can suck it up and stop pretending you don’t think this is awesome.”
“Okay, Em. I’ll suck it up.”
“Great.” The fae pointed across the intersection and froze. “Oh. You meant, ‘Shit, the light’s red again,’ didn’t you?”
“It was dual-purpose, for sure.” Cheyenne tried to keep a straight face until she shot Ember a sidelong glance. They both snorted and waited for the light to turn green again before Cheyenne remembered to turn off the emergency lights.
When they got back to their apartment, Cheyenne called Corian to tell him she was home.
“Great. Give me two minutes.”
“Sure. And then you can give me two minutes for a quick chat about some other stuff before we do whatever it is you’re planning.” She glanced at Ember, who rolled her eyes and wheeled into the kitchen toward the fridge.
“You wanna just tell me now?”
“No, that’s okay. It’s better in person.”
“All right. I’ll be there soon.”
Cheyenne stuck her phone in her pocket and turned to the kitchen, folding her arms. “Did he say anything about what this whole Nós Aní ceremony entails?”
Rummaging through the fridge, Ember paused to peer at a jar of pickles and stuck it in her lap. “Just that I won’t have to cut myself or make any sacrifices. ‘Nothing grotesque or painful,’ I think is what he said.”
“Great. That in no way means that it’s gonna be fun. Or even safe.”
“Yeah, because Corian and L’zar aren’t even remotely concerned about your safety.”
Cheyenne cocked her head. “Okay, fair point.”
“We’ll be fine. Whatever it is, we’ll do it, get it over with, then start kickin’ ass. Figuratively for me. I’m sure you’ve done that literally many times.”
Chuckling, the halfling took a deep breath and jumped when Corian stepped through his portal into her living room. “Jeeze. Does that ever stop being a surprise?”
