by Martha Carr
The halfling swallowed, pursing her lips and trying to keep her composure. “Are you serious?”
“I can’t imagine I’ve given you the impression that I’m overly fond of joking, kid.”
“You think—” She laughed sharply before she shook her head. “No way. Mattie won’t want to have anything to do with this, I know that much. She almost stopped talking to me because I asked questions about the FRoE.”
“Ugh.” Lumil rolled her eyes.
“Who the fuck is Mattie?” Byrd cocked his head, one giant gauged ear flopping onto his shoulder.
Corian’s head turned toward the goblin man, but his gaze didn’t leave Cheyenne’s. “Maleshi took a new name for herself.”
“Say what?”
The Nightstalker ignored him. “Listen, Cheyenne. I don’t want to run the risk of letting this portal open again. If I had to take a guess, I’d say whatever comes out of it next time will be a lot worse than what all five of us almost couldn’t put back in. You want that kinda weight on your shoulders?”
“Don’t talk about it like it’s my fault,” the halfling snapped.
“It’s not your fault, but doing nothing will be your fault. I have a feeling you understand that very well.”
Cheyenne scowled at him. He doesn’t know about Ember. “Mattie’s my friend, okay? She made it perfectly clear she left all this crazy shit behind her when she crossed over and that she doesn’t want anything to do with it anymore.”
“She might think that’s what she wants.” Corian pointed at the border ridge. “But if we tell her what’s happening, I know she’ll change her mind.”
Folding her arms, the halfling tilted her head and frowned at him. “How do you know that?”
The smile he gave her was tight and bitter. “Just a feeling.”
Byrd sniggered. “Yeah, you guys had plenty of feelings once upon a time, didn’t you?”
Lumil slapped him on the back of the head and shot him a disgusted look as she shook her head. “Really?”
The Nightstalker ignored them both. “I’m asking you for a favor, Cheyenne. Please. Tell us where she is.”
Cheyenne bit her lip. “I can’t. I don’t know where she lives.”
“But you know how to find out, don’t you?”
“Oh, no.” She shook her head a little and returned his bitter, humorless smile. “No, I’m not sitting down at a computer to find out where she lives. Especially not so you can knock down her door and force her to help you with this...whatever this portal’s doing.”
“Ha.” Lumil shook her head. “Nobody forces Maleshi Hi’et to do anything, kid. I’m surprised you haven’t figured that one out by now. If you really are friends with her.”
The halfling spared the goblin woman a quick glance. “I’m not gonna spy on her and dig up her personal information so people she wants nothing to do with can find her. She hasn’t reached out to any of you, and if you haven’t found her on your own, I’d say that’s a pretty clear sign she doesn’t want anyone to find her.”
“Except for you.”
Cheyenne turned to see Persh’al regarding her with raised eyebrows. “That’s different.”
“Yeah? She told you who she was. Revealed herself to you, L’zar Verdys’ only living spawn.”
“Mattie doesn’t know who my dad is.” The halfling shook her head. “We never got that far.”
The troll’s eyes widened, but he didn’t say anything else.
“She might not know he’s your old man,” Corian added, “but trust me, Cheyenne. Maleshi definitely knows who L’zar Verdys is.”
“You all fight for the Crown together or something?”
The four O’gúleesh exchanged another round of knowing glances.
Corian shrugged. “Or something. If you won’t help us find her, kid, I’ll do it myself.”
Persh’al snorted. “You mean, you’ll have me do it for you.”
The Nightstalker smirked. “Sure. And then we’ll pay the general a little visit. It’s long overdue.”
Cheyenne glanced at the group of magicals, all expecting her to give in. Shit. They’re not bluffing, and I can’t stop them if they really wanna find her. “I won’t help you find her. I won’t give her up like that. But if you figure out where she lives, I’m coming with you.”
The Nightstalker dipped his head in concession. “Sounds fair to me.”
“Let’s get the hell outta here, huh?” Persh’al pounded the heel of his hand against his forehead. “This buzz around here is starting to make me hear voices.”
Lumil snorted. “You’ve been hearing voices since before you came Earthside, troll.”
“I’ve heard enough of yours, that’s for sure.” Persh’al turned to head back into the forest.
Laughing, the goblin woman came up alongside Cheyenne and clapped a hand on the halfling’s shoulder. “L’zar would’ve gotten a kick out of that little show you just put on.”
Byrd snorted. “The guy would’ve made us all bow down and offer ourselves before the next in the Verdys line.”
Together, the goblins gave Cheyenne mocking little bows. Byrd’s shoulder knocked against Lumil’s, and he nearly fell face-first into the dirt when she shoved him away from her.
“That’s as good as you’re gonna get right now, though,” the goblin man muttered, glancing up at Cheyenne to shoot her a quick wink. “Until L’zar decides to show his face again. Then we’ll see what half-cocked plan he’s cooked up to make us all grovel.”
“You’re gonna end up eating those words, you idiot.” Lumil shoved him as they headed toward the tree line after Persh’al.
The goblin man laughed. “Yeah. You’ve never said anything that came back to bite you in the ass.”
“Not about the Cu’ón.”
Corian stared after the goblins with a mix of amusement and confusion. Then he turned toward Cheyenne and raised an eyebrow. “I appreciate your attempt to protect her, kid. Maleshi found a good friend in you, even if she doesn’t know who you really are.”
The halfling shrugged. “Promises must be kept, right?”
“They sure must. We both know how important that is.” Gesturing toward the forest, the Nightstalker leaned forward in what could have been a little bow of his own.
Cheyenne headed after the bantering goblins and Persh’al. He doesn’t need to know I didn’t officially promise Mattie anything. I won’t be the one to force her into this.
Chapter Seventy-Four
Three hours later, Persh’al slammed a fist on the desk in his warehouse. “Come on, kid. You gotta give me something.”
“No, I don’t.” Cheyenne was sprawled on the old, sunken couch behind the troll and his computers, her eyes closed and her arms folded behind her head.
Persh’al spun around in his desk chair and blinked when he saw the drow halfling lying in that position on his couch. “Even in the human get-up, you’re giving me serious déjà vu.”
“I don’t know what you mean.”
“Never mind.” The troll spun around again and typed some more. “You gotta be kidding me. Nothing. Like she just vanished into thin air.”
Cheyenne opened one eye to watch the troll’s frustration. “I’m pretty sure that’s the point.”
“Nah.” He shook his finger at her without turning around, still typing with one hand. “There’s always a trace. Has to be.”
“Good luck.” The halfling closed her eyes again and took a deep breath. Doesn’t feel like a waste of time. If he gives up trying to find her, I’ll know. Then this’ll be worth it.
“Yeah, I had plenty of luck pinging your server and playing your entire setup like a marionette. But I can’t find one of the most famous Nightstalkers living two hours away.”
Cheyenne sat up quickly on the couch and stared at him. “That was you?”
“Well, yeah. Surprised you didn’t figure that one out already, kid.” Persh’al shrugged and still didn’t turn around again to face her. “Really nice setup you
got, by the way. Grabbing the reins on someone else’s rig usually only takes me half as long. So, you put up a good fight, the way you built it.” He paused, then let out a knowing chuckle. “Guess my warning wasn’t enough to scare L’zar’s daughter away from doing whatever the hell she wants, huh?”
The halfling slowly shook her head. “Hey, if you want someone to back off a search you weren’t supposed to find, you might wanna consider giving a reason. I don’t just drop everything to do what some stranger on the dark web tells me to do.”
“Maybe you should.” Persh’al typed more commands into his system and let out a frustrated grunt. “Would’ve stopped you from running blindly into that FRoE raid and getting yourself caught up with those idiots. They have no idea what they’re doing.”
Cheyenne lay slowly back down on the couch again. Don’t I know it. “You were spying on me to keep me away from the FRoE?”
“Just trying to keep you out of trouble. We all are, kid.” The troll smacked the desk beside his keyboard and slumped back so forcefully in his chair that the whole thing rolled back a foot. “You’re killing me with this. How ‘bout a last name, huh? Maleshi can’t hide for very long without one of those. And don’t be a smartass and tell me to look up Maleshi Hi’et. I already tried.”
“I told you I wouldn’t help you find her,” Cheyenne muttered. “I made a promise.”
“Yeah, yeah. The strongest contract bond. I get it. Doesn’t mean I have to like it.”
The door to the warehouse burst open and Corian stepped inside, carrying two huge bags of sub sandwiches. “So, where is she?”
“Yeah, question of the day, man.” Persh’al rubbed his bald, speckled head beside the jutting mohawk and glared at the symbols on his monitor Cheyenne couldn’t read.
The plastic bags thumped down on top of the long center desk. “You haven’t found her yet?”
“Okay, maybe we should have a Nightstalker looking for a Nightstalker,” the troll muttered. “Isn’t there some kinda secret communication thing you guys have with each other? Sniff out her pheromones or whatever?”
Cheyenne snorted. “Is that really a thing?”
Corian ignored them both as he stared at the symbols on the troll’s monitor. “Look up the professors at Virginia Commonwealth University. Find a picture or something.”
Frowning, Persh’al turned in his desk chair to study Cheyenne’s reaction. Apparently, staring back at him was all he needed. “Yeah, I bet that’ll work. Don’t have to break a promise to give anything away, do ya?”
His fingers flew over the keyboard, and Cheyenne shot Corian an unamused look. The Nightstalker pulled two sandwiches out of the plastic bags and brought them with him when he approached the couch. The halfling begrudgingly sat up and swung her black Vans onto the warehouse floor.
“I know what you’re doing and why.” He held out a sandwich and waited. The halfling held out her hand, and the thick, heavy bundle thumped into her palm. “Might help you understand a little more why I can’t tell you everything right now, Cheyenne. As much as I want to.”
“I know the definition of keeping a promise, Corian.” She lowered the sandwich into her lap and stared at the white butcher paper wrapped tightly around it. “And I understood why you can’t tell me certain things from the very beginning. I also thought I could trust you to keep whatever I’ve told you to yourself.”
“You can.” He took a deep breath. “Trying to protect Maleshi is a waste of your time, kid. Especially now, with that new Border portal and everything we don’t know about it. And just so you know, she doesn’t need protection. Not the Maleshi I know. If anyone needs protection, it’s the idiots who stand in her way.”
“Or the idiots who dig her up after centuries of hiding. Which she chose, right?”
“She’ll understand why we’re doing this when we tell her what we saw this morning.”
Cheyenne shook her head and glanced at the sandwich. “Good luck trying to get her to listen. Never worked for me.”
“Well, things have changed since then, haven’t they?”
When she looked back up at him, the Nightstalker just raised an eyebrow.
“Yeah. A lot’s changed. Just not what people won’t tell me.” They stared at each other. “What happens if I figure it out on my own before your promise runs its course?”
Smirking, the Nightstalker nodded toward Persh’al and unwrapped his sub. “I’ll probably give away the same kinda confirmation you just gave him, and you won’t even need a troll hacker to put the rest of the pieces together. If you do figure it out before then, I can tell you right now you won’t find anything else about it on the dark web.”
“Maybe not. But I bet I could hack in Persh’al’s system if I gave it enough time.”
“Ha! I’d like to see you try.” The troll spun and pointed at the halfling. “Please don’t try. You’ll just hurt yourself.”
Smiling, Cheyenne just looked back down at her sandwich and started to unwrap it. Not a bad idea. I won’t hurt myself at all.
Persh’al slapped his desk again, but this time, it came with a laugh of triumph. “Wow! Take a look at that, Corian.”
The Nightstalker tore a huge chunk from the top of his sub. His eyes widened at the picture on the screen.
“Professor Mathilda Bergmann, Ph.D.” The troll looked at his friend. “Look like anyone we know?”
Corian chewed his bite and swallowed. “Finish up.”
“Yeah, I’ll find her in less than a minute. Make sure you save me one of those sandwiches, huh? I know how you go through those things.”
Turning toward Cheyenne, the Nightstalker shoved another huge bite of fully-loaded sub into his mouth and raised his eyebrows.
Yeah, congratulations. You found your missing general.
She lifted her sandwich toward him in a half-assed salute before taking a massive bite.
“That’s what I’m talkin’ about!” Persh’al leaped out of his chair and grabbed his phone from his back pocket just as it let off a chirping notification. “We got it.”
“Okay.” Chewing thoughtfully, Corian glanced around the mostly empty warehouse. “What about the terror twins?”
The troll snorted. “They wouldn’t shut up, so I told them to go take their crap out back and pull some weeds.”
“Weeds?”
With a dubious grin, Persh’al shrugged. “I’m thinking about bringing them on as full-time gardeners. Nice thought, right?”
Corian took another bite of sandwich and muttered through the mouthful, “Go tell ‘em we’re on the move.”
“Yep.” Persh’al rounded the corner of the desk and snatched up a bag of subs before heading for a plain metal door on the other side of the warehouse.
After only three bites of her sandwich, Cheyenne wrapped it back up and stood from the couch. Corian watched her silently until she set the sub down on the corner of the center desk.
“Not hungry?”
“Not a fan of banana peppers.” She sucked the bread from between her teeth and wiped her hands on the sides of her pants.
“You’re kidding. Who doesn’t like banana peppers?” The Nightstalker stuffed his face again with another bite.
“Me, for one.”
“Well, just pick ‘em out. I’ll eat ‘em.”
She shook her head. “I’m good.” And I’m not hungry. Not before we go shove Mattie’s past under her nose and call it asking for a favor.
The back door of the warehouse squealed open before Persh’al stepped back inside, followed by the goblins.
“We’re not driving all the way to Richmond, are we?” Byrd whined. “Seriously, four hours in a car with you guys was as much as I need for another century.”
“You’re unbelievable.” Lumil shook her head as she wiped dirt-covered hands on her pants. “We found Maleshi Hi’et, and you’re crying about having to ride in a car.”
“If I have to ride bitch again, then yeah.” Byrd spread his arms and leaped away from the
goblin woman’s solid swing. “I need my own window.”
Corian took one more massive bite of his sandwich before finally setting the thing down on the desk.
“Hey, watch the setup, huh?” Persh’al pointed at his computer. “Last thing I need is Nightstalker crumbs gunking up my keyboard.”
Ignoring the troll’s half-joke, Corian stepped toward the center of the warehouse and moved his fingers in a quick series of gestures. His lips moved too, silently uttering the words of his spell before a small, dark sphere opened in the air.
Byrd stopped when he saw the Nightstalker’s new portal and grinned. “Finally.”
“Don’t get ahead of yourself.” Corian shot the goblin man a warning glance and nodded at the quickly growing portal. “We’re going in dark for this.”
“Stealth mode. Nice.” His comment made Lumil roll her eyes, but she was smiling just like Byrd.
Cheyenne moved around the three long tables and joined the others gathered around the portal. “I’m guessing there’s some other kind of spell we need for this.”
Byrd let out an uncharacteristic giggle, ending in a snort. “Good one. Just keep ‘em coming, halfling.” His turquoise fingers moved swiftly and precisely, then the air shimmered around him and he vanished.
Smiling at Cheyenne, Lumil reached out and punched the empty air beside her. Her fist hit home with a thump, followed by the quick scuffle of staggering feet.
“For real?” the invisible Byrd shouted. “I just can’t catch a break.”
“You would if you got out of the way fast enough.” The goblin woman wiggled her eyebrows at the halfling before casting a spell and disappearing like Byrd.
Persh’al went next, and Corian stepped toward Cheyenne before muttering in a low voice, “Keep that pendant on for now. We’re going back to our regular precautions.”
The halfling nodded and gazed into the dark, shimmering air of the oval portal in front of her. On the other side, a short cement walkway cut through a yard of green grass toward a small white one-story house with navy-blue shutters and a matching door. “No candles for this one?”
He snorted. “This warehouse has enough wards to keep an ogre den out, Cheyenne. Nobody’s picking up a portal trail from in here.”
