The Drow Hath Sent Thee

by Martha Carr

  “We made a deal, Matthew. Ask me tomorrow.” She stepped inside and closed the door behind her without looking back. Then she pressed her back against the wall and let out a massive sigh. Matthew’s door closed, and she turned the deadbolt. “That was rough.”

  “You mean giving him a heads-up that his uncle might be calling him from military prison or FRoE prison or wherever? Or the whole day?”

  “I’m gonna blanket this over and say the whole day, Em. And I’m fucking glad it’s over.” Cheyenne had to fight extra hard not to stumble over her own feet on her way to the closest black leather recliner. She slumped into it with a groan and closed her eyes. “I can’t even imagine what it would be like to go to sleep right now.”

  “Is it ‘cause you feel a little bad about leaving him hanging like that?”

  “Who, Matthew?”

  “Yeah.” Ember thumped her head against the couch cushion. “Because I do. Not saying it’ll keep me up all night, but I mean, he’s gotta be really confused.”

  “Yeah, I know.” Cheyenne ran a hand through her hair, pulling out stray flecks of exploded metal, and something that like looked like a chip off some magical’s claw. She grimaced and dusted it off her hand onto the floor. “We can’t drop everything we’re doing to comfort our confused neighbor, though. Not tonight. I gave him as much of a break as I could handle, and he’ll have to wait for the rest.”

  “You did tell him to ask again tomorrow.”

  “I did. And we still have a lot of work ahead of us. Bianca and the curse. Dealing with whatever fallout comes after us when the FRoE board realizes that video is one-hundred-percent real. And whatever the hell’s wrong with me.” Cheyenne rubbed the back of her neck and closed her eyes. “It’s never-ending.”

  “I mean, there is a bright side.”

  “Oh, really?”

  “Yeah. You don’t have to fight anyone to the death the next time you roll into Hangivol.”

  Cheyenne snorted. “There is that.”

  “And technically, no one’s trying to kill you anymore on either side of the Border. You’re in a safe zone.”

  “Safe zone.”

  “Yeah. I mean, I don’t wanna jinx it or anything.”

  “Then don’t jinx it, Em.” Cheyenne grinned at her friend, and Ember pressed herself back against the couch with a frown. “What?”

  “That was the smile of a lunatic.” Ember raised an eyebrow. “I feel like I should ask if you’re okay.”

  “Nothing I can’t handle.” Cheyenne clenched her jaw and swallowed. So far.

  “But?”

  “But everything fucking hurts.” She reached into her coat pocket and pulled out the injection canister.

  “Hey, maybe you should hold off on that.”

  Cheyenne lifted her shirt and jammed the end of the canister into her stomach below her ribs. Nothing happened.

  “Well, at least we know that was the last one.” She tossed the canister over the arm of the chair and raised her eyebrows. “I’m gonna go with the next best option, which is still pretty shitty.”

  “Okay, I’m a little worried about what that might be.”

  With a grunt, Cheyenne pushed up out of the chair, grabbed her backpack from off the floor beside the couch, and took it with her to her room. “Sticking with darktongue, Em. It’s down to the salve now. If you hear me screaming, you’ll know why.”

  “Do you want any help?”

  “Nope.”

  “Seriously, Cheyenne. It might be better if you have—”

  “Space and a room to myself. Good night, Em.”

  Ember bit her lower lip and stared after the halfling shuffling toward the other end of their apartment. “Night. Let me know if you need anything.”

  Cheyenne’s bedroom door slammed shut. Ember nodded and turned on the couch, lifting her legs with a flash of purple light to stretch them out in front of her. Then she snatched the remote off the coffee table and pulled up the new show she’d started streaming.

  “Yep. I’ll be here doing my thing. Watching TV. Definitely not trying to listen to my best friend.”

  Cheyenne’s erupting roar came through her bedroom door with perfect clarity before it died in a hiss and a low growl. Then came the clatter of a glass jar toppling onto the floor and rolling across the room.

  Ember turned up the volume on the TV.

  When Cheyenne finished smearing the sticky white goo on the barb holes in her thigh and the black-streaked dart holes on her shoulders and hip, she let herself lie on the floor with her arms spread out at her sides. Let it do its thing. Don’t move.

  Her eyelids fluttered closed, and she had no idea how long she lay sprawled out like that in the semi-darkness of her room, lit only by the standing lamp shaped like an upside-down chandelier. When she felt like she could move again, she pulled her phone out of her back pocket and checked for new notifications.

  No missed calls. No Eleanor or Bianca or L’zar trying to reach me for one more thing that went wrong. That’s a plus.

  Gritting her teeth, she rolled slowly onto her side and fought through the pain practically everywhere before staggering to her bed. She kicked her shoes off, didn’t bother undressing, and settled down on her bed in the least painful position she could manage. It wasn’t remotely close to comfortable.

  Here’s to another night of awful fucking sleep. Still, I’ll take endless pain over dreaming about my parents like that again.

  Chapter Fifty-One

  Everything still hurt when Cheyenne woke the next morning, but it wasn’t nearly as bad. With a groan, she slapped the bedside table until she found her phone. The light of the screen was way too bright.

  Nine thirty? Holy shit.

  She pushed up off the comforter and sat there for who knew how long, staring at the floor. Then her phone buzzed in her hand with an incoming text from Ember.

  If you’re not dead, I made quiche.

  Cheyenne snorted and grimaced at the pain even that sent through her head. This is gonna be a long day. She pushed off the bed and moved painfully toward her bedroom door. It opened silently, and she blinked against the morning light spilling through the north-facing wall of windows on the right. “We need to get some curtains or something.”

  “Oh, good. You’re still breathing. And walking and talking.” Ember looked up from the quiche fresh out of the oven on the center island and shot Cheyenne two thumbs-up, grinning. “You still eat, right?”

  “Only one way to find out, but I’m gonna take a shower first. Maybe that’ll help.”

  “Sure. If you pass out in there again, do you want me to come in before or after you burn yourself to Goth-lobster status?”

  “Very funny. I’m not gonna pass out.”

  Ember set a slice of quiche on a plate and licked steaming egg off her finger. “So, after. Got it.”

  Cheyenne rolled her eyes and went into the bathroom to start the water and let it heat up. She got a quick glimpse of her wounded shoulders in the mirror when she peeled off her shirt and forced herself not to look any closer. It’s not gonna make you feel better, and it’s not gonna heal the stupid things. One issue at a time.

  Stepping under the steaming water was only hard until she was all the way under it. Compared to the agony of being poisoned by the tentacled war machine or even to all the darktongue salve the night before, near-boiling water streaming over her was nothing, and it helped the worst of the pain in her hip and shoulders smooth out into something that felt more manageable.

  By the time she toweled off, got dressed, and stepped out of her bedroom with wet hair, Ember was on the couch with the stack of loose spellbook pages in her lap. “Well, at least you’re walking around like you feel better.”

  “A little, yeah. You didn’t eat all the quiche, did you?”

  “I wasn’t that hungry. I put the rest of it back in the oven.”

  “Thanks.” Moving slower than she wanted to, Cheyenne banged around in the kitchen, getting a plate and silverware an
d scooping a giant slice of quiche out of the pan. She opted for standing over the kitchen island to eat as much as she could quickly before having to move much again. “This is really good.”

  “Right?” Ember looked up from the spellbook and nodded. “Figured I’d try it. And no, I did not cook that shit from scratch.”

  Putting the dishes in the sink was as much as she could handle for cleanup, then she ran a hand through her still-damp hair and headed back into the living room to take her usual seat in the recliner. “Okay. So, for the record, I’m glad that that serum lasted as long as it did.”

  “It sucks without it, huh?”

  “Yeah, Em. I know I have to hurry up and figure out how to keep my mom safe and out of this craziness, and at the same time, I wanna sit here all day and do absolutely nothing. So. That’s my biggest issue today.”

  Ember finally put down the loose page she’d been studying and gave her friend a sympathetic smile. “I wish I could help.”

  “Yeah, I know. But I heal quickly, right? I’m waiting for that to happen.”

  They fell into a slightly awkward silence, and Cheyenne closed her eyes. She thought she was about to drift off to sleep before her phone buzzed in her back pocket. This time, the text was from Lee.

  She’s ready as promised. Stop by whenever you want.

  “I guess there’s one good thing about today.”

  Ember looked at her with a cheesy grin. “Somebody else found the solution to all your problems, and now you get to enjoy what would otherwise be a pretty sweet life?”

  “Huh. Was that supposed to make me feel better?”

  “I don’t know. Figured it was worth a shot.”

  Cheyenne snorted. “My car’s ready.”

  “Oh. Yeah, that’s a good thing.”

  “Except I don’t have any way to get there, and I am not superspeed-running to Lee’s property. Not now.”

  Ember pursed her lips. “Want me to borrow Matthew’s car again?”

  “Nice try.” With a sigh, Cheyenne returned Lee’s text to let him know she’d be there at some point today. Then she pulled up Maleshi’s number to start a new text. Worth a shot, I guess.

  I need a portal.

  The reply she got was almost instant and would have made her laugh if laughing didn’t hurt so much.

  Congratulations.

  Okay, I’ll try again.

  Pretty please, General. Will you please get over here and open a portal for me so I can get my car that you destroyed?

  Cheyenne closed her eyes and dropped her head back against the headrest. “Em, I might ask you to grab the neighbor’s keys again. Depending on what kinda mood Maleshi’s in.”

  “Uh-oh. What happened?”

  Before Cheyenne could reply, a dark circle of light bloomed in the air beside the coffee table, and the general stepped through into their apartment. “I’ll tell you one thing, kid. You know how to take a grudge and wrap it up in a polite little package. That’s for sure.”

  Opening her eyes, Cheyenne looked at the nightstalker and shrugged. “I do what I can.”

  “And you still look like shit.”

  Ember blinked. “Whoa.”

  “I’m not wrong.” Maleshi stepped over to Cheyenne’s chair and leaned down to look the halfling dead in the eye. “At least you haven’t thrown in the towel.”

  “I haven’t thrown in the towel even a little, okay? But I can’t drive a towel to do all the other stuff I have to do. I need my car, and you’re faster than an Uber.”

  “Cheaper too, apparently.” Maleshi straightened, staring at the halfling until Cheyenne ran out of patience.

  “Seriously. Please?”

  “Can you walk?”

  “What?” Cheyenne snorted. “Of course I can walk.”

  “I wanna see you get up out of that chair and walk to the portal I’m gonna cast right here.” Maleshi backed up until she was almost at the front door and pointed at the floor in front of her. “Then you can go through it and get your car.”

  “You don’t think I can walk. I took a shower.”

  “Good for you. Come on.” The general waved her forward, and Cheyenne rolled her eyes as she pushed up out of the chair.

  “See? I’m good.”

  “Walk, kid. I said, walk.”

  Cheyenne moved slowly toward the nightstalker with a deadpan stare. Then she stopped and spread her arms. “There. Portal.”

  “Hmm.” Maleshi looked at her. “Based on how you look right now, I honestly didn’t expect you to manage that.”

  “Thanks.”

  “Sure. Where do you wanna go?” Cheyenne pulled Lee’s address up on her phone and waited for Maleshi to read it. The general opened up the portal between them and shrugged. “There you go. Super easy.”

  “Thank you. I really do appreciate it.”

  Maleshi gave her a thin smile. “I know.”

  “Wait, wait.” Ember shook her head and pointed at Cheyenne’s bedroom door. “You can’t go yet.”

  “Ember, I don’t have anything else to do.”

  The fae’s fingers flashed with violet light. Two more purple streaks burst out of Cheyenne’s open bedroom door and hurtled across the living room before her black Vans thumped on the floor in front of her.

  Cheyenne looked down at them and grimaced. “Shit.”

  “Yep.” Maleshi rubbed her lips. “You’ll definitely need those.”

  “Okay. Nobody says anything else. I’ll be fine.” Cheyenne stepped into her shoes, then grabbed her trenchcoat off the armrest of the couch. “I’m going to get my car, then I’ll come back here and take a nap or something.”

  “Good plan.”

  Ember nodded. “I don’t have a problem with it.”

  “Right. You’re both looking at me funny.”

  A loud knock startled her out of her thoughts, and everyone looked at the front door.

  Great.

  “Ember? Cheyenne?” Matthew paused his knocking only long enough to call their names before he was at it again. “It’s Tuesday. I have a lot of questions, and you promised me answers. So open up. Please.”

  Cheyenne let out a long sigh and looked at her friend. “I can’t deal with this right now.”

  “Totally fine. Go get your car.”

  “Ember? Come on. Please open the door.” The knocking continued.

  Maleshi clicked her tongue. “Poor thing.”

  “Not really, but okay.”

  The general flicked her fingers at the front door, which opened with a flash of silver light, and Matthew Thomas stumbled into their apartment. His eyes widened when he saw Maleshi, Cheyenne, and a portal between them; he couldn’t decide which part of it troubled him more. “You!”

  Maleshi gestured at herself. “If you’re talking to me, then yeah. I guess that would be pretty accurate.”

  “I saw you.” Matthew looked at Cheyenne. “She was in that footage.”

  “Yep. Maleshi, Matthew, you’ve been introduced. I gotta go.”

  “Wait, wait. Cheyenne, you said you’d tell me what’s going on with my uncle!”

  “Feel free to hang out with Ember and the general.” Waving him off, Cheyenne hurried through the portal and disappeared.

  The dark window of light closed behind her with a soft pop, and Matthew staggered forward in surprise. “What? Where did she go?”

  Maleshi folded her arms and grinned at the baffled human. “I’d almost forgotten you’re the one who made so much trouble for us. And by us, I’m only referring to my own involvement over the last few months. But you’ve been at it for a few years, right?”

  Matthew swallowed thickly. “What?”

  Ember nodded. “Five years.”

  “Oh. That’s a fairly long time for humans, isn’t it?”

  “Long enough to make a lot of bad choices and still have no idea what’s going on.” With a shrug, Ember let out a humorless chuckle. “Hopefully, turning over a new leaf doesn’t take nearly as long.”

  Matthew cou
ldn’t decide who to look at, but he eventually staggered over to Ember on the couch as he stared at the general. “Ember, seriously, you guys told me you’d explain everything after you did whatever you had to do last night.”

  “Really?” Maleshi’s grin widened. “He’s expecting a full debriefing, is that it?”

  “I guess we can call it that.”

  Chuckling, the general lowered herself into Cheyenne’s usual recliner, then gestured at the second one beside her. “Come sit down and get comfortable, Matthew. If Ember’s okay with it, I’d love to sit in on this and fill in the missing pieces.”

  “I’m totally fine with it.” Ember looked at Matthew, folded her arms, and nodded at the empty chair. “Take a seat.”

  “I don’t even know this…whatever she is.” Matthew steadied himself with a hand on the back of the couch. When neither the fae nor the grinning nightstalker said anything else, he cleared his throat. “She’s not gonna leave, is she?”

  Maleshi slowly shook her head and crossed one leg over the other. “Not until we’ve been over everything in detail. It’ll be fun.”

  “Uh-huh.” Slowly, the nervous Matthew Thomas inched his way past the couch and stiffly sat in the leather recliner, staring at General Hi’et the whole time.

  “There you go. Not so bad. Ember, would you like to kick off this little powwow, or should I?”

  “I’ll go first.” With a flash of purple light, Ember swung her legs off the couch cushions so they dangled over the edge toward the floor as she faced Matthew head-on. “I have a lot to say.”

  Chapter Fifty-Two

  Cheyenne sighed when she stepped through the portal and found herself on the gravel drive inside the front gate of Lee McDurn’s estate. She turned around, scanning the empty gate tower she couldn’t imagine Lee hired anyone to man and trudged up the road toward the circular drive at the end and the main house behind it. She got me close enough, I guess.

  Her black Vans kicked up sprays of dusty pebbles as she headed up the road. A light autumn breeze whipped through her hair and sent dried leaves skittering across the drive in front of her. Lee didn’t see her turn around the corner of the garage until she stopped and cleared her throat.