by Martha Carr
“No, we’re past that. I was already planning on being here today to ask you more questions, but my priorities got rearranged when you zoned out in front of a bunch of human grad students and started casting…whatever spell that was. Did you even know that was happening?”
“We’re not gonna have this conversa—”
“Yeah, we are.” The halfling stepped forward one more time, and while Mattie still held her ground with one hand on the desk, she leaned back a little. “You can’t seriously expect me to believe that you’re ‘not equipped’ to talk about this. Not after the whole, ‘Trust me. If I trained hundreds of orcs to defend against magic, I can train a drow halfling, no problem’ bit. You were equipped enough to handle my spells and keep them from smashing your face in. You’re equipped enough to keep up this whole illusion spell.”
Cheyenne circled a finger pointed at Mattie’s face, and the professor just blinked, almost expressionless. Her lips twitched briefly in an unformed grimace. “It’s not the same thing.”
“No shit. You look like Lady Gaga dressed you this morning, you had no idea what your class was supposed to be about, and you couldn’t control your magic. And now you’re avoiding me, of all people. I mean, I’m used to getting that from everyone else, but I figured we’ve both seen each other without the masks, so why does it matter so much all of a sudden?”
Mattie sucked in a sharp breath through her teeth. “That’s exactly why it matters. You’ve seen me. I’ve worked too hard for too long to let one poor decision on my part bring everything down around me.”
The drow halfling blinked. “You think it was a bad idea to show me what you are?”
“Well, in retrospect, yes.” The woman wouldn’t meet Cheyenne’s gaze.
“You do realize that I wouldn’t have gotten anywhere near as good at controlling the way I look if you hadn’t shown me it was possible, right? You helped me figure this stuff out, Mattie. I owe you that.”
“I was happy to help. Really. But you don’t owe me a thing.” The professor’s attempted smile looked more like she’d bitten into that moldy orange, and that scent was getting stronger, the longer they stood here butting heads like this.
“At least let me help.” Cheyenne shrugged and waited for a response. “Seriously, I’m not useless. I’m good at finding information if you’re trying to figure something out. I’ve gotten pretty good at using my magic the way I actually want it to work. For the most part. And it wouldn’t be the first time I helped another magical with a problem of their own. If you need—”
“I don’t need anything from a goddamn halfling who can’t leave well enough alone.” Mattie’s voice cracked through the office, and she let out another heavy exhale.
Now we’re getting somewhere. It was all Cheyenne could do not to break out in a smirk and gesture for the other woman to keep it coming.
Mattie lifted a finger and pointed it slowly at the drow halfling. “I warned you of the dangers, Cheyenne. I was very clear, and I really thought you were smart enough to take a warning like that at its full value. But apparently, I misjudged you. Either you thought I was lying or exaggerating about something I know personally—very well—or you’ve convinced yourself that the structures put in place for magicals on this side of the Border don’t apply to you. Whatever your reasoning, it’s reckless and inconsiderate of the consequences, and I refuse to paint a giant target on my back by letting it continue. No, I know I can’t stop you, but I can stop myself from getting dragged into this any further. You’re on your own with everything else, and we both know you’ll be just fine.”
“Wait!” Despite how hard she tried to keep it in, a small, strangled hiss of disbelieving laughter escaped Cheyenne. She shook her head and forced it back down. “This is just the same stuff as yesterday, isn’t it? Because I let it slip that I made contact with the FRoE?”
“There’s a big difference between ‘making contact’ and seeing who’s on their payroll. And I’m smart enough to put two and two together and say you had plenty of time to take a good look around.”
“Yeah, four days, actually. Four and a half.”
With an indignant huff, Mattie rolled her eyes.
“Hey, trust me, that was way too long for me, too. And I’m done with those—”
“You’re not done with the FRoE until they’re done with you, Cheyenne. That’s what you don’t understand. And those people being done with you means you’re dead, locked up, or sent back across the Border. In your case, shipped out for the first and last time, because you wouldn’t make it past the first night when you look like a human in your sleep, and some O’gúleesh gets fired up for a hate crime. Which isn’t considered a crime over there, by the way.” Mattie’s nostrils flared, and that sweaty-moldy-orange smell turned even more sour.
“Well, I’m done, okay?” The halfling spread her arms again, the chains on her wrists clinking. “And look. I’m still here.”
“Sure, for now. Don’t get me wrong, I’m glad that’s the case, but I will not let anyone else’s mistakes send me back there. Not even yours, halfling.” A dry, bitter chuckle escaped the woman. “Not after what I’ve seen and all the mistakes I’ve already made without anyone else’s help.”
Cheyenne cocked her head, frowning. “You think I’m a rat.”
Chapter Four
Mattie’s lashes fluttered in sporadic jerks, and a quickly pulsing vein was starting to stand out at her temple, mostly hidden by the loose curls of her black hair spilling over the ridiculous wrap she’d made of that bandana. “I think people do what’s necessary to survive. And that can change in an instant.”
The halfling nodded slowly and figured she might be able to squeeze a little more out of her professor before showing all her cards. “Was that what you did? Give someone up so you could make your way to this side without anyone else knowing?”
“That’s—” Professor Bergmann’s gaze darted across the old, trampled, stained carpet in her office before rising to meet Cheyenne’s eyes with the first ounce of conviction she’d shown all day. “I gave up a lot to be here. None of it included another magical or another life.”
“Good.” A small smile crept across the halfling’s lips. “Now we can go back to square one, where you and I are on the same side. I didn’t give up anyone.”
“You’ll have to forgive me if I don’t take your word on that.”
Man, those magicals on the other side must be seriously ruthless assholes if this is the first conclusion she jumps to.
“Fine. You can believe whatever you want.” The half-drow ruffled her black-dyed hair and slapped her hand on her thigh. “Guess I misjudged you too.”
“How’s that?” Mattie’s voice was a lot lower this time, and softer.
Sliding her hands into her pockets, Cheyenne turned halfway toward the door. If I’m wrong about this, it might be the last time we ever talk. “You need to relax, Mattie. They don’t have any records in their system of a Nightstalker anywhere near Richmond. You’re not even on their radar.”
Mattie’s knees buckled, although the hand she’d been pressing on the desk this whole time kept her from crumpling to the ground right there. Her sharp breath sounded more like a hiccup as she turned just enough to lean back against the edge of the desk and prop herself up. “How did you—”
“Figure out what you are?” Cheyenne nodded. “I told you I was good at finding information. And I know they weren’t just making shit up about their system, either. They only brought it up when they thought I wasn’t listening.”
“You… I’m not sure I follow.”
“It’s hard when you don’t have all the pieces. I can tell you what happened if you want. What I was doing with those people in the first place.”
“Please don’t.” Mattie swallowed heavily, and her next exhale ended in another wheeze. “I don’t want the details, and I’m sure you don’t really want to share them with me. I’m more confused now than anything else.”
“Uh-huh.
” Cheyenne eyed the woman. Mattie was still trembling, and her perch on the edge of her desk didn’t seem all that stable, so the halfling nodded toward the armchairs on the other side of the office. “Maybe we should sit.”
“Maybe.” In a daze, Mattie slowly pushed herself away from the desk and took two hesitant steps forward. Cheyenne considered offering her arm, but then her professor blinked, straightened, and spun a smart ninety degrees before booking it toward the closest armchair. She dropped onto the frayed, slightly charred upholstery before Cheyenne’s hand closed around the strap of her backpack to bring it with her. Then both confused magicals were sitting down, facing each other, trying to figure out where to go from there.
Silence was likely to piss off the half-drow faster than anything else, so Cheyenne folded her arms and dove in. “We should probably make sure we’re on the same page again first, right?”
Mattie cocked her head in apathetic acknowledgment, staring blankly at nothing a foot or so to Cheyenne’s right.
“Okay. So, full transparency, I guess. I heard you talking to yourself in the hall on your way here.” Still no real response from Mattie. “Something about ‘they can’t possibly know’ and that you’re just being paranoid.”
“Hmm.”
“Who’s Maleshi?”
That snapped Professor Bergmann out of her funk, just like yelling her name in the classroom had that morning. Mattie took a sharp breath, centered her renewed focus on Cheyenne, and slowly licked her lips. “That name is not for you. Don’t use it again.”
“Sure.”
“So, despite clearly misinterpreting the signs, I’m not getting into my background with you, Cheyenne.” Now she looked and sounded like the Mattie Bergmann the halfling had been calling her trainer for the last week, just like that. “I will say I’m ridiculously relieved to know I was wrong. Thanks for setting me straight on that one.”
“No problem.” Cheyenne’s nose wrinkled as she let out a chuckle. “Thanks for not being a completely insane person. I thought maybe you were broken.”
“Ha. No, just overly confident in my assumptions.” The woman pressed her hands together, laced her fingers, and set both hands on her lap. “I guess ignorance is only bliss without the delusion that you can’t possibly be ignorant of anything.”
“Oh, how the mighty have fallen.”
Mattie tried not to smile but couldn’t help it. “Quoting religious texts in casual conversation. Very nice.”
Cheyenne shrugged. “I’m just cultured like that.”
Shaking her head, the professor let out another chuckle of relief and self-criticism. “It’s good to be reminded that I don’t know everything. I needed that.”
“Happy to help.” The halfling said it with a deadpan expression, although there was plenty of humor there too. But they still hadn’t gotten to the main reason she’d stormed into the other woman’s office for a confrontation that had turned out nothing like Cheyenne had expected. “What the hell happened with your magic this morning?”
There was definitely a new kind of warning in Mattie’s gaze now, but the woman pushed past it and realized Cheyenne wouldn’t stop without getting most of her questions answered. “I was overly distracted.”
“You mean, you panicked.”
The professor’s eyes narrowed. “I wouldn’t go so far as to say it was panic, but fine. Yes. I’d received the signs last night and this morning. Call them messages if it makes it easier. I assumed they had more to do with you and your adventure with the FRoE—no, I don’t want more details—than was appropriate. Apparently.”
Wrinkling her nose, the halfling couldn’t decide whether she was amused by that twisted logic or if she hadn’t been suspicious enough of her professor turned magical trainer. “So…what? You thought I was more involved, and the best way to deal with that was to summon a spell in the middle of class? What were you gonna do, blast me unconscious right there in front of everyone?”
“No. But I’m starting to think maybe I should have.” Mattie’s lips twitched into a smirk, then she dipped her head toward her student. “I’d been trying to respond to these messages since last night.”
“Magical messages.”
“Well, I don’t use spells with my Gmail account.”
Cheyenne barked a laugh, then pulled herself together. “Who sent you the messages?”
“That’s none of your business, and I wouldn’t tell you even if I wanted you to know. Simply put, I was focused on being certain I wasn’t in immediate danger, and the spell just kinda slipped out.”
The halfling rubbed her face with both hands to keep herself from laughing at what obviously wasn’t a joke this time. “Your spells just slip out, huh?”
“Okay, halfling. I know nothing like that has ever happened to you.” Mattie folded her arms. “But I’m sure, in all your infinite wisdom, you can step down off that high horse and imagine what it would be like to have less control over your magic in emotionally charged situations.”
“Hey, woah.” Cheyenne lifted her hands in surrender, only half-joking. “Going right for the throat with the sarcasm today, aren’t you?”
“You know, it’s been a go-for-the-throat kinda day.” The professor’s smile had taken on a hint of bitterness, but at least the moldy-orange scent had been fading since they’d decided to sit down and make this a real conversation. “I haven’t lost control like that for a long time, but apparently it’s still possible. I’m sorry you had to see it.”
“Better me than some other college kid crapping their pants because they don’t know what magic is. Better than you accidentally blowing up your class or something.”
“Still.” Mattie shrugged and let out a long sigh. “Thank you for stopping me.”
“Yeah.” They looked away from each other and just sat there in surprisingly awkward silence.
Finally, Mattie popped her lips and slapped her hands on her thighs. “Was there anything else you wanted to talk about other than my lapse in judgment and magical stability?”
She tried to make it sound like a joke, but it wasn’t as effective as it could have been when both women knew self-deprecating humor was just another way to bring that student-mentor wall back up between them again. A small wall, sure, but a wall nonetheless. Can’t blame her for that. I do the same thing.
“Yeah, actually. Couple things.” The half-drow pulled her backpack into her lap, unzipped it, and pulled out the drow puzzle box.
“No.”
“Oh, come on.” Rolling her eyes, Cheyenne nestled the copper box in her hands and leaned forward, propping her elbows on her thighs. “I haven’t even asked a question yet.”
“I don’t need to be asked to know I can’t tell you anything about that. I thought we already covered that part.”
“You knew enough to tell me it’s a drow thing. Which is definitely good to know, because it’s starting to do stuff.”
“’Do stuff?’”
“Yeah.”
Mattie eyed the cube covered in etched drow runes, then blinked at her student. “You know, coming from someone who’s probably already surpassed my knowledge of programming and technology, that wasn’t the well-rounded summary I expected.”
“Well, I don’t have a well-rounded clue what’s going on with this thing.” The halfling pointed at two runes on the top of the copper box, or at least what was the top as it rested in her hand. “I have no idea what this puzzle box is for, what it does, how to use it, or what these symbols mean, but these two right here weren’t next to each other before.”
There was a long pause while Mattie studied her student’s face. “Are you sure?”
“Kinda hard not to be sure when I’ve been looking at this thing my entire life, and all of a sudden it starts changing things up on me.”
“Hmm.” Glancing at the box again, the professor shook her head. “I don’t know anything about the runes rearranging themselves on the surface.”
“More like the surface rearranged itself.
” Cheyenne gripped opposite sides of the box and tried to turn them again. Of course, nothing happened. “This thing started spinning and freaking out. It shakes sometimes.”
“It shakes?”
“Yeah, like a giant egg about to hatch. Except, as far as I can tell, there’s only a light inside and a drow Bunsen burner.” Mattie shot her a blank look. “It gets hot.”
“Ah.”
“No idea what’s going on?”
Mattie chuckled. “Would you like me to lie to you and say I have a hunch, but it’s just not my place to share it with you?”
It was the halfling’s turn to stare at her professor blankly.
“Sorry.” The older woman lifted a hand to her chaotically piled hair, then shrugged. “I don’t know anything about those artifacts beyond what I told you the other day. It’s a drow legacy, an old tradition, and a pretty well-kept secret even among magicals on the other side. You’re the one who has to figure out how to use it. That’s the way it works.”
“Great.” Cheyenne tucked the puzzle box back into her backpack and zipped it back up. “This thing’s gonna end up burning my hands off before I can figure out what it does.”
Mattie gritted her teeth, clamped a hand on the semi-charred armrest, and sighed. “But I might know someone who can tell you more.”
Cheyenne’s head jerked back up, and she stared at the woman with wide eyes before breaking into a grin. “That’s a start.”
“Maybe. Don’t get your fancy Goth pants in a twist.” The halfling snorted as Mattie pushed herself out of the chair and headed toward her desk. She didn’t seem nearly as wobbly anymore. “I knew a Raug back in the day. Kind of a nutcase, but I guess that’s what happens when someone’s spent a lifetime filling their head with random, seemingly useless facts.”
“You’re sending me to a Raug encyclopedia for something like this?” Cheyenne stood and slung her backpack over her un-black-magicked shoulder.
“If I can find him, okay?” Leaning over her desk, Mattie reached out to sift through the loose papers, frowned, and shook her head. “And that’s gonna take me a while. It’s been a long time since I’ve spoken to the guy, and I can’t guarantee he’ll remember me or want to do me a favor by talking to you. But I’ll see what I can do.”
