by HP Mallory
Knight expelled a breath and didn't appear to be in the mood for a lengthy explanation. "How long have you been working for Melchior, Dulcie?" he demanded again.
I shook my head and tried to focus on the question, tried to remember, tried to look past the pain that was throbbing between my eyes. "I don't know, maybe two weeks."
"You're lying." Knight snapped, glaring at me before returning his attention to the road, apparently remembering he was behind the wheel. "Don't play this innocent fucking game with me, Dulcie. I don't have the patience for it."
And that was when I lost it. I craned my neck in his direction and felt my eyebrows furrowing because I honestly didn't understand what was going on and my headache was only making my temper that much shorter. "I have no idea what you're talking about! So why don't you drop your shitty attitude and tell me what the hell is going on?!"
Knight failed to reply, but seemed to focus entirely on driving, refusing to look at me. I could see his ears tinged red with anger. When he finally spoke, his voice was hollow and pained. "Your father and I always had our differences," he started and his hands tightened around the steering wheel, making his knuckles go white. "I was at the top of my game in the ANC, getting accolades and rewards left and right. Of course, Melchior not only respected my position, but realized he could use me to his advantage. He approached me about becoming his top potions smuggler and, in the process, had to put everything on the table. He had to show his hand. When I refused, he banished me to Earth, telling me I would never be allowed to return to the Netherworld. I was basically exiled to live the rest of my life beneath the radar." He looked at me and frowned as I thought about the fact that Knight's story was very similar to Quillan's. It was like my father had searched out the best Regulators in the ANC to call his own.
"Obviously he didn't know me very well," Knight continued. Then he took a deep breath. "He would have had me killed, but by that time, I'd gained so much notoriety in the ANC, knocking me off would have created too much suspicion. Instead, he banished me to Earth, and permitted me to work in any ANC location of my choosing. What he wasn't aware of, though, was that I kept a close eye on him, even from afar. When he pronounced my sentence, I promised myself, he would be taken down, that I would personally see to it ..."
I felt my jaw drop as something dawned on me. "You're part of The Resistance?" I asked as my mouth formed a perfect "O."
He said nothing, merely inhaled deeply. But he didn't have to say anything because his lack of a response was answer enough. He was definitely part of The Resistance and probably always had been. I studied him, as the pieces of the puzzle titled, "Why Melchior O'Neil wanted Knightley Vander dead" were quickly falling into place. "Melchior wanted to wipe you out in order to end The Resistance," I said, watching as he exited the freeway. We were on Coconut Street, which led to Splendor's city center. I thought we were en route to the ANC, where I’d be kept in custody for Hades only knew how long. Obviously I didn't imagine Knight would return me to the Netherworld for sentencing because, in his mind, it wasn't as though I'd actually be sentenced since Melchior was my father. The truth of the matter was that I'd probably be dealt with in the harshest possible way given my involvement in destroying my father's immediate chances at tyranny.
Knight glanced at me and shrugged. "Most recently, yes, but at the time he exiled me, he wasn't aware of my ties to The Resistance. However, I was more than aware of his ties to the illegal potions industry and after doing a little recon of my own, I learned he had a daughter." Then he frowned at me.
"You came to Splendor because of me?" I asked, feeling nauseous at the realization that Knight assumed I'd been serving my father during the entire course of his and my association.
"Yes," he snarled back at me. "I knew there was a mole in the ANC ranks in Splendor, and at the time, I figured it was you. So given my hatred of your father and my determination to see him dethroned, I transferred to Splendor so I could beat you at your own game."
"But you knew the mole was Quill," I said, wishing I could press my fingers to my temples, to try to assuage the pain between my eyes. I had to wonder if I had a small concussion. "You were there when I let Quill go."
He glanced at me and shook his head. "I wasn't with you, I took you on your word that you let him go. Quillan might never have been there, for all I know." Then he laughed cynically. "At the time, I might have bought into your little charade where Quill was concerned, but now I know better. Now I know the truth."
"The truth?" I repeated, starting to become pissed off with this whole situation.
"Quill was the fall guy for you. Your father knew it was wiser to ensure your place in the ANC than Quillan's so he told Quillan to take the fall for you, with the knowledge that having you in the ANC would be a far greater advantage to him." He looked over at me then, taking me in from face to breasts. "Your father is no idiot. He realized you were the best weapon in his arsenal. He knew you were every fucking man's dream."
I shook my head, feeling panic stirring within me. Looking at things from Knight's perspective, I could understand how he'd come to this conclusion, even though he was completely wrong. But the evidence seemed to support his theory. "That isn't true, Knight. None of that is true. I met my father for the first time two weeks ago, I swear it."
"I'm not finished," he interrupted in an irate tone. "So I figured you got word back to Melchior about Knightley Vander and how he was now working in Splendor; and I'm sure Melchior had a field day with that one." He slammed his fist into the steering wheel, making the horn blare as I jumped a few inches out of my seat. Knight came to a stop sign and inhaled deeply before looking over at me. "So, Dulcie, you tell me, what did your father tell you to do? Did he ask you to target me? To make me want you? Did he tell you to make me fall in love with you? To wrap me around your finger?"
Glaring at him, I was no longer okay with having to defend myself against false accusations. "So you think you have this whole thing figured out, don't you?" I asked icily. "And it all fits into a tiny, neat little box called Dulcie's guilty, right? None of it's true—it's just a load of bullshit!"
"Disprove it then, Dulcie," he raged back at me. "Prove that it’s false. Go on, I'm curious to hear you try and back pedal your way out of this."
But there wasn't anything that immediately came to mind on how I could disprove it. Instead, I opted for simply telling the truth. "I started working for my father two weeks ago because he forced me to do it."
"And how did he manage that?" Knight asked, his tone facetious.
"He held your life as ransom," I snapped at him. "I made the deal with him that I would be his eyes and ears in the ANC, as long as he agreed to leave you alone."
Knight shook his head and laughed acidly. "I don't believe that for one second, Dulcie," he said, facing me, his lips tight. "I fell for your bullshit once, and told myself that everything I'd previously thought about you wasn't true, that you really had no idea who your father was, and you really were the girl for me." He shook his head and bashed his hand into the steering wheel again. "You were pretty good, Dulcie, I'll give you that. You even had my body convinced that you were the one."
He was referring to the fact that as a Loki, only his body could choose his mate, a woman strong enough to handle his powerful seed, and the one woman to whom he would be dedicated for life. When his eyes first glowed in my presence, it was his body's announcement that I was his woman.
"Knight, that is the truth! I didn't know who my fa ..."
"I don't want to hear it!" he railed at me.
I swallowed hard, suddenly intimidated by the anger and pain in his eyes. But there was also a fire in me that refused to be extinguished, a fire that wouldn't stop burning until Knight learned the truth and realized I was innocent of all of his accusations. "And what about everything we said to each other while we were in High Prison?" I demanded. "What about the fact that I came back to the Netherworld to save your ass? And how do you explain my being imprisone
d with you and nearly raped by that Cyclops thug? How the hell have you talked yourself out of the legitimacy of all that?"
He shook his head. "You being imprisoned was just part of the overall act, something that was just a façade but meant for me to drop my defenses and trust you wholeheartedly. Looking back, to your credit, it worked … but now I can see right through it ... and you."
"And that bit about Cyclops?" I persisted, my lips tight.
"Bad luck. Wrong place at the wrong time. Your father should have known better than to lump you, a fairy, in with the likes of the goblin and a Cyclops. Just goes to show how much he truly loves you."
I couldn't argue with him about that because he was correct—my father didn't care about me. Not a damn.
"Besides," he continued, "Caressa said she never took you to the portal. Remember how I caught you in that lie?" Without allowing me to respond, he continued, "Of course, she never took you to the portal because your father released you from High Prison, something which in and of itself was highly problematic, considering you skipped any trial and simply got released. It's good to have a big daddy up high in the ranks, isn't it?"
"I never knew why I was released," I admitted. "But it's true that Caressa never took me to the portal. Instead, I told her what my plan was where you were concerned and she allowed me to escape." Knight shot me a disingenuous glance, but I wasn't about to let him deny me my explanation. "Then I went to my father's office and I demanded that he release you. And of course, once he realized he had me right where he wanted me, I ended up in this mess."
Knight shook his head. "Do you really expect me to believe that trite shit? Fuck, Dulcie, I'm not going to buy into your soap opera."
"Yes, I expect you to believe it because it's true!" I screamed at him, trying to find some way that I could prove I wasn’t lying. But as much as I racked my brain, I couldn't think of anything that would clear me of this blame. Nothing tangible, anyway. I glanced outside my window, realizing that Knight had driven straight through Splendor and was now merging onto the freeway, headed toward Haven. As I stared out at the darkness, something occurred to me. "Knight, if my father wanted you dead so badly, and I was his liaison, why would I have fought so hard to spare your life? If he really wanted you dead, he had you exactly where he wanted you when you were in the Netherworld. You admitted as much yourself."
Knight inhaled deeply and frowned at me, clearly not convinced with this fact. "Because he realized my connections to The Resistance, something you've already demonstrated you also knew about. So he informed you to sink your claws into me even deeper than you already had, in order to find out all you could about The Resistance so Melchior could shut it down."
I realized I'd made a big mistake in admitting I knew about The Resistance. I ransacked my mind, trying to think of something else that didn't ring true, of something else that could help me in my quest to prove my innocence. "If nothing I've said is true, why did you just catch Baron trying to kill me?" I asked. I knew I was reaching, but I had to go for it anyway. "If I was really working for my father, do you think Baron would have come after me, calling me a back-stabbing bitch?"
Knight frowned. "I didn't hear him call you anything and furthermore, he wasn't trying to kill you," he said. Then he shook his head like I was a great big idiot. "And I think it's pretty obvious what he was after, just seizing a good opportunity to go for it."
"Okay, then what of Trey?" I demanded, playing every card I could.
"What of Trey?" Knight repeated.
"Don't you think if I'd been working for my father this entire time, that Trey would have picked up on it since he's a sensitive?"
Knight shook his head. "Your father's obviously creative, exemplified by the fact that he forced the Dryads on this little Draoidheil mission to throw off Trey and others like him. It's not a stretch to imagine he'd been doing something similar all along where you're concerned."
I felt like crying as I realized all my defenses were failing. There really wasn't anything concrete that I could use to prove to Knight that he totally had me pegged incorrectly.
"And speaking of coworkers, is Sam in on this too or did you pull the wool over her eyes also?"
I glared at him. "Sam has nothing to do with this! She's completely innocent!"
He shook his head. "Nice that you're even lying to your best friend."
I sighed, long and hard, trying to salvage a shred of something that would prove my innocence but my mind was a blank. "Everything you believe about me isn't true, Knight," I whispered, my voice sounding grainy as tears filled my eyes. "And everything I said to you while we were in prison was the truth. Every last word."
Knight chuckled humorlessly. "The only one of us who was telling the truth was me ... Something which was blatantly demonstrated when you broke up with me as soon as we returned to Splendor. And then to really rub salt in my wounds, you started dating Bram."
"I did that to protect you, Knight," I threw back at him. "And I'm not dating Bram and never have been. I broke things off with you because I didn't want you to find out that I was working for my father." I briefly considered telling him about my visit to Bram's and how I'd told Bram everything I was now telling Knight but I didn't imagine that would hold any weight because there wasn't any solid proof in it. And, furthermore, I didn't imagine Knight would appreciate the reminder of Bram when the vampire was obviously a sore subject. "I broke up with you only because I wanted to put some distance between us to keep you safe, Knight. That was my only intention."
He gave me a look which I’ll never forget—his eyes had never appeared so furious, so livid. His nostrils flared as he breathed in and out and I could see his racing heart rate in the pulse thumping in his neck. "I don't want to hear another fucking word from you, got it?”
I shook my head, refusing to be shut down. "I'm the one who told the ANC about this whole thing to begin with," I yelled at him, my voice shaking. "I went to Caressa and I told her everything about the Draoidheil delivery, as well as every drop-off location. The only reason you aren't addicted to the shit now is because I gave her vials of antidote and told her to make sure all of you took it." I didn't even want to think about Caressa not delivering on her promise to ensure that Knight was kept far away from Splendor. Somehow, I didn’t blame Caressa for it, as much as I did Knight's iron will, and his insistence on doing whatever the hell he chose to.
He shook his head and glared at me. "Funny, but when Caressa notified the ANC about the deliveries happening tonight, she failed to mention that any of it had come from you."
And that was because she'd kept her word to me by not associating my name with the information. I was tired and at the point now where I'd exhausted any further means to prove my innocence in all of this. I didn’t know how to prove Knight wrong anymore. I suddenly felt my fatigue gaining on me and gazed out the window, watching the scenery blur by, wishing things were drastically different.
"Where are you taking me, anyway?" I asked, in a defeated tone.
"To jail," he answered quickly.
I felt my stomach drop at the thought, but I knew he wasn't taking me to the holding cells in the ANC of Splendor because we'd passed them already. "What jail?" I demanded.
He didn't spare me a glance. "One you don't know about, and one where I can ensure your father will never find you."
Something which was fine by me because I wasn't sure what would happen if or when my father found me. I had to imagine, though, that it wouldn't be a happy homecoming. I said nothing else, as I tried to find a comfortable position. Having my hands clasped behind my back, it seemed comfort was too much to ask. Instead, I focused on the confusion of my own thoughts. I just couldn't understand how things had turned ugly so quickly between Knight and me. Only weeks ago, we'd confessed our undying love for one another, and now he seemed to hate me.
From the corner of my eye, I watched Knight reach for the CD player as he turned the volume up and Pearl Jam's "Deep" filled the SUV in a ric
h harmony of guitar and drums. The fury of the song seemed to match my mood and I would have bet it matched Knight's as well, only for different reasons. I turned my head even farther away from him, not wanting him to see the tears that were sliding down my cheeks.
I closed my eyes, and scolded myself, telling myself to stop crying. I would find a way out of this and my vehicle was Caressa. Somehow I had to get in touch with her because I knew she'd set Knight straight. Only she could tell him about my release from prison and how she'd been charged with escorting me to the portal. Only she could admit that she really released me to go after my father in order to ensure Knight's safety. And, after that, she could tell Knight that I really was the one who'd spilled the beans about the Draoidheil delivery.
