A Tale of Two Goblins

chapter Twelve



After another two hours, the Mandrake had been cleansed from my body and I felt nothing but exhausted. My emotions ran the gamut from extreme relief over the fact that Knight had seen to it that I was no longer addicted to Mandrake and complete mortification and embarrassment over the fact that I, Dulcie O’Neil, had basically become an addict.

If I’d never understood or been sympathetic toward the plight of the addict before, I felt differently now. It was as if the Mandrake had completely taken over my life—and, really, it had. The idea that I’d nearly seduced Knight just for another fix was something that would live with me for the rest of my life…in infamy.

“I don’t even know what to say,” I started, staring out the window to avoid having to face Knight. He’d just witnessed something I would have been mortified for even Sam to witness. I was such a private person that the fact that I’d gone through something so personal in front of Knight…the thought was enough to make me want to throw up.

“Don’t say anything, Dulcie,” he responded in a soft, compassionate tone.

I felt a lump forming in my throat and I wiped away a few tears. “I’m completely mortified.”

Knight stood up from where he’d been sitting at my kitchen table and approached me. I couldn’t stomach the sympathy in his eyes and turned my back to him again. I shouldn’t have inspired sympathy or pity in other people—that wasn’t who I was. I was Dulcie O’Neil, the badass, hard-as-nails fairy who didn’t put up with anything from anyone. At least, that’s who I used to be and who I wanted to be again. Who I was now, I really didn’t know.

I shivered against the warmth of Knight’s hands on my shoulders. As if I hadn’t berated myself enough, images of me straddling him with my boobs hanging out like a baboon in estrus coursed through me until I wanted to slap myself.

“Dulcie, just remember that everything you did, you did for Sam.”

I shook my head as an acid laugh fell off my lips. “I first took the Mandrake for Sam, yes, but at the end, I took it because I had to, because I couldn’t turn it down.” I glanced down at my small hands which were now fists at my side. “I thought I could defeat it, Knight. I didn’t think I’d get addicted to it—I thought I was stronger than that.”

“Dulcie, you aren’t giving yourself enough credit.”

“Credit?” I repeated facetiously, turning around to face him. “Credit for what?”

“For forcing yourself to do something that runs counter to everything you believe in just so you could save your friend. Yes, you got in over your head but that’s not what you should be focusing on.”

I dropped my eyes, feeling the sting of tears again. I blinked them away. “I think you’re giving me too much latitude.”

He chuckled. “Probably true in most things but not in this case.”

A tear escaped my eye and he wiped it with the pad of his thumb.

“Hey, none of that was you, Dulce, I know it so why don’t you?”

“I guess I have issues when it comes to failing.”

His smile was wide and my breath caught in my throat. He was so incredibly handsome and I wasn’t sure what to think about this tender and kind side of him—it was a version of Knight that I could very easily lose myself in and that was a scary thought.

“Issues with failing?” he laughed again. “That’s got to be the understatement of the day. I hate to break it to you, Dulce, but you aren’t perfect.”

I glanced up at him and wiped away more tears. “Believe me, I know I’m less than perfect.”

“Well, whatever you are, you’ve got the best intentions of anyone I know,” Knight said in an iron tone, as if challenging me to argue or disagree with him. “And I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, you’re an absolute asset to the ANC.”

I couldn’t even stand to listen to him—an asset? When I was addicted to an illegal narcotic? “Knight,” I started and when he glanced down at me, I wasn’t even sure I could get the words out. “I would have had sex with you just to get that next fix of Mandrake.”

He shook his head and raised a brow. “Do you think I would have ever let it go that far?”

“That’s not my point. If you had allowed it to…progress, I would have too,” I finished, apparently hell-bent on lowering his estimation of me.

His lips were tight. “You don’t know that for sure.”

“Yes, I do.”

His smile was broader than it had been. “Then, damn me for flushing the shit so fast. I should have waited a little longer.”

I couldn’t help my laugh and shook my head at the absurdity of the whole situation. Of all the people to have witnessed me at my worst, of course it would have been Knight—not Sam; not some random person I couldn’t care less about, but Knight. Sometimes life was a major bitch.

I glanced at him again and chewed my lip, not entirely sure what to make of the fact that I felt indebted to him and grateful. “You know if our roles were reversed, I would have arrested you?”

“Said in true Dulcie O’Neil form,” Knight said and shook his head. “I knew you had to be in there somewhere.”

I didn’t drop my gaze. “I’m being serious.”

“I’m sure you are but we both know you wouldn’t have arrested me. You play a mean game but underneath it all, you have feelings, Dulcie, even if you don’t want to admit them.”

I was spared the need to respond when the doorbell rang, announcing Dia’s arrival. The thought that I could soon be sleeping was like waking up on Christmas morning. Knight dropped his hands from my shoulders and grinned warmly again.

“I don’t want to hear any more about this,” he started. “You need to forgive yourself and move on. I want the old Dulcie back—the one who gives me a crapload of attitude at every turn and makes my life significantly more difficult than it needs to be.”

I wiped my eyes for the last time. “I think I can manage that.” Maybe it was due to the fact that I hadn’t slept in over six days, but I just didn’t feel like me. I felt like I was going through some sort of identity crisis and I didn’t like it one bit.

Knight approached the door and put his hand on the knob, then paused, glancing back at me. “Dia doesn’t know anything about what went on here earlier,” he began. “I didn’t think it was my place to tell her.”

I nodded in silent thanks. Sometimes Knight could be so…nice (for lack of a better word) that it just threw me for a loop—especially when he could be such an ass at other times.

He pulled open the door and Dia walked in, offering him a cheery smile before her complexion blanched as she focused on me. I had an apology to make and based on her expression, I’d better make it quick.

“I’m sorry for ditching you the other day, Dia,” I said and smiled sheepishly. “Can you forgive me?”

She frowned. “Well, I guess I already have considering I’m here.”

“Thanks,” I started before Knight cleared his throat and opened the door further.

“I’m going to let you two get to it. I need to get back to the hospital to keep an eye on things,” he announced and then glanced at me again, his expression softening. “It appears my work here is done.”

I smiled back at him, not sure what to say or where to start. “Thanks,” I said simply.

“Any time, Dulcie, we’re in this together,” he answered, smiling before he left.

I was sad to see him go.

Dia faced me after watching him close the door and she looked amused. “Thought anymore about Tweety?”

I laughed as I considered it—yes, Knight was a cocky, arrogant, bossy pain in my ass most the time but I had to admit that he wasn’t all bad and even though I didn’t want to accept it, I had to face the fact that Knight seemed to genuinely…care about me.

“Yeah, I have,” I said with a thoughtful smile. “I don’t know what to think of Tweety but I’m thinking about him all the same.”

“It’s a start, Girl, and thank Hades for that because I thought I’d have to knock some sense into that stubborn head of yours!”

“Hey, I’ve got baggage,” I explained with a laugh.

She arched her brows. “Really? You don’t say?”

“Okay, enough, smartass,” I finished.

“You ready to get some sleep?”

I nodded. “Amen to that.”

#

I sighed as I glanced down at Sam, who didn’t look any worse but also didn’t look any better. Yep, we were definitely in a holding pattern, the Dreamstalker waiting for me to call his bluff and vice versa. Well, if I had it my way, he was going to call my bluff and we’d face off in dreamland.

“She doesn’t look good,” Dia said as she inspected Sam.

“She doesn’t look any worse than she did earlier though.” I said the words more for my own peace of mind.

Dia and I had been summoned to Sam’s room by Knight who had yet to show up. What the meeting was about, neither of us had any idea, although I hoped it had something to do with the fact that our current plan of sitting and waiting was working about as well as BP trying to control an oil leak.

Even though I couldn’t say I felt good by any means, I’d been able to sleep for two hours thanks to Dia and at least I felt sane again—no longer craving illegal narcotics, seeing random babies or lust-craved Lokis. My day was looking up.

“Dia,” I started, knowing this would probably lead to an argument but I was going to broach the subject anyway. I was running out of time.

“Hmm?” she asked and glanced at me before her gaze moved back to Sam. “It’s almost like everything is on pause.”

“How so?” I prodded, wondering if she’d reached the same conclusion I had.

She shook her head. “Sam isn’t any better but isn’t any worse. Meanwhile, Jenny, Travis and Shirley all look decently healthy, albeit in comas, but healthy all the same. Whatever this thing is, he definitely doesn’t understand how Dreamstalkers work.”

“Or he’s fully aware of what he’s doing,” I said, eyeing her to judge her reaction to my cryptic comment.

“Meaning?”

I sighed, long and hard, wondering if it was better just to blurt my possibly outrageous ideas or warm her up to them, one toe into the deep end at a time. Ah, screw it, I’d blurt. “The Dreamstalker is waiting for me, Dia, he’s waiting for me to fall asleep so I can fight him on his ground.”

Dia nodded but didn’t say anything although her silence was response enough. She either thought I was nuts and wanted to refrain from commenting or she was contemplating the idea. Hopefully the latter.

“And I think you know what we have to do,” I continued. “Sitting and waiting is getting us nowhere and pretty soon, he’s going to grow tired of waiting for me and he’s going to do something to Sam, something I will have to live with for the rest of my life and something I’ll never forgive myself for.”

Dia nodded again, her eyes traveling from me to Sam, back to me again. “You know Knight won’t go for it, especially since it would be putting you into a very precarious situation?”

She had a point. Knight wouldn’t go for it and knowing his steel disposition, it would probably take a miracle on 34th street to change his mind. But, I hadn’t really bothered myself with the minute details concerning what Knight would or would not approve of. Instead, I focused on Dia. If I could make her see the truth in my reasoning, she could help me work on Knight. And, although I wasn’t really sure how she ranked in the ANC hierarchy, I assumed that as acting Chief of ANC Moon, she was high enough up there that her opinion mattered more than a damn.

Before I had the chance to further work on Dia, Knight lumbered into the room, looking like a warrior come to slay a dragon. There was a stiffness to his composure that I hadn’t seen in a long time and with the way he worried the pen in his hand, clearly something big was rampaging through his mind.

I tried not to notice how chiseled his face was as he brought his eyes to mine and studied me for a second or two, seemingly to deduce whether I truly had made it through the Mandrake ordeal successfully. I smiled in response and he just nodded. We’d just had a full conversation without uttering a single word.

“Ladies,” he said in greeting, finally breaking the silence.

“Loki,” Dia answered and winked at me as I laughed.

“I’ve got to make this one quick,” Knight said, his tone and body language back to business. “I’m traveling back to the Netherworld…tonight.”

“What?” I snapped as both Dia’s and my mouths dropped open in perfect unison like choir members. “What the hell for?”

Knight faced me with the same stubborn set to his jaw I’d come to know so well. “The blood lettings in Banshee,” he answered simply as if we’d be satiated with such a ridiculously short response.

“Um, can’t that wait?” Dia asked as she eyed me again, her expression one of concern.

“Knight, in case you don’t remember, we’re kind of in the middle of a major case here,” I added. “One that is bound to break any second…”

“I know that, Dulcie,” he spat out and shook his head, like he was trying to get his temper under control. Hmm, something was up because Knight normally wasn’t this trigger happy. Don’t get me wrong, he was often the King of all SOBs but now wasn’t the time nor the place. “Regardless, I’m leaving tonight.”

I shook my head and sighed, almost wondering if I was having another bout of hallucinations and was just imagining that Knight was actually saying this crap.

“You can’t just leave, Knight,” I started. “What about the blood tests for the suspects? What about the Dreamstalker? Hello? What about Sam?”

He nodded but it was hurried and he even checked his watch as if to exemplify the point. “Wait until I get back.”

“Wait until you get back?” I yelled, feeling myself finally losing it. “Have you lost your f*cking mind?”

“Knight, the timing of this trip is very bad,” Dia added as if she were trying to justify my outburst with reason.

Knight ran an agitated hand through his hair before facing us both again. His jaw was just as tight, his expression just as pinched as it had been a few seconds ago. That meant he wasn’t about to give in.

“I know it seems like bad timing but the blood lettings in Banshee are tied to this case,” he finished.

I glanced at Sam, anger bubbling up within me. There was no way in hell I intended to wait for Knight to return from this utterly useless errand when Sam’s life was hanging by a thread. I glanced at him again and hoped the ire oozing from my body reflected itself in my eyes.

“We can focus on Banshee once we get this guy, Knight. There’s no reason for you to go there now.”

“It’s not up for discussion,” he bit out. “Just don’t do anything drastic until I return.” He started to turn for the door but apparently remembered something and glanced back at me again. “That’s an order.”

Yep, just like that, the a*shole I’d come to know so well had returned and who the hell knew when the nice Knight would show up again? I had half a mind to dub him Dr. Loki and Mr. Asswad.

I shook my head and stared at the floor. How the hell could he think this was a good idea? Now of all times? It made no sense and seemed to run counter to everything I’d ever thought about Knight. If nothing else, I used to be able to say I respected him as a detective and as an ANC cop, but now I couldn’t even say that.

“And when the hell will you be back?” I demanded.

“A few days.”

Fury bubbled up within me like lava and I thought I might blow right then and there. Dia, apparently sensing my volatility, placed a consoling hand on my arm and faced Knight. “Sam might not have a few days.”

Knight sighed and glanced at the floor. “My hands are tied.”

I turned around, afraid if I looked at him any longer, I’d claw his eyes out. His hands were tied? His hands were tied while my best friend was dying? Well, damn him to Hades—there was no way in hell I wasn’t going to do anything but the drastic. And he wasn’t my boss so he could screw himself.

“This is insane,” I announced angrily.

“I have to get going,” Knight answered and checked his watch again. “I’m due at the portal in fifteen minutes.”

It wasn’t like you could get a flight to the Netherworld, since it existed on the same plane as earth, but in a different dimension. Instead, the Netherworld traveler had to make preparations with the Netherworld ANC and then the ANC would send strata-hopping worm holes, known as dimensional portals to see the traveler to his destination.

Before I could object, Knight simply turned around and left. I looked at Dia and we were both speechless for a minute or two before a big smile outlined Dia’s mouth.

“Guess we no longer need to worry about getting his buy in?” she asked and threw me for a second.

Once I realized she was referring to my plan to meet the Dreamstalker in his own territory, I smiled. She was on my side.

I glanced at her and couldn’t help but laugh, even though worry, disbelief, anger and confusion all consumed my immediate thoughts. “No, I guess we don’t.”

#

Three hours later, I received a call from Dia who asked me to meet her for dinner in the hospital cafeteria. She’d gone to her hotel room to shower and nap before returning for the evening. I was only too happy to join up with her because I assumed we were going to discuss moving forward by laying out our next plan—that plan being how to kill the Dreamstalker, part two. And as far as I was concerned, whatever Knight didn’t know, wouldn’t hurt him.

“Hi, Girl,” Dia said as she entered the cafeteria and plopped her bag into the seat next to me. “What slop are they serving tonight?”

I laughed. “I didn’t check.”

Instead of going to investigate what “food” the hospital was serving, she pulled out the plastic chair next to me and sat down. She took a deep breath and faced me with a wide smile, her dark eyes sparkling.

“I have news for you,” she started.

“Shoot,” I said noncommittally.

She tapped her long fingernails against the cheap plastic table and took a long pause before facing me again. She should have been an actress. “Knight didn’t go back to the Netherworld to check on the Banshee blood lettings.”

My eyes went wide and I felt my heartbeat speed up. “What? How do you know?”

She smiled and pulled out a compact, opening it to check her lipstick. I couldn’t help but admire her plump, pretty lips. She snapped the compact closed and faced me again. “One thing you’ll learn about me as we get to know each other better is that I’m a good cop and the reason is because I’m nosy.”

I shook my head, a small laugh escaping me. “You crack me up, Dia.”

She shrugged. “Well, I am good for a laugh too but back to the point about being nosy— I don’t take people on their word and Knight seemed way too evasive earlier today so I investigated.”

She was right, Knight had seemed too evasive. “So, what, you got in touch with Banshee?”

She nodded before a flirtatious smile lit her lips and I had to wonder if an incredibly hot doctor hadn’t just entered the room. I glanced behind me but didn’t see anyone so I turned back to Dia.

“I, uh, knew one of the guards at Banshee,” she said with a laugh. “And boy was that man a hottie.”

“Moving on,” I said, frowning at the expression of absolute bliss on her face.

She shook her head, as if she were dispelling the images of the hottie and faced me with an apologetic smile. “Sorry, couldn’t help remembering the abs on him and his butt…”

“Dia!”

She laughed and held up her hand in mock surrender. “Okay, okay. So, I spoke with my contact at Banshee and asked what the deal was with Knight’s visit and he said Knight never showed up. And not only did Knight never show up, he was never scheduled to show up.”

She leaned back in her chair and eyed me as if she was allowing the news to settle in. I gulped as I wondered what the hell Knight was up to and furthermore, why had he lied to us, to me? After all he and I had been through most recently, I didn’t want to admit it to myself but Dia’s news stung. Before I had the chance to inquire further, Dia leaned forward again and broke the silence.

“So, I did a bit more researching and called some friends I have in the ANC Netherworld and I found out that Knight was called back to the High Court for questioning.”

“Oh my God,” I started, realizing how bad that could be. The High Court was the determining law of the Netherworld—if you were a Netherworld creature and screwed up royally in the U.S., you ended up in the High Court where they would pronounce your punishment and they definitely weren’t known for being easygoing. No wonder Knight had seemed so perturbed and anxious.

“What the hell would Knight be investigated for?” I asked, my stomach still somewhere down around my toes.

Dia nodded, apparently she had all the answers. “One of my very good friends happens to be the stenographer for the High Court,” she began. “And Knight’s case began this afternoon, an hour or so after he left the hospital.” Dia took a deep breath. “Well, my stenographer friend told me that Knight was being investigated regarding a case with the former head of ANC Splendor, Quillan Beauregard.”

“Oh my God,” I repeated again, not knowing what else to say, and slumped back into my seat. This was terrible. Worse than terrible.

“Apparently Quillan was involved in some underhanded dealings regarding street potions and during the initial examination, he was never apprehended,” Dia finished.

I knew the story all too well. “I was there,” I said simply, as if to announce the fact that I knew exactly what had happened that evening and didn’t want a reminder.

“I know,” Dia responded and I glanced at her in surprise. “I wasn’t done with my story.”

“Sorry,” I muttered.

“So, my friend told me that Judge Churchill was pretty upset with Knight because he was supposed to show up with you, Dulcie.”

I felt the contents of my stomach rise up to my throat. “What?”

“Apparently it was you they wanted for questioning but Knight went in your stead and demanded that you had nothing to do with the situation which is why you hadn’t come with him.”

I wanted to throw up again. Knight had covered for me—he’d known full well that it had been my fault when Quill escaped. The awful image of that evening sliced through my head like a shard of glass, the memories already replaying themselves—me realizing Quill had been allied with the bad guys all along; how I’d aimed my Op 6 at him but hadn’t been able to pull the trigger; how my heart had ached over the fact that I hadn’t been able to take him into custody and more so, over the fact that one of my closest friends had betrayed me.

I shook the vision from my head. I’d basically let Quillan go and Knight had known that all along. Knight had lied to the High Court to protect me.

“What…what happened to Knight; what was the verdict?” I insisted, my voice sounding as distraught as I felt.

Dia shrugged. “Don’t know. The case isn’t over yet.”

I pounded my fist into the table and swore.

“Dulcie,” Dia said, an expression of worry on her face.

“Do you know anything more about it?” I interrupted.

She shook her head. “I only know that Knight swore up and down that you had nothing to do with Quillan’s disappearance. That it was on his watch and he failed in his duties.”

I swallowed hard and didn’t say anything more. Dia glanced at me and her lips were tight.

“And if he’s lying,” she started with a tone of skepticism in her voice. “He could face life in Banshee.”

“Why…why didn’t he tell me?” I persisted, as the realization that I might have ruined Knight’s life crashed and burned within me.

“Obviously he wanted to protect you,” Dia finished before standing up. “That’s all I know.”

I glanced up at her and nodded, dropping my attention back to my shaking hands.

“Now, you and I need to eat and figure out what the hell we’re going to do about this Dreamstalker,” she said but I couldn’t really say I’d processed her words. I was still completely floored by the news about Knight.

I vowed that once the Dreamstalker was dead, my next stop would be the Netherworld. I wasn’t going to let Knight suffer for my shortcomings.